Here we go again! Insatiable greed demands that the last free days left in the year become working days.

            Toronto City Council will vote on May 11-12 whether to allow all Toronto stores to be open every day of the year, including New Year’s Day, Family Day (Ontario), Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Under present rules, only some stores—those in designated tourist areas such as the Eaton Centre, and Mississauga’s Square One—are allowed to open.

            The greedy, the godless, and the childless want to steal the last few holidays from the working and middle classes. It took 150 years of bitter struggles by the workers’ movement in Europe and North America to get Sunday off. After World War I, governments reluctantly allowed a free Saturday afternoon, then, after World War II, all of Saturday.

            It is only a few years ago that the Bob Rae-NDP government in Ontario set the clock back and abolished Sunday rest. Soon Manitoba and the Maritimes followed suit. No employee would be forced to work on Sunday, it was argued. What a farce! In reality only those prospective employees who agree to work on Sunday are even hired.  Others not already employed are “persuaded” to work on Sunday. And some employers feel obliged to open on Sunday, whether they want to or not, in order not to lose market share. So much for Sunday being a day of rest.

Please lobby your councillor to vote No to holiday store openings.

Boycott stores that do open if vote passes