Canada’s unions welcome today’s long-overdue agreement to bring down the costs of child care for Ontario’s inflation-weary parents and celebrate progress toward Canada finally achieving a nation-wide affordable child care system.

“This was the last of 13 agreements to be signed and it came down to the wire. But Ontario parents are heaving a sigh of relief today that this is finally happening,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “With this final long-delayed agreement, we are now on the right path toward having Canada-wide affordable early learning and child care in place, in every jurisdiction across our country.”

Bruske also paid tribute to those who had worked so hard for so long to make national affordable child care a reality in Canada.

“Let’s remember and give thanks to the labour, child care activists and parents who have worked tirelessly for decades to keep child care on the agenda and pressure governments to do the right thing,” said Bruske. “Watching Conservative premiers drag their heels while so many parents struggled to afford sky-high child care fees has been frustrating, but relief is finally in sight for parents across the country.”

Bruske said that while today’s announcement will be greatly appreciated by struggling parents today, these new investments must also be used to increase capacity and ensure more families have access to quality care.

“With deals now in place across the country, the next step is ensuring affordable child care is enshrined in law and backed by sustainable funding to expand the system and ensure all parents have access to quality, not-for-profit, public child care,” concluded Bruske. “It will be important now to see the details of all 13 deals to ensure we are building a pan-Canadian child care system that will be there to support future generations of families.”

To arrange an interview, please contact:

CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
613-526-7426

The post Canada’s unions welcome long-delayed Ontario child care deal appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, released the following statement:

“Watching people bravely standing up to harassment and hate during the ongoing occupations has been inspiring. The planned and impromptu organizing happening in our communities over the past week is vital to building a better democracy and, in these challenging times, is heartening.

“In the last week, we saw members of the community alongside the labour movement come together across the country. In Quebec City, in Edmonton, in Vancouver, in Toronto, in Winnipeg, in Kingston and in other towns and cities across the country. In Ottawa, we even saw a small neighbourhood dog-walking group turn into a large assembly of community members stopping one of the convoys in its tracks.

“But our work is not done yet. We must continue to engage in one-on-one conversations and strengthen community solidarity. This moment offers a generational opportunity to think about how we want to move forward and create positive change for workers and their families. We must not allow disruptive messages of hate distract us from our work.”

“Also, we must recognise the real mass movement happening across Canada. Over the past two years of fighting this pandemic, we have witnessed millions of acts of kindness. People going the extra mile to help those who need it most. The vast majority of Canadians who got vaccinated and followed health protection measures. Our health professionals and frontline workers that kept going because they love their communities and want to protect its most vulnerable members.”

“Workers, families and communities from coast to coast to coast have been coming together and working to end this pandemic – and it is a truly encouraging thing to see. We urge everyone to stay safe and know that Canada’s unions stand with you. Forward together.”

To arrange an interview, please contact:

CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
613-526-7426

The post Canada’s unions stand with those who stand against hate appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, is available to speak to media today about the federal government’s Lockdown Benefit and the effect restrictions and business closures are having on workers and their families.

In advance of the government’s announcement on December 22, 2021, Bruske said:

“Canada’s unions are profoundly concerned that, with widespread restrictions and closures of businesses, workers and their families are being left without the help they need.

“We warned the government in October that their new law was far too limited in scope and we would be caught unprepared when the next crisis hit. Now we’re in the middle of the worst wave of COVID cases and there is less help available than at any previous point in the pandemic.

“We urge the prime minister and deputy prime minister to take swift action:

• Immediately call a meeting of the Premiers to ensure Canadian workers have access to the paid sick days in every province and territory;
• Declaring a lockdown so the new worker benefit is accessible to all workers now affected or immediately restore the Canada Recover Benefit;
• Ensure any benefit the government provides focus on employees whose wages have dropped substantially. Benefits should not be tied exclusively to workplaces. Often the employer may not qualify under the current rules, but their employees have had their shifts cut and their hours reduced because of new restrictions as a result of omicron;
• For workers in large scale, food production and other close contact workplaces, there must be support in the event of an outbreak to shut down production and have workers stay at home, with pay, until the outbreak is finished; and
• Recall parliament, if necessary, for a virtual sitting, to ensure help is there for the people who need it, now.

“Families shouldn’t have to spend their holidays worried about how they will pay their rent or mortgage in January. We need to provide swift support for the many thousands of workers now affected by the Omicron wave’s devastating impacts on our communities.

“It seems the only thing we can really be sure of with this pandemic is its unpredictability. We must not just lurch from wave to wave and variant to variant without better supports. Hundreds of thousands of workers were left in the cold after emergency benefit were cancelled last October.”

What:    Response to government announcement on Omicron and support for workers

Where:  By phone / remote interview

When:   Wednesday December 22, 2021

Who:    Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress

To arrange an interview, please contact:
CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
613-526-7426

The post Workers and their families need help now appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“This year marks ten years since the adoption of C-189, an historic convention which confirms the labour rights of domestic workers. And yet, a decade on, domestic workers in Canada continue to experience barriers to accessing and receiving the services and protections they need,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Domestic workers were already fighting for equality and the right to decent work before the pandemic, and the situation has only gotten more dismal since then, as we’ve seen a marked increase in inequities and injustices.”

Prior to the pandemic, domestic care workers were already an indispensable part of Canada’s care economy, providing invaluable care and support to our families and communities. Through every wave of the pandemic, the care labour provided by domestic workers has intensified and increased, yet these workers are still highly undervalued, underpaid and at risk of mistreatment and exploitation.

“Without ratification and implementation of C-189, migrant care workers remain vulnerable to exploitation, wage theft, violence, harassment and significant economic and social precarity. Its ratification would go a long way toward addressing the vulnerability of these workers and would protect their human rights,” said Siobhán Vipond, CLC Executive Vice-President.

ILO Convention 189 ensures that domestic workers have the rights and protections they need to continue the vital work they have been doing to keep our families and communities afloat, both before and during the pandemic.

A large number of domestic workers are migrant and non-status racialized women, and face barriers to decent work and protections due to immigration status and systemic racism. There are approximately 25,000 migrant caregivers in Canada, and one in three care workers lost their jobs during the pandemic, either temporarily or permanently. Most of these migrant care workers are working on closed work permits, which tie them to one employer and bar them from job mobility and security. Canada’s immigration rules prevent these workers from finding employment elsewhere, and from advancing on the path to permanent residency. For those migrant workers who were live-in caregivers, this loss of employment also meant a loss of housing – an additional barrier to their safety and wellbeing.

Canada’s unions continue to urge the federal government to address this issue by offering pathways to permanent residency to all migrant workers, which would provide them with access to the government supports and labour protections they require.

Domestic workers have waited long enough for their rights to be recognized and respected. It’s past time for Canada to ratify Convention 189 and ensure decent work for these essential and skilled workers.

The post Human Rights Day: Canada must ratify C-189 to protect vulnerable domestic workers appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“For years, the disability community has been sounding the alarm on the urgent need for improvements and reforms to Canada’s patchwork system of disability benefits,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “People continue to fall through the cracks due to the inadequacy of current programs and income supports, and also because of barriers to both eligibility and accessing benefits.”

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic, and cultural life.

COVID-19 further exacerbated barriers and challenges, with Statistics Canada reporting that more than one-third of people with long-term conditions or disabilities experienced a temporary or permanent job loss or reduced hours during the pandemic. 61% of those surveyed reported a major or moderate impact from COVID-19 on at least one financial obligation or essential need.

Disability-led groups and allies are calling on the government to centre the needs of people with disabilities in the country’s pandemic recovery plans by working closely with people with disabilities to expedite the development and implementation of the Canada Disability Benefit and put an end to disability poverty.

“We must redouble our efforts to create an inclusive and accessible society, where all people have the means to live with dignity,” said Bruske. “A new Canada Disability Benefit would be a game-changer for people with disabilities and their families. We must also improve employment security and accessibility at work, and make care services more accessible so people with disabilities can fully participate in the labour force.”

