Union objects from the past tell a story.

This is a large, heavy cast-iron medallion with a fascinating history.

The Knights of Labor held a major parade in Oshawa on August 13, 1883. They called it a ‘demonstration’, but it resembled a modern day Labour Day parade, with dignitaries and politicians at the front, floats and marching bands.

The Knights of Labor was the first major union to organize on an industrial basis – embracing skilled and unskilled workers in the same union. Women and African American workers were welcomed. This egalitarian approach inspired workers across North America and the Knights had some one million members in Canada and the US in the mid 1880’s.

Workers came from all over southern Ontario for the Oshawa parade, which ended up being more than a mile long.

The floats featured workers demonstrating their crafts. Workers from the McLaughlin Carriage Works (later General Motors) were assembling a carriage on their float. The Joseph Hall Works was a major machine works in Ontario at the time. The iron moulders from there constructed a furnace on their float, made sand moulds, and cast these medals. They were quenched and handed out to the crowds along the route of the parade.