Labour Day in Kamloops was a Great Success

It was a great Labour Day in Kamloops this year, with beautiful weather and a big crowd coming out to McDonald Park for the Kamloops & District Labour Council’s annual Labour Day Picnic. As with past years, the event ran from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, with a steady flow of people throughout the day.

Unions from around the Kamloops area set up booths in a tight ring with the McDonald Park bandshell serving as the anchor. Each booth had lots of information, activities and, of course, loads of union swag to give away.

The United Steelworkers took care of the burgers and hot dogs and kept the grills going throughout the picnic. CUPE Local 900 had the incredible Denise painting faces, and Sancho the Clown was there making balloon animals for the kids.

The Kamloops Storm also came out for the day once again. Players spent time playing street hockey with some of the younger attendees and helped monitor the three inflatable activities set up for the kids. They were a great addition to the picnic and it was a lot of fun watching the kids get a chance to play hockey with them.

The Dave Coalmine Band provided the music from the bandshell and did a fantastic job entertaining everyone throughout the day. This year our music loving audience filled the seats in front of the bandshell and many decided to sit in the shade of the trees behind the bandshell to relax and listen.

We were also joined by a number of candidates running in the upcoming municipal election and the KDLC had a table set up for candidates literature and information.

Labour Day is always a good opportunity for workers and their families to meet some of the people hoping to represent them and have a conversation about the issues that matter to working people.

Most importantly, the picnic was a chance for union members, their families and the wider Kamloops community to spend some time together.

Labour Day is supposed to be a celebration, and sometimes it’s easy to forget why we celebrate it in the first place. Things like weekends, the eight-hour workday, safer workplaces, better wages, pensions and other improvements we now take for granted didn’t just happen. Working people organized and fought for them.

There is still plenty of work to do, but Labour Day gives us a chance to celebrate what working people have accomplished by standing together.

It was also just a really good day in the park. Great weather, great food, great music, lots for the kids to do and a chance to catch up with friends and people from across the labour movement.

A huge thank you to all of the unions, volunteers and community members who helped make the picnic happen, and to everyone who came down to McDonald Park and spent part of their Labour Day with us.

We hope everyone had as much fun as we did, and we’ll see you again next year!