Join the call to fast-track the design and implementation of the Canada Disability Benefit by signing this parliamentary petition: 

https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-3656 

Learn more about disability rights at work:

https://canadianlabour.ca/doing-things-differently-guide/ 

The post Federal government should fast-track Canada Disability Benefit implementation appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

The Transgender Day of Remembrance celebrates and honours trans, non-binary and two-spirit people whose lives have been lost due to transphobic violence.

“When Parliament resumes on November 22, the federal government must take immediate action to reintroduce this important and human rights-affirming legislation,” said Canadian Labour Congress Executive Vice-President, Larry Rousseau. “Conversion practices are abhorrent and unacceptable and we must do everything in our power to end them and support survivors.”

Conversion therapy aims to change an individual’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. This coercive and harmful practice negatively impacts 2SLGBTQI+ people and has been denounced by medical, health, and human rights organizations.

Earlier this month, the CLC joined over 100 2SLGBTQI+, health care, human rights, academic, faith, labour and civil society organizations from across Canada in supporting a “Community Call to Action.” The memorandum, which has 106 signatories from across 10 provinces and territories, urges Parliament to prohibit all forms of conversion practices, develop accompanying policies to support survivor healing, and create public education and awareness programs.

A 2018 Statistics Canada study found that transgender Canadians were more likely to have experienced violence and inappropriate behaviours in public, online and at work than cisgender Canadians. The COVID-19 pandemic, as well as growing anti-rights movements, have further impacted the health and rights of transgender people, both globally and domestically.

“At home, at work, and in our unions, we must do more to combat and end transphobic violence, harassment, and discrimination. Passing legislation to ban conversion therapy is just the start and Canada’s unions will continue to support and promote the rights of all trans, non-binary and 2SLGBTQI+ people,” said Rousseau.

Learn more about trans rights in the workplace in the Canadian Labour Congress’ Workers In Transition Guide handbook.

Learn about events taking place to honour the Transgender Day of Remembrance here.

Need support? Contact Trans Lifeline, LGBT YouthLine, or Crisis Services Canada.

The post Canada’s unions urge federal government to end conversion therapy appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Canada’s unions have written to the Prime Minister to, in the wake of this crisis, direct his new Cabinet to make Canada’s economic recovery equitable and inclusive through real, substantial, and long-term investments in the care economy while taking concrete action to address how women, especially low-wage women, were disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

“As you prepare to meet this commitment in the new Parliament, you must do more than just appoint a Cabinet based on gender parity. Instead, it is imperative that you also provide the new Cabinet with instructions to take concrete action to address the significant setbacks to women’s labour force participation over the last 18 months,” Canadian Labour Congress, Bea Bruske, writes in her letter to the Prime Minister.

Bruske’s letter also pointed out how the care sectors are dominated by low-wage and often precarious workers who are predominantly women.  Racialized, immigrant, and migrant women are disproportionately represented in these jobs.

“The majority of this work is performed by women – 96% of child care workers are women and in long-term care facilities, 90% of paid staff are women, who are often working in poor and unjust conditions, for low wages,” said Bruske. “And yet, despite women’s labour force participation being at its lowest level in 30 years, we have not seen adequate investment in the sectors which are dominated by women, nor in the critical social infrastructure that they need in order to balance work and care responsibilities”

“Public expenditure in the care economy would help us meet our current and rising care needs and improve future outcomes – ultimately ensuring a more equitable and resilient care system and creating good, green, family-supporting jobs.”

A copy of Canadian Labour Congress Bea Bruske’s letter to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland is available on request.

To receive a copy of the letter or arrange an interview with Bea Bruske, contact:

CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
343-549-8397

The post New Cabinet’s top priority must be strengthening Canada’s care economy appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

OTTAWA—With the fourth wave raging in many communities and just two weeks before emergency benefits are cut, Canada’s unions are drawing attention to the urgent need to extend emergency benefits for hundreds of thousands of everyday people still relying on these programs.

“We are seeing an uneven jobs recovery and there’s still a long way to go before our communities are back on track. The prime minster said he would have workers’ backs,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Now, with Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) about to expire, and so many still without access to decent work, the government must live up to its promises and immediately extend this vital lifeline for hundreds of thousands of workers.”

Bruske said Canada’s unions are engaging the new government to make sure everyday people, not business interests, are at the centre of pandemic recovery plans. This includes raising the minimum wage; fair scheduling laws; increasing and fixing EI and paid sick leave; opening employment standards to gig economy workers; outlawing pay discrimination against part-time employees; and strengthening workers’ voices by providing a path to unionization.

“It’s wrong to blame emergency help for trouble finding workers. With low wages and poor working conditions, punishing those left in the labour force isn’t going to fix chronic labour shortages. The solution is better jobs, real benefits and fairer wages,” said Bruske. “Benefits must be extended until the crisis is over. And by then, Parliament must pass new legislation to permanently fix the cracks in our EI system.”

“The same business owners that are calling for an end to support for workers are still asking for government handouts for themselves,” concluded Bruske. “We know it’s workers who drive our communities. We need an equitable, inclusive recovery. Withdrawing supports from individuals would only serve to deepen inequality.”

Learn more about how Canada’s unions are helping to shape the recovery at canadianplan.ca.

To arrange an interview, please contact:

CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
613-526-7426

The post Fourth wave means urgent need to extend emergency help for workers appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

With a new First Ministers’ Meeting date not yet set, Canada’s unions are calling on the Premiers and the Prime Minister to listen to the millions of Canadians demanding that new health care funding actually invests in strengthening our public health care systems.

The fall meeting of Canada’s 13 provincial and territorial Premiers at the Council of Federation was scheduled for today, October 5^th, but was cancelled following the federal election.

“With the future of Canada’s cherished public health care hanging in the balance, a no-strings-attached approach is simply a non-starter for Canadians looking for quality care. People want governments to work together and invest in real solutions,” said Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Canadians know you can’t just cut a blank cheque and then close your eyes and wish for an end to the devastating crisis in long-term care, better primary care access, an end to nursing shortages, or make much-needed medicines affordable for everyone.”

The Canadian Labour Congress campaigned during the recent election for an economic recovery that includes stronger, publicly delivered health care. For that to happen, all levels of government must work with health care workers and advocates to deliver improvements to existing public health care, implement universal pharmacare and take profits out of long-term care delivery.

“Canadians want LTC residents to be properly cared for. They want nurses and doctors in their community. They want faster access to testing and diagnostics,” said Bruske. “What they don’t want are governments being handed tens of billions in new funding that are then used for things like tax giveaways.”

To arrange an interview, please contact:

CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
613-526-7426

The post Premiers, PM must listen to Canadians on strengthening health care appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

The HKCTU has faced unprecedented attacks, intimidation and allegations of offences under the National Security Law, leaving them no other alternative. The Law, enacted last year, criminalizes activities deemed to support or incite secession, subversion of state power, terrorism and collusion with foreign entities.

“We are distressed to witness the loss of a significant trade union actor and to know this is part of the complete weakening and dismantling of a once robust and vital civil society,” said Bea Bruske, President of the CLC.

Canada’s unions have stood in solidarity with the HKCTU and its affiliates throughout the years of pro-democracy protests and have strongly condemned the arrest and prosecution of trade union leaders imprisoned for exercising their rights of freedom of association. We have defended the legitimate right of trade unions to participate in social and economic activities.

Amid an ongoing campaign by state-owned media that labels trade unions as foreign agents, the Chinese authorities have alleged that the HKCTU’s affiliation to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and its legitimate cooperation with unions from other countries involves collusion. International affiliation and cooperation are protected under the International Labour Organization’s Convention 87 on Freedom of Association.

Canada’s unions join the global call on the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities to cease prosecutions and intimidation of trade unionists and advocates for fundamental freedoms and to release those who have been imprisoned.

We stand in solidarity with Hong Kong’s trade union leaders and workers and demand that their fundamental rights and civil liberties are respected.

