This reflection was written by Jesse Zink, for this week’s Wingèd Ox, a weekly news digest distributed to the college community. You will find reflections from previous weeks here.

This summer I visited Val Jalbert, an historic mill town near Lac St. Jean in northern Quebec. A mill was built there in the early 20th century to produce paper pulp from timber and a town quickly grew up around it. When the market for pulp shifted, the company abruptly shut down the mill in 1927 and the workers left. Visitors today can now tour this ghost town of empty homes, shops, and the mill itself.

There was, of course, a church in Val Jalbert and for much of the town’s existence there was one priest, Joseph-Edmond Tremblay. In one of the displays, I was struck by a photo of Tremblay sitting with the executive committee of the local union of mill workers. For the 15 years he served in Val Jalbert, he also served as chaplain to the union. In that role, he advocated for workers to the managers of the mill and occasionally mediated conflict.

Yesterday was Labour Day, a day set aside to honour workers and the workers movement. But its placement in September is an indication of our complicated relationship with labour in North America. In much of the industrialized world, workers are commemorated on May 1. But Americans have historically found this celebration too closely linked to unions and socialism and so put their commemoration in early September, when it could be safely de-linked from left-wing influences. Canada has followed suit.

We are seeing an upsurge in labour activism right now. The flight attendants’ strike at Air Canada in August was one such example, as were previous labour actions in Canada in recent years affecting ports, railroads, teachers, and others. In this province, workers at an Amazon warehouse voted to unionize in 2024—and Amazon promptly shut all of its warehouses in Quebec. Meanwhile, the changing nature of the labour market with the rise of the “gig economy” in services like Uber, DoorDash, and more, is making labour organizing more difficult. Amazon’s action in this province reminds us that the forces of big business and capital retain immense power. But the popular support for the flight attendants in their recent strike is an indication of a growing public sentiment in favour of workers.

The church has a complex and decidedly mixed legacy when it comes to the labour movement. But the picture of Père Tremblay that I saw this summer in Val Jalbert was a salutary reminder that there is a strong strand of Christian social teaching that has offered support for unions and labour activism. The United Church has a long history of involvement in labour activism and many United Church clergy have run for office, often as members of the NDP, the Canadian political party historically most closely aligned with labour. In my Anglican tradition, there is a (now mostly dormant) line of theology that stresses the interrelatedness of socialism and the Christian gospel. There is much overlap between the two, including in the commitment to building communities in which all can flourish, human dignity is respected, and the contributions of all are recognized.

So as I mark Labour Day this week, I’m asking how the church and the labour movement can support

Faithfully yours in Christ,
Jesse