The theme of Monday's traditional May Day demonstration, International Workers' Day, will be inflation.
In Montreal, demonstrators are expected at 5:30 p.m. at Remembrance Park at Verdun metro station in the Southwest borough.
The march itself will start at 6 p.m. and end at Madeleine-Parent Park, Charlevoix metro station.
While many workers complain about the rising cost of food, services and various commodities, wage increases often do not follow.
Workers will, therefore, march with the slogan "we don't profit from inflation.
"There has been a kind of effect over the last year: people are returning to the streets, to the demonstrations. We're counting on people's enthusiasm and we hope to be numerous," said demonstration co-spokesperson Jérémie Dhavernas, in an interview on behalf of the Mouvement action chômage de Montréal (MAC). "People are tired; people are angry; they are really suffering from the weight of inflation. I think the theme is also quite mobilizing."
He said the inflation issue affects everyone: students, seniors, the unemployed, single parents, single people, and workers.
Inflation affects the ability to eat properly, to find adequate housing, to use one mode of transport rather than another, he argued.
The May Day march is also an opportunity to put forward workers' demands to governments: minimum wage increases, anti-scab legislation at the federal level, occupational health and safety prevention, wage increases that take into account the CPI (consumer price index), the right to work in French, pay equity and others.
The May Day Coalition, which is organizing the march, includes not only unions, but also community and student organizations.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 30, 2023.