The post Canada’s unions shocked at dissolution of HKCTU appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

 OTTAWA—On today’s National Day of Action for early learning and child care, Canadian Labour Congress president, Bea Bruske, joined fifty prominent women and co-signed a letter demanding all candidates and parties commit to accessible and affordable child care for all.

“I am proud to be a mom and add my support to this important initiative,” said Bruske. “So many women and moms were pushed to the economic sidelines during the pandemic. Affordable, accessible, quality child care must be a cornerstone of our economic recovery.”

“We risk losing the vital contribution working moms make to our economy. I ask my fellow Canadians to join us in demanding child care is available to all. Please vote to make sure moms are not left behind,” concluded Bruske.

The letter can be found here.

The post CLC President Bea Bruske: Vote to make sure working moms aren’t left behind appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

On August 11^th, the federal and Prince Edward Island governments signed an agreement to improve the list of drugs available on PEI public plans and “accelerate work to implement pharmacare.” Islanders will surely benefit. But we need to make sure the final outcome is indeed a universal pharmacare program. This would mean that Canadians would be able to get prescribed medications using their health card, just as we do when we go to the hospital or visit a doctor. It makes sense if we want to thrive and prosper in the post-pandemic recovery.

Today, Canada is the only country in the world with a universal health care system that doesn’t include drugs outside hospitals under that “universal” umbrella. This glaring gap has been called “the unfinished business of medicare.”

This is the result of history. In the early 1960s, when the shape of Canada’s future medicare system was being established, drugs were a relative sideshow of the medical system. Doctors and hospitals were king and, of course, resources were limited.

It’s time we changed that.

In fact, it’s far past time. And the opportunity is now.

The value and importance of drugs in our health care have risen tremendously in the past 60 years, not just to treat illness and disease but to prevent them. In the cardiovascular field alone, their role has been transformative. They are used routinely to manage high blood pressure – a major risk factor for heart disease and the number one risk factor for stroke – high cholesterol and other conditions. In 2019, Canadian pharmacies dispensed roughly 101 million prescriptions for these types of medicines alone.

This crucial importance of drugs in prevention and treatment extends to almost every other field of medicine, such as infections, diabetes, and mental health. When CARP, the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, surveyed its members, it found they take an average of four medications each, with many taking more than 10.

Yet while any Canadian can access hospital or doctor care without worrying about how to pay, we must all concern ourselves with paying for our drugs. Millions of Canadians have insufficient coverage or none at all. While many with full-time jobs have access to private insurance plans and all those over 65 and others have publicly paid drug insurance, almost all plans involve the patient paying a direct share of the costs.

For many Canadians, these costs are such a burden that they avoid taking the medicines they need. A poll from the Angus Reid Institute last October found that one in four Canadian households struggles financially to fill prescriptions. The problem is more acute among women, racialized Canadians, Indigenous people and young people.

Of course, not taking necessary medicines leads to individuals having worse health, causing greater subsequent costs to our health care system. Forcing people to pay for drugs, and therefore forcing many to do without them, ends up being a false economy. A universal pharmacare program makes sense for both businesses and the economy as it is estimated it would save Canada roughly $5 billion a year compared to our current fragmented and incomplete system.

We have a unique opportunity now to change this and complete that “unfinished business” of Canadian medicare. The federal government has been committed to creating a national pharmacare program and it has started the process by creating a Canadian Drug Agency to plan how it would work, but with no firm timeline. More recently, a federal advisory panel was struck to inform the development of a national drug formulary. We must continue a quick march forward towards implementing a national pharmacare program.

And, very importantly, it’s something Canadians want. In that same Angus Reid Institute poll, almost nine in 10 Canadians (86%) supported the idea. In a country as large and diverse as Canada, that’s about as close to unanimity as we get on a major public policy issue.

Health care delivery, of course, is a provincial jurisdiction. However, the federal government has been creative in recent years in incentivizing provinces to implement policies it considers nationally important. It provided special funding a few years ago for mental health and home care and is now in the process of making agreements with provinces for lower-cost child care programs. It can and should do the same for pharmacare.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to optimal health care is more important than ever for Canadians and there is no optimal health care without optimal access to medicines. Every political party should commit in their election platforms to finally providing Canadians a national universal pharmacare program.

Beatrice Bruske is president of the Canadian Labour Congress, Doug Roth is the CEO of Heart & Stroke, and Linda Silas is the president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions.

The post All parties in this pandemic election should agree on one big issue – national pharmacare appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

While Statistics Canada’s latest job numbers for July demonstrate another strong month for job gains, achieving pre-pandemic measures of employment and unemployment would only return Canada to the highly unequal, and for many, insecure and precarious job-market that existed on the eve of the pandemic.

“Workers continue to struggle to access good jobs,” said Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress. “It isn’t good enough for laid-off workers to find precarious work. The federal government can help build back better by doubling down on a coordinated agenda to improve job quality. That includes a host of measures from providing affordable child care to strengthening workplace standards and removing barriers for workers who want to organize. Letting the job market heal on its own won’t cut it; now is the time for a good jobs agenda committed to creating a more inclusive and equitable job market.”

In July, the official unemployment rate fell to 7.5%, back to where it was in March. However, the overall unemployment rate among workers from racialized communities remained a much higher 10.2%.

“As the federal parties gear up for an election, it is crucial that those vying for power understand how critical it will be to ensure workers in this country have all the supports required to succeed,” said Bruske. “That means addressing inequality, ensuring decent work, and striving for a more equitable economy. Canada’s unions are going to continue to advocate for workers who must not be left behind in the recovery.”

Canada’s unions will be advancing four critical priorities throughout the upcoming election, including replacing lost jobs with better ones, disaster-proofing our social safety net, strengthening public health care, and tackling climate change and ensuring no worker is left behind.

To arrange an interview, please contact:

CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
613-526-7426

The post Canada’s unions encouraged by continued job market recovery but urge parties to stay focused on the long road ahead appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Over a year into the pandemic and one year after the start of global uprisings against police violence, Black communities are still struggling. The pandemic disproportionately impacted Black communities, while the prevalent issues of police violence, over-policing and surveillance persist.

“While we have come a long way, the inequities Black workers and communities faced historically still reverberate and persist to this day,” said Bea Bruske, CLC President. “Black workers continue to experience barriers in all aspects of work, from hiring, to advancement, to retention and workplace supports.”

The CLC welcomed the federal budget announcement of increased spending to counter the uneven impacts of the pandemic, which included funding for Black communities, a strategy for the collection of race-based data, and a national child care system.

However, Black workers need more support when it comes to addressing systemic barriers to equity, and strengthening the Employment Equity Act is an important way to address the disparities Black workers face. Canada’s unions are once again urging the government to ensure Black communities are meaningfully and properly consulted in its efforts to modernize the Employment Equity Act. This process should also include bargaining agents who represent Black workers in the workplace.

“Recognition of Emancipation Day includes reckoning with the legacy and effects of structural racism and addressing the systemic failures that have resulted in Black workers experiencing a multigenerational wage gap, forcing many to work in dangerous conditions, for low wages, with few protections,” said Larry Rousseau, CLC Executive Vice-President.

This legacy of structural racism includes the unjust history of Black workers within the labour movement, where societal inequities were replicated. Black workers were barred from receiving the same protections as white workers and faced limited employment opportunities, regardless of qualifications or educational achievements.

Emancipation Day recognizes the abolition of slavery in Canada and other British colonies on August 1,1834, and the long and ongoing struggles against racism, oppression and discrimination faced by Black communities in Canada. This day honours the history and legacy of Black people, while acknowledging and confronting Canada’s role in the slave trade and its history of institutional anti-Black racism.

Learn more by visiting canadianplan.ca

The post Governments must honour Emancipation Day by addressing systemic racism appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Pension plans are complex, long-term arrangements. Funding, design and investment decisions made today will affect generations far into the future. Choices made about pensions cannot be based narrowly on current economic and demographic circumstances and certainly not unrelated political grievances.

