On April 4, workers in Hamilton held the first assembly of the Hamilton chapter of the Workers’ Alliance. Taking place on Holy Saturday, this moment stands as a powerful symbol: the workers’ movement, so often declared dead by the mouthpieces of the oligarchic status quo, is rising once more. Those who have long proclaimed its demise may yet find that, in digging its grave, they have been preparing their own.
Hamilton, Canada’s “steel city,” remains a central hub of Ontario’s manufacturing industry, accounting for more than 4% of the province’s total GDP. Retail, health services, and manufacturing constitute, in that order, the three largest sectors of its working population. Yet this economic weight stands in stark contrast to workers’ lived realities. More than 35% of retail workers earn only the provincial minimum wage of $17.60 per hour, while the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Hamilton exceeds $1,700 per month. Meanwhile, the estimated living wage hovers around $22.60 per hour—laying bare a widening gap between the cost of living and working conditions.
