Union leaders rallied together on Labour Day to fend off foes and keep the labour movement alive.

"It's time that everybody gets on the same page with the same agendas and the same plans," said CAW Local 200 president Chris Taylor.

He said labour workers must unite in ways that it hasn't before.

"Otherwise, the right wing and the corporate elite are just going to pick us apart," claimed Taylor, who represents Ford workers in Windsor.

The annual Labour Day parade began Monday morning at the CAW union hall on Turner Road in Windsor.

It made its way down Walker Road to the Fogolar Furlan Club, where speeches and family activities took place.

Dino Chiodo is president of the Windsor and District Labour Council and said this is a day to celebrate growth, jobs and prosperity.

"This can't be a generation where we continue to go backwards and do less for our children, our children's children," said Chiodo.

CAW national president Ken Lewenza said workers have to remain united to fight off what he called attacks on the labour movement.

"Without labour in Canada you don't have an economy," Lewenza claimed. "Without labour making decent wages and decent benefits, you're not spending to build the economy."

He's in the middle of contract talks with the Detroit automakers, working to avoid concessions.

There are two weeks left to bargain before the current contracts expire.