Creating an Alberta Pension Plan, and withdrawing from the CPP, carry significant risks and uncertainties. Alberta’s economic and industrial structure and currently favourable demographics will almost certainly continue to evolve and change in the future.

When Quebec chose in 1966 to establish the Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) outside of the CPP, that province’s population was younger than the rest of Canada and its share of people aged 65 and over was lower. What was unforeseen at the time was that the drop in the birth rate in Quebec following the postwar baby boom also proved greater than the rest of Canada, while other provinces experienced greater immigration inflows. Because of these trends, Quebec announced in 2011 a gradual increase in contribution rates for the QPP. For the first time since the creation of the CPP and QPP, Quebeckers were forced to pay a higher contribution rate than other Canadians for the same pension benefit – because of a decision made almost 50 years earlier to create the QPP.

The CPP has been in place for over half a century. It is a well-established and mature pension plan. The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), which invests the assets of the CPP, is an experienced and successful global investment manager. If Alberta withdraws from the CPP, it will have to replicate the CPP’s institutions and administrative capacity, virtually from scratch. It will have to pool risk across a much smaller group of contributors. It will have to negotiate new agreements with Quebec and the federal government to prevent a loss of portability rights. It will have to match the sophistication and stature of the CPPIB, amidst uncertain and sometimes volatile market conditions where inexperience can lead to costly blunders – as the Alberta Investment Management Corporation recently discovered. There are also significant legal and financial uncertainties entailed in withdrawing from the CPP, which themselves risk undermining confidence in pensions.

Pensions and workers’ livelihoods are too important to play politics with. We cannot allow workers’ financial security to be used as a bargaining chip or political plaything of elected officials. If the Government of Alberta proceeds with a referendum on an Alberta Pension Plan, the CLC and its affiliates commit to working closely with the Alberta Federation of Labour to inform all Albertans of the advantages of remaining within the CPP and the risks and disadvantages of withdrawing from it.

The post CLC Canadian Council Statement on an Alberta Pension Plan appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

In a June 8^th decision, Justice Morgan of the Superior Court found that Bill 254’s regulation of third-party advertising during a 12-month pre-election period violated the Charter’s freedom of speech guarantee, and failed the minimal impairment test. Unions argued that the Bill’s one-year regulated period was too long, and indiscriminately limited not just election-related speech, but also expression on a range of important public-policy issues that are unrelated to the coming election.

For decades, the labour movement has strongly and consistently supported limits on election spending and third-party advertising. Everywhere, corporations and the rich have both the motive and the concentrated wealth to sway electorates. This threat was underscored by the 1991 report of the Royal Commission on Electoral Reform and Party Financing and its recommendation that political contributions and third-party election advertising be regulated.

Bill 254, now known as Bill 307, is very different. It is partisan legislation aimed squarely at the Conservative government’s critics, especially the labour movement. At trial, the government failed to justify or even explain why it was doubling the pre-election regulated period, and its own expert witnesses contradicted the government’s case. To use Section 33 of the Charter to override a court decision on a matter of the government’s own electoral self-preservation is a disgraceful conflict of interest and unacceptable to Ontarians.

Even those who don’t oppose the legislation should be appalled at the government’s use of the Notwithstanding Clause to deny constitutional protections to Ontarians.  That clause is called ‘the nuclear option’ for a reason – it is drastic, dangerous and intended for only the most extreme situations.

In 2018, Ford similarly and opportunistically reached for the Notwithstanding Clause to interfere with a Toronto council election campaign then underway. Rather than appeal or accept the decision of the Superior Court, Ford prepared legislation flouting the Charter to serve his own ends.

We reject the notion that the Notwithstanding Clause can be deployed anytime an inconvenient court decision upholding fundamental constitutional rights interferes with the government’s priorities. Mr. Ford, Ontario is a democracy, governed by the rule of law, and subject to the constitution of Canada. You are not king, and Ontario is not a tinpot dictatorship whose laws you can rewrite on a whim, without limit or constraint. Unions will not be silenced, and we will play our part in speaking out for our members. Try as you might you will not muzzle us.

The post CLC Canadian Council Statement on the Government of Ontario’s Decision to Invoke the Notwithstanding Clause appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

The most recent and tragic hate-motivated attack occurred on Sunday in London, Ontario. A Muslim family out for an evening walk were plowed down by a lone driver which resulted in the murder of four family members, and which led to serious injury to the only surviving family member ꟷ a nine-year-old boy.

“I extend our deepest condolences to the family of those who were targeted in this horrific attack,” said Hassan Yussuf, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Our hearts are with Muslim community members in London and across Canada who are forced to make sense of yet another heinous act of violence and terror.”

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, reports of hate crimes targeting several communities have gone up. Toronto Police Service’s annual report released in April 2021 showed a 51% rise in hate crime complaints and arrests in the city ꟷ a sharp increase from previous years. The data reported Jewish and Black community members as the most commonly targeted. The pandemic has also brought with it an increase in anti-Asian attitudes and a rise in hate crimes and violence against Asian communities across Canada.

This rise reflects national police-reported hate crimes data which also show an increase, though Statistics Canada has found that about two-thirds of victims say they do not report.

Anti-Muslim sentiment, rhetoric and violence has only grown since January 29, 2017, when a gunman opened fire inside a Quebec City mosque, killing six worshippers and injuring many more. This day has now been designated as the National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia.

Jewish community members and groups have also reported an increase in antisemitic rhetoric and acts of hate, including intimidation, threats and harassment of community members.

“We continue to see a highly troubling rise in racist and xenophobic acts, as well as the wide and rapid proliferation of hate online, all of which have devastating consequences for members of religious minority and racialized communities,” said Yussuff. “We look forward to seeing the federal government table legislation to address online hate as soon as possible to help address this phenomenon.”

“Racism, antisemitism and Islamophobia are incompatible with core union values of solidarity, democracy and social justice. Unions and union members have a responsibility to take steps to eliminate hate-motivated violence and harassment in workplaces and in our communities,” said Larry Rousseau, CLC’s Executive Vice-President.

Canada’s unions welcomed the federal government’s addition of violent, far-right extremist groups, including the Proud Boys, the Base, Atomwaffen, and the Russian Imperial Movement, to its list of terrorist organizations in February of this year. Groups such as these pose a severe threat to the safety and wellbeing of all workers, especially those belonging to marginalized communities.

In spite of this progress, there remains much work to be done when it comes to countering the ever-expanding reach of far-right white supremacist groups.

Far-right populist rhetoric espoused by groups such as these has also gained a foothold via anti-mask and anti-lockdown protests, whose attendees’ grievances have centered on a rejection of public health guidelines and orders, and the propagation of notions of government persecution.

“The pandemic is being used as a cover to spread hate and fear, and we must do everything we can to guard against this. This includes actively and rigorously combatting white supremacy and far-right extremism in our communities,” added Rousseau.

Canada’s unions are deeply committed to fighting against the scourge of racism and xenophobia, including Islamophobia, antisemitism and all forms of hate. We will continue to work with all levels of government to protect the safety and wellbeing of all workers, and promote safer and fairer workplaces and communities for all.

For more information on how to confront Islamophobia in our workplaces and communities, read our report: Islamophobia at Work: Challenges and Opportunities.

The post Canada’s unions condemn hate-motivated terrorist attack against Canadian Muslim family; express concern over rising incidents of hate appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“Everyone benefits when workplaces are accessible,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Yet too many people with disabilities are unemployed, underemployed, or face barriers to advancement at work because of stigma, discrimination, and lack of access to accommodations.”

This week, Canada’s unions are launching Doing Things Differently: A Disability Rights At Work Handbook. The handbook provides an overview of disability rights issues in Canada, with a specific focus on advancements and challenges in workplaces and in the union movement. To download a copy, click here.

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit people with disabilities hard. In a recent Statistics Canada study, one third of participants with long-term conditions or disabilities reported losing their job or reducing their hours during the pandemic. Others were not able to access income supports despite the increased costs, and had difficulties accessing food and personal protective equipment. Access to home care and other services was severely hampered, and many people with disabilities reported high levels of stress and anxiety.

