By Sheldon Spackman

Red Deer & District Labour Council celebrates 60 years

Oct 19, 2018 | 5:04 PM

It was the celebration of 100 years of Labour in Alberta and 60 years of the Red Deer & District Labour Council (RDDLC) near the CPR pedestrian bridge on Friday.

The RDDLC 60th Anniversary celebration featured the unveiling of a long-awaited Labour Anniversary Disc just north of the Elements at River’s Edge building next to the Red Deer River downtown.

The 10-foot stainless steel disc was created by Calgary artist Karen Ho Fatt who the RDDLC commissioned for the project following an event commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Alberta Federation of Labour in 2012.

Kyle Johnston, President of the Red Deer & District Labour Council says the disc is the result of many hours of hard work by many people over the past six years.

“Labour history is something that we have to look back on and remember where we were and where we are now-a-days,” states Johnston. “Especially with all the advances we’ve been able to make and especially within the last three years. When we talk about the new safety rules with WCB, all those type of worker protections, they didn’t just happen because they were given to us, they had to be fought for by union activists and they’re not just for unionized workers, they’re also for workers in many industries across the board.”

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The disc which is etched with images of workers and dates of importance was installed in July of this year and features dates like Labour Day, Day of Mourning, Remembrance Day and Human Rights Day among others.

Funding for the project was made possible through grants from the provincial government’s Community Initiatives Program and donations from both unions and individuals. A smaller disc is also installed next to the larger disc.

Johnston feels the Labour Anniversary Disc is an amazing monument and art piece he hopes the community enjoys and appreciates.

“It’s going to be a fixture here in Red Deer for a time to come,” says Johnston. “Just to show where our history was when it came to labour and where we want to move forward.”

City historian and current city councilor Michael Dawe notes the location of the Labour Anniversary Disc near the CPR pedestrian bridge is both significant and appropriate.

“There are two aspects, one is the CPR for many years was by far the biggest employer in Red Deer,” recalls Dawe. “That meant a lot of the people who lived in Red Deer were part of the railway-related unions but also when we took the old CPR bridge and preserved it to help make that project work and convert it to a pedestrian bridge, it was the Carpenter’s Union among others who stepped forward and said ‘We will donate time, materials, our labour and build the deck for that bridge’.”

Friday’s celebration of the RDDLC Labour Disc featured numerous guest speakers in addition to Michael Dawe, including Red Deer North MLA Kim Schreiner, Heather Erlen – Alberta Representative for the Canadian Labour Congress, Gil McGowan – President of the Alberta Federation of Labour, current city councilor and former RDDLC president Dianne Wyntjes and both Alvin Finkel and Winston Gereluk from the Alberta Labour History Institute.