The North Okanagan Labour Council held their annual Mission Creek Park family picnic, featuring a grill, bouncy castle, jungle gym and tents.
Lined up in a circle were Labour union representatives under shaded tents from around the province handing out fliers to put a face to their message.
Related: Families and unions gather for Labour Day Picnic
“This is our one event where we can come together that is outside of having meetings where it’s ‘tell us what your issues are’. Let’s actually come together and celebrate the things that we (unions) have been doing all year long, for the last decade, and century that benefits all people, both workers union and non-union,” Carole Gordon, former president of NOLC said.
The family friendly event creates a fun and safe space where Kelowna residents can have fun while learning about how the local labour unions spend their year.
Related: Organized labour’s annual Labour Day picnic slated for Sept. 3 in Kelowna
“Most people only hear about unions when they are on strike and on picket lines and sometimes there’s violence on picket lines. It’s a very sort of confrontational arena and I think that by having a labour picnic like this allows members of public to come in in less adversarial format and see what unions are doing in our communities,” Darrel-Lee McKenzie, Okanagan president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada said.
Through all the information Gordon stressed that the day is about families spending the day together in the sun before school starts on Tuesday. Tannis Gorynik took her son out for the day before his first day of Kindergarten.
“We have just been taking it easy this week,” Gorynik said. “We wanted to come here, check things out. I think it’s really nice that they are bringing people together and getting people involved and finding out what is going on (with the unions).”
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