Last fall, the federal government announced its intention to establish a new Disability Benefit, modeled after the Guaranteed Income Supplement available to seniors. Canada’s unions and disability rights organizations welcomed this progress toward a longstanding demand. In the recent federal budget, the government committed to holding consultations on the new benefit as well as improved access to the Disability Tax credit.

“We urge the federal government to accelerate the timeline for this new Disability Benefit,” said Rousseau. “An equitable recovery means addressing the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on people with disabilities. The need for better income support was already well established and the pandemic only highlighted that we can’t wait any longer for this benefit. People need support now,” said Rousseau.

An accessible and inclusive Canada is one where people have the means to live in dignity. A new disability benefit, paired with efforts to improve employment security and accessibility at work, will make a real difference for many people with disabilities and their families.

The post National AccessAbility Week: Canada’s unions call for elimination of barriers to employment, launch new handbook appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

The Colombian government has responded with excessive force in the deployment of the military and police with the widespread use of live firearms, rubber bullets and tear gas against protesters. As of May 6, human rights groups report the violent death of 37 people, 1,708 cases of abusive use of force, 26 victims of eye injuries, 234 victims of physical violence and 934 arbitrary detentions.

That President Iván Duque was forced to withdraw the regressive tax reform plan is a victory for poor and middle-class citizens and the civil society protesters, but it does not absolve the Government of Colombia from taking responsibility for the violence and holding accountable the perpetrators of the human rights violations.

Canadian unions condemn this violence and support the legitimate demands of the Colombian people for:

• The demilitarization of the urban areas and cities.
• The dismantling of the Colombian national police riot control unit (known by its Spanish acronym ESMAD).
• Punishment for those responsible for the brutal repression against the demonstrations.
• Guarantees for the right of peaceful protest.
• Start of negotiations over the Unified Emergency Plan with the National Strike Committee.

Workers everywhere deserve to live and work with dignity, and exercise their rights without fear of reprisals and state repression.

The post Canadian unions condemn violence in Colombia appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

There is a cruel irony that this legislation is being introduced on the National Day of Mourning for workers who have been injured or lost their lives on the job. The work of unions to strengthen protections of workers is a crucial part of the work of collective bargaining and has been a key part of the disagreement that led to the labour actions at the Port of Montreal.

It is utterly hypocritical for the government to declare its firm commitment to free collective bargaining while imposing the threat of heavy fines and penalties for exercising the right to withhold labour, safeguarded by the freedom of association guarantee of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

By tabling back-to-work legislation, the federal government invites every provincial government unwilling to fairly negotiate with its teachers, nurses, and government employees to similarly trample their Charter rights.

The invitation to the parties to conclude an agreement on their own terms rings hollow, since the government has just given the maritime employers every incentive not to negotiate. This reality is exacerbated by the fact that CUPE Local 375 made several offers to end their strike and return to the bargaining table, but the employer refused their offers with knowledge that the government would impose legislation favouring their position.

Withdrawing Canadians’ fundamental freedoms, upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada, because of the potential harm to Canada’s “reputation as a reliable global trading partner” is wrong.  Free collective bargaining is the essence of our democracy.

On behalf of Canada’s workers, we firmly oppose this legislation as a direct blow to the rights of workers in this country.

To arrange an interview, please contact:

CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
613-526-7426

The post Back-to-work legislation undermines workers’ rights appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

For over a year, the world has faced unprecedented upheaval due to COVID-19. The virus and its variants have wrought havoc on our society and laid bare a troubling lack of protection for workers.

“Every year on the Day of Mourning, we mourn the dead and re-commit to fighting for the living,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the CLC. “Over the last year, we have witnessed how vulnerable we all are. This pandemic has shone a light on egregious gaps in workplace protections and exposed employers who choose to put profits over people.”

Evidence from across the country shows that the virus is spreading at work, not only in health care settings but also in factories, meat works, warehouses, schools, offices, transportation and other sectors. Workers have had to fight for access to appropriate, effective protective equipment, COVID-safe practices at work, paid sick leave and respect for their basic health and safety rights.

However, these problems existed before the pandemic and have resulted in millions of deaths each year from work-related injuries and diseases. Every year, approximately 1000 Canadian workers and more than 2.7 million workers around the world die because of an injury or an exposure that happens at work.

“Over the past year, Canadian workers have kept food on our tables, essential goods in our cupboards, taught our children, cared for our loved ones and kept critical institutions running,” said Yussuff. “They have done all of this, at serious risk and sometimes great cost to their own health and safety. The failure of governments to prioritize paid sick leave for workers in all jurisdictions puts everyone at risk, and is undoubtedly prolonging and deepening the impacts of the pandemic.”

Without access to protected, paid sick days, workers have been forced to choose between going to work sick, or not getting paid, and in some cases losing their jobs. An estimated 58 percent of Canadian workers don’t have access to paid sick leave through their employers, according to a report by the Decent Work and Health Network. That number rises to 70 percent among people making less than $25,000 a year.

Canada’s unions call on all governments to immediately introduce or expand paid sick leave to ensure workers aren’t required to go to work sick.

Read more about how Canada’s unions are fighting to protect the living by calling on all governments to disaster-proof our country.

The post Day of Mourning 2021 – The Human Cost of COVID-19 appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Four other democracy defenders also received prison sentences and five more were handed suspended sentences. Lee Cheuk Yan will face six more charges in the coming months with other trade union leaders Carol Ng and Winnie Yu who are under pre-trial detention for subversion under the national security law.

“This violates the very basic principle of the freedom of association and the legitimate right of trade unions to participate in social and economic activities,” says Hassan Yussuff, Canadian Labour Congress President. “We stand with our comrade and friend Lee Cheuk Yan and call on the Government of Hong Kong to drop all charges against these activists.”

Trade unions have been at the forefront of the fight to safeguard democracy since China introduced legislative changes – including the national security law – that infringe on Hong Kong sovereignty and criminalize protest. It is weakening the Basic Law of Hong Kong, which upholds the one country, two systems principle that protects freedoms retained in the handover from British rule, including the freedom of assembly and speech, an independent judiciary and some democratic rights that are not protected in the rest of China.

Before the sentencing, Lee Cheuk Yan dedicated the song You’ll Never Walk Alone to the people of Hong Kong. “We will walk together even in darkness, with hope in our heart.”

Canadian unions continue to stand with Hong Kong’s workers, trade union leaders and pro-democracy activists in these dark times.

The post Canada’s unions call for the immediate release of trade union leaders jailed in Hong Kong appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“At last, there is justice for Lula, Brazilian workers and people who have ceaselessly defended his innocence,” says Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, which supported the global Free Lula campaign.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court of Brazil confirmed lower court decisions to annul criminal convictions attained through the massive anti-corruption investigation known as Operation Car Wash, which many saw as politically motivated. Lula was convicted of taking bribes and spent a year and a half behind bars.

“Workers across the world stood with Lula,” says Yussuff, “and now, at last, we celebrate his innocence and freedom.”

The post Canada’s unions applaud overturning of Lula convictions appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Members of Parliament are currently debating Bill C-24, which would extend EI benefits, currently set to begin expiring at the end of March, by another 24 weeks, or into the fall.

“Politicians must urgently work together to pass this legislation,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the CLC. “The Conservatives’ delays are putting vulnerable workers at increased risk of losing benefits they need.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating effect on the lives of millions of Canadians and on the economy. Workers have struggled to find and keep jobs over the past year, and many are still relying on EI benefits to keep them afloat. Without swift action by Parliament, the situation will become even more dire.

“Robust debate is important for any legislation but that isn’t what is happening here. Canadians expect responsible decision-making that has their best interests in mind,” said Yussuff. “Political leaders must never play partisan games with people’s lives. Lawmakers must pass Bill C-24; millions of Canadians are counting on this extension.”

Going forward, Canada must work to disaster-proof its economy by creating an inclusive, adequate, streamlined, and simplified EI program that doesn’t disadvantage low-paid workers in non-standard employment.

As Canada recovers from the pandemic, there is also an important need for greater access to training opportunities for jobless workers looking to retrain or improve their skill set while receiving EI and recovery benefits.

For more information:

CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
613-526-7426

The post Canada’s unions urge Conservatives to join with government and opposition parties to swiftly pass EI extension appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“It’s no secret that the gendered impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have hurt women the most, especially those who also face other forms of discrimination and marginalization,” said Marie Clarke Walker, CLC Secretary-Treasurer. “Black, Indigenous and racialized women, newcomers, women with disabilities, and queer and trans communities have been among the hardest hit by COVID-19.”

At the beginning of the pandemic, more than 1.5 million women lost their jobs. Many others saw their hours and income reduced in order to care for children or other family members. Unsurprisingly, women took on the lion’s share of paid and unpaid care work keeping homes, schools and communities afloat over the past year.

Of those women fortunate enough to keep their jobs, many have been on the front lines of this health crisis. They are doing the work that keeps our communities healthy, safe, fed and supported while facing increased risk of exposure to the virus, higher exposure to violence and harassment, and inadequate access to PPE and paid sick days.

“Canada hasn’t seen women’s labour force participation this low since the mid 80s,” said Clarke Walker. “Without immediate and concrete investments to ensure a safe and accessible national system for child care, as well as a concerted effort to address the low wages and poor working conditions across the care sector, we risk losing 30 years of gains in women’s economic participation.”

The federal government’s plan for Canada’s economic recovery must address the precarity faced by workers in the care economy, must invest in a universal childcare program, and must ensure that women who have been pushed out of the workforce get back to work in good jobs.

Since launching the #DoneWaiting campaign in 2018, the CLC has called on the federal government to value women’s work, end violence and harassment, fix the child care crisis and make work fair for women. Three years later, it’s taken a pandemic to underscore how essential women’s labour is to the wellbeing of our communities and of our economic well-being.

Supporters are invited to mark International Women’s Day 2021 by texting IWD2021 to 5525 to join the movement for women’s economic justice.

The post #WeAreTheRecovery: Pandemic response must centre women’s economic justice appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

The numbers of workers who are currently facing the prospect of an end to their benefits this March are staggering:

• 844,000 workers were receiving the Canada Recovery Benefit in late January 2021;
• 129,000 workers were receiving the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit in late January 2021;
• Over 2.3 million people are receiving Employment Insurance benefits in February 2021.

“These workers need to know what happens next as they continue to face economic hardship and uncertainty,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “This pandemic is not ending anytime soon. We need the federal government to plan for the long-term and provide support for workers whose jobs have disappeared.”

Canada’s economy saw higher than expected job losses at the end of 2020 and another large drop in employment in January, with 213,000 jobs lost. Women and low-wage, racialized workers in precarious employment have been hit the hardest.

“It will be some time before Canada returns to full employment. The federal government must act now to ensure workers aren’t left struggling to put food on the table and cover their essential needs,” said Yussuff.

The federal government has already promised much-needed changes to Canada’s EI system. Read CLC’s recommendations for EI reform here.

The post Canada’s unions are warning federal government of looming ‘benefits cliff’ appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

World AIDS Day is observed every year on December 1, in support of those living with HIV and to remember those lost to HIV/AIDS. This year’s theme is Global Solidarity and Shared Responsibility.

Workers here in Canada and around the world have long called for meaningful investments in public health care, protections for frontline workers and global access to medicines and vaccines. The global response to the COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS pandemics must aim to eliminate stigma and discrimination and ensure the protection and promotion of human rights.

“No one is safe until everyone is safe,” says CLC President Hassan Yussuff. “People living with or affected by HIV have been made especially vulnerable by the COVID pandemic, and not only in terms of increased health risk but in terms of access to the medications they need.”

The pandemic has drastically impacted the lives and livelihoods of workers around the world, highlighting strong connections between access to health care and social inequality. It has exposed existing racial, gender, social and economic inequalities, hitting the poorest and most vulnerable the hardest.

Between 2014 and 2018, the number of new HIV infections in Canada rose by 25.5%. Globally, in the last year, 38 million people were living with HIV and 25.4 million people were accessing antiretroviral therapy, 1.7 million people became newly infected with HIV and 690,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses.

“Canadian unions are pushing back against austerity and privatization measures to ensure a robust response and recovery that ensures our collective well-being,” said Yussuff. “The current strain on our public health care system threatens access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care. Now more than ever, we need a Canadian plan that’s rooted in our way of doing things – and that means taking care of one another.”

To write to your MP on this issue, click here.

The post Canada’s unions mark World AIDS Day by calling for universal pharmacare appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Today’s update extends critical income support and economic measures to help Canadians and businesses. While today’s commitments on key priorities remain modest and reflect past promises, the government has signalled it will make further investments as the recovery begins to take shape.

“Canada’s workers and their families are staring down a harsh, frightening winter of economic uncertainty in the midst of a health crisis that shows no sign of letting up,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).

“They have received assurances that their government will help them make ends meet and safeguard their health and well-being. However, it’s clear that many essential investments will be required around critical priorities like child care, pharmacare and towards key industries to ensure a rapid recovery.”

The federal government made numerous commitments towards workers and their families, including:

• The promise of improved working conditions and measures to support retention and recruitment of care economy workers and early childhood educators;
• Creation of new national standards for long-term care and a $1 billion fund to improve the quality of care;
• Green economy investments, including support for home energy efficiency retrofits and the goal of planting 2 billion trees;
• Limited sector-specific support for the hospitality and aviation sectors;
• Measures to tax the multinational digital giants and improve tax compliance;
• The creation of a Federal Secretariat on Early Learning and Child Care; and,
• The announcement of a task force on modernizing the Employment Equity Act.

Canada’s unions join other experts and stakeholders in emphasizing that the priority must remain on returning Canada to full employment rather than on reducing debt.

“Harsh cuts in the past have put Canadians more at risk today. We need only to look at the state of long-term care, the erosion of public health capacity and an insufficient Employment Insurance program,” said Yussuff. “This is why we have been calling on governments to disaster-proof the country to help us withstand future crises while we recover from this one.”

To read more about the directed investments the CLC is calling for, visit canadianplan.ca.

The post Fiscal update’s emphasis on investments will spare Canadians further economic hardship and spur recovery appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

The pandemic exposed deep disparities and vulnerabilities in our economy and society. It has also radically changed the lives of people across Canada.

Workers want the federal government to disaster-proof the economy by committing to investments in job creation, pharmacare and child care, among others.

CLC President Hassan Yussuff is available to comment on the Action Week priorities and to discuss the importance of hosting such a large-scale virtual lobbying event, even in the midst of the current crisis.

To arrange an interview, please contact:

CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
Office: 613-526-7426
Cell: 613-355-1962

The post Canada’s unions hosting virtual Action Week appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“The issue of violence and harassment at work has taken on new urgency during COVID-19,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “Workers facing violence and harassment at work may be feeling more isolated and more fearful of repercussions for speaking out, given the state of the job market. The rise in the numbers of people working from home also means that violence is inescapable for those living with their abusers.”

The CLC will be working in partnership with the Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children (CREVAWC) and a researcher at the University of Toronto to collect and analyze information on sexual harassment and violence in the workplace.

The new survey aims to help identify the challenges workers face and explore possible solutions.

“The federal government has acknowledged that violence and harassment are serious occupational health and safety hazards. With the results of this survey, we will be able to talk to policy-makers and employers about what works and what needs to change,” said Marie Clarke Walker, Secretary-Treasurer of the CLC.

Over half of Canadian women surveyed by the Angus Reid Institute in 2018 reported having experienced workplace sexual harassment during their lifetime and 89% of women reported having taken steps to avoid unwanted sexual advances at work.

The new national survey will look at the experience of both unionized and non-unionized workers in an attempt to uncover why employees choose to report or not report, and whether there is a difference between their experiences. All workers, of any gender, are encouraged to fill it out, whether or not they have personally experienced or witnessed violence and harassment at work. The goal for collecting this data is to help employers better protect workers.

The research will identify the types of responses workers receive when they report workplace sexual harassment and violence, and any links between sexual harassment and other forms of violence in the workplace, and how workers who are marginalized may be impacted.

“This survey will help us understand workers’ experiences of violence and harassment in Canada,” said Yussuff. “Until we have that understanding, we have little chance of preventing harassment before it starts. All workers deserve to feel safe in their workplace.”

The survey will run until April 2021. It builds on existing research about workplace violence and harassment, including bullying and physical violence. Responses will be anonymous and will provide a snapshot of a variety of sectors and workplaces rather than examine specific workplaces or bargaining units.

The survey is funded by the Government of Canada’s Workplace Harassment and Violence Prevention Fund.

To arrange an interview, please contact:
CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
613-526-7426

To fill out the survey, click here.

The post Canada’s unions launch initiative to shine a light on harassment and violence at work appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Canada’s unions are committed to standing in solidarity with racialized and Indigenous communities in upholding principles of equity, justice, and human rights. These are principles central to the labour movement.

The efforts required to undo systemic racism will necessitate difficult and ongoing conversations and the formulation of deliberate strategies to educate, empower, and engage all workers. We all have a responsibility towards dismantling systems that perpetuate racism and inequality and towards rebuilding new ways of promoting the health and well-being of our entire collective.

Following the spate of tragic killings and abuse of racialized and Indigenous people at the hands of police in both the United States and in Canada, a key demand that has emerged from human rights advocates and targeted communities includes a call to defund the police.

The context and meaning of this demand is critical. While the brutal killing of George Floyd earlier this past summer was a galvanizing moment helping to propel anti-Black racism and its impacts into the public consciousness, the long history of police brutality is a key factor.

The traumatic legacies of slavery, oppression and colonization continue to reverberate throughout society and this includes in the ways in which law enforcement agencies have been overpolicing, surveilling, and at times, even killing, members of racialized and Indigenous communities. Racial profiling, so-called ‘random’ street checks, the disproportionate number of Black and Indigenous people in prison, the presence of police in schools and the disproportionate number of violent interventions by police must all be addressed.

The call to divert funding away from police services towards community support is justified when cuts to youth programming, investments in affordable housing and mental health supports, and other key social programs have hurt far too many vulnerable communities. In fact, over the last few decades, there have been considerable increases in police budgets, at the same time as austerity measures eroded public funding for community and social programs and services throughout various levels of government.

In far too many Canadian municipalities, provinces and territories, budget allocations for police services outweigh combined spending on other priorities like public transit, libraries and parks and recreation. This spending has accompanied the increased militarization of police services in Canada, reflected in the purchase of armored vehicles and tactical gear more suited for battlefields than urban and suburban neighbourhoods. Due to the chronic underfunding of social programs, police services are expected to address a host of societal challenges and crises – situations for which their training, culture and mandate are ill-suited.

It is incumbent on working people to demand that public services be assigned towards lifting communities up and helping people reach their fullest potential.

Canada’s unions support efforts to reduce federal, provincial, territorial and municipal budget allocations to police services, and to reinvest these funds toward alternatives to policing, such as community-based health and social services and programs, mental health supports and crisis intervention, public transportation, cycling and pedestrian infrastructure, services to prevent and address gender-based violence, addiction treatment and harm reduction programs, among others.

On a broader scale, increased government investments in affordable housing, mental health care, child care and employment supports would have a direct impact on the health and well-being of our most marginalized communities, promoting public safety and addressing the root causes of violence.

Canada’s unions stand in solidarity with the call to defund police budgets, which have continued to grow exponentially as public services, have been reduced or eliminated. The labour movement further supports efforts to look at the ways in which law enforcement agencies have upheld legacies of harm, as well as to re-examine how resources could be better allocated towards strengthening our communities and helping the most vulnerable.

Furthermore, leaders within Canada’s unions reiterate their commitment towards advancing human rights within our own unions; among our staff and leadership, and in collaboration with communities. This will require ongoing efforts, which include education, advocacy, training and resources. We will continue to strive to achieve and model the highest standards of equity and hold ourselves accountable throughout.

The post Canada’s unions stand united against all forms of racism and against police violence appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

This crisis has shone a light on some of the vast inequalities in this country. As we move towards recovery, it’s clear we have to strengthen the social safety and disaster-proof our nation.

COVID-19 has exposed and exacerbated an unequal labour market, and the recovery gives us the opportunity to address those inequities.

The hardest hit in this pandemic have been those who had been struggling even before COVID-19, and who had no cushion when it hit. At the peak of the lockdown, 5.5 million people felt the impact on the economy – more than 3 million people lost their jobs, and 2.5 million had their hours reduced.

The workers who not only saw the most impact in their workplace, but also saw the highest likelihood of infection, were racialized Canadians, immigrants, refugees and migrant workers. Women have faced a disproportionate amount of struggles, as they do a majority of the unpaid care work for children who weren’t going to school and older relatives.

As Canada’s unions mark the World Day for Decent Work on October 7, we recognize the frontline workers who have put their own health at risk, and those who have borne the brunt of the negative impact of the pandemic itself.

The fact that these workers were the hardest hit from both a health and economic standpoint is not a coincidence. While causes of inequity are complex, they are often rooted in social and structural inequities, including systemic racism.

Canada’s unions have been calling on Statistics Canada to start collecting and publishing data on race in its monthly Labour Force Survey for decades. It took a pandemic to finally highlight the need for this change. Monthly labour force data by race and ethnicity was published for the first time this past July.

The data confirmed what racialized and immigrant workers experience every day: higher unemployment and lower wages.

Racialized, immigrant and women workers are over-represented in critical work, which tends to be low paying and undervalued. Nearly one-quarter of Filipino and one-fifth of Black Canadians work in health care and social services, putting them at higher risk of exposure to COVID-19; and these same workers face a significant wage gap.

In July, workers in these industries who are not racialized earned an average of $29.90 per hour, while Filipino and Black workers earned between $26.86 and $23.36. The pay gap is larger for those with overlapping identities, with a racialized woman earning less than a racialized man. Racialized and migrant workers are also over-represented in occupations that take place in settings where social distancing is more difficult, like factories or meat-packing plants.

This crisis has led to a real appreciation for many of these workers who were suddenly deemed critical. We now have an opportunity to finally do right by them and implement effective measures to fight inequality.

Firstly, we need to ensure that the minimum wage in each province is a living wage. The federal government should create a federal minimum wage and work with the provinces to raise provincial minimums. At the same time, all workers must be given access to paid sick days. Without paid sick leave, workers will not be able to isolate for fear of losing their income.

The federal government took an important step in giving workers access to 10 paid days of sick leave through the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB), but the provinces need to step up and create their own paid sick days.

Of course, one of the best ways to improve working conditions and combat inequities like pay gaps is to give workers a voice in the workplace through unionization. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there has been a growing number of workers who have reached out to unions or who have started organizing in their workplace.

While many workers have been facing down the toughest challenges of their lives during this pandemic, this crisis has also empowered workers to speak up and stand up for their rights. People are seeing the value of collective action and a collective voice.

The reality, though, is that the labour laws that set rules for forming and joining unions have not kept pace with the changing workplace. Companies and employers have also found new ways and gotten better at skirting them. It is estimated that 8.2 per cent of employed Canadians now work in the gig economy.

These workers are more likely to be women and more likely to be newcomers to Canada.

Under current laws, workers face major hurdles when trying to unionize, especially those in non-standard work, like gig-workers, freelancers or contract workers. In some provinces, agricultural and domestic workers, whom are disproportionately migrants and racialized, are still excluded from core labour codes.

We need updated labour laws that reflect the realities of the 21^st century, and this includes ensuring that no worker is excluded from their fundamental right to organize and bargain collectively.

Furthermore, the temporary measures put in place to grant gig-workers and other non-standard workers access to EI should be made permanent.

The work of low-wage, low-skill temporary migrant workers also made headlines during this crisis. These workers do critical labour in the supply chain but have very few options in terms of becoming permanent residents or citizens in Canada.

In addition, we must recognize that many of the people who were laid off during the pandemic will not see their jobs return. Job creation, including job training, are key.

We can be strategic in planning and use this opportunity to invest in social, physical and green infrastructure. This plan would create decent, unionized jobs in health and long-term care, universal child care, renewable energy, public transit, and in other sectors that support our transition to a green and just economy.

Canada’s unions are advocating for the creation of better jobs to replace the ones we’ve lost; stronger public health care that includes pharmacare, mental health care and long-term care; and a robust social safety net that will withstand the next crisis.

While we focus on rebuilding the economy we have the opportunity to make the lives of workers better. We need to ensure that human rights are front and centre in all the work we do, and that we bring a gender and equity lens to issues we face. We need recognition that systemic, structural and institutional barriers create, reinforce and maintain social and economic inequality for marginalized communities.

The pandemic has shone a harsh light on life’s inequities for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour, including racialized immigrants, newcomers, migrants and people with precarious immigration status. Women in particular are negatively affected.

On top of all of this, we’ve seen justified concerns and protest against systemic racism and discrimination for many groups in our society, including a troubling rise in anti-Asian racism and advocacy against anti-Black racism and other forms of oppression.

Despite all this upheaval, there is opportunity. Canada is well positioned to fix what was clearly broken in our communities and to move us forward, together.

The post Lessons of the pandemic must lead to change for frontline workers appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

What is not on the table will also be a source of anxiety and trepidation as growing numbers of individuals and families struggle with food insecurity.

“We’re seeing troubling reports that more and more people in Canada are food insecure,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Thanksgiving is an opportunity to help alleviate this stress in a small but significant way. It is more important than ever that those of us who are able to support our local food banks give more to help make things easier on individuals and on families.”

According to the non-profit Community Food Centres Canada, food insecurity is negatively impacting the mental and physical health of millions of Canadians. A report by Statistics Canada this past May found that one in seven survey respondents experienced moderate to severe food insecurity. This is significantly higher than the previous year, when over 4.5 million people were found to have limited access to adequate nutrition. Research shows that children, Indigenous people, people of colour, single parents, newcomers and people in Northern communities are all disproportionately impacted.

“We are getting through this pandemic by working together, and that means we need to support each other in these tough times,” said Yussuff. “Many non-profit agencies and charities are seeing donations dwindle and a decrease in volunteers due to COVID-19. This is happening at the same time that demand for help is going up. Let’s do our part to make sure no one in our communities ever has to go hungry.”

Various labour councils across Canada will also be donating to local food banks.

Canada’s unions have launched an ambitious recovery plan that focuses on job creation, healthcare and social programs that aim to reduce inequality and help lift people out of poverty. Learn about the campaign here.

The post Canada’s unions encourage donations to local food banks to mark Thanksgiving appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“This ongoing crisis, and the long history of colonialist attitudes that devalues the being and culture of Indigenous peoples, is our biggest shame,” said Marie Clarke Walker, Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Canada’s unions are calling on our federal government to develop and implement a national action plan on violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people,”

The rate of sexual assault of Indigenous women in this country today is more than three times that of non-Indigenous women. The homicide rate of Indigenous women in Canada is six times higher and those crimes are solved at a lower rate.

In June 2019, after years of advocacy from the families of the missing and murdered and their allies, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released its final report. The report was based on three years of testimony from 2,000 individuals and their families. Among the report’s 231 Calls for Justice is the call for a national action plan to end this violence.

Despite commitments from the federal government to develop a national action plan by June 2020, no plan or updated timelines have been released.

“It’s been over a year since the National Inquiry’s final report was published, and still there is little progress from the federal government,” said Clarke Walker. “During this pandemic, we’ve witnessed a spike in domestic violence, homicide and cyberbullying. Action on gender-based violence has never been more urgent.”

The action plan must be developed with input from provinces, territories, Indigenous leaders, families and women’s groups, two-spirit persons and all other advocates, to ensure it is transparent and trauma-informed.

To mark Sisters in Spirit this year you can:

• Attend a virtual vigil: The Native Women’s Association of Canada is livestreaming a vigil on Sunday, October 4 from 2-3:30 pm EDT.
• Find a social-distanced vigil in your community: The Native Women’s Association of Canada will post local events. Families of Sisters in Spirit is organizing a vigil in Ottawa on Sunday, October 4 at noon EDT. This vigil may be moved online.
• Write a letter to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Carolyn Bennett, to demand a national action plan using Amnesty International Canada’s letter-writing tool
• Learn more about CLC’s lobbying priorities on Indigenous rights here.

The post Canada’s unions push for implementation of National Action Plan on Violence Against Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Mental Illness Awareness Week (MIAW), this week from October 4 to 10, is part of a national public education campaign in Canada to educate communities and organizations about mental illness.

“This is an important opportunity to reflect on the barriers faced by people living with mental illness in their workplace and in their communities,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Canada’s path to economic recovery needs to focus on the well-being of workers and their families.”

According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s most recent policy advice on COVID-19 and mental health in Canada, “50 percent of Canadians [have] reported worsening mental health since the pandemic began” and “in a survey of Canadian workers, 81 per cent reported that the pandemic is negatively impacting their mental health.”

Participants in these studies outlined increased stress due to high levels of anxiety related to fears about the future, their loved ones, employment outcomes and the overall negative impact of social isolation on mental health.

“We need federal leadership that commits to learning from this crisis, and develops a recovery plan that centres the needs of the most marginalized, and that includes ensuring better mental health support and access to universal, single-payer pharmacare for all,” said Rousseau. “That’s why the campaign we launched on Labour Day demands a recovery that strengthens our public health care system.”

Useful links:

• To learn how to take action for better mental health support at your workplace, visit the CLC’s Mental Health Resource Centre.
• For more information on Mental Illness Awareness Week, including videos and myth-busting resources, visit the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health (CAMIMH).
• To join Canada’s unions in calling for an economic recovery plan that will disaster-proof Canada and strengthen public health care, add your voice here.

The post Canada’s unions call for mental health supports for all appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Orange Shirt Day serves as an important reminder of the legacy of residential schools, the generational trauma and systemic barriers still faced by First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities in what we call Canada today.

“Orange Shirt Day is an opportunity to honour Indigenous lives and work to confront ongoing colonialism and violence against Indigenous communities,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice President of the Canadian Labour Congress.

The horrors of the residential school system are an important part of Canada’s colonial history. For unions, part of taking action on Orange Shirt Day includes recognizing that the legacy of residential schools is echoed in existing government policies, including the discriminatory practice of birth alerts, the over representation of Indigenous children in the foster care system, and the underfunding of child and family services on reserves.

“There is no erasing the experiences of the victims of residential schools and the ongoing generational impacts, we can only honour their memory by moving forward towards reconciliation,” said Rousseau. “That’s why we, as unions, have taken action to support Indigenous-led campaigns to address the systemic inequities and injustices faced by Indigenous communities, and push all levels of government to adopt the calls to action from the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Report.”

Residential schools are estimated to have impacted the lives of at least 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Metis children between 1880 to 1996. Approximately 80,000 survivors are still alive today.

“There is still a long way to go to ensure justice for Indigenous children in this country, but by taking part in Orange Shirt Day, unions can take a meaningful step in raising awareness of the legacy of residential schools and the work that lies ahead to combat racism and colonialism in this country,” said Rousseau. “In the midst of a global pandemic, we cannot and we won’t leave behind Indigenous children and their families. Every child matters.”

The trauma inflicted by residential schools has had far-reaching and devastating impacts on survivors, their families and Indigenous communities.

To learn more, visit these links:

• History of residential schools
• Video on Orange Shirt Day
• The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation online event for students and teachers on September 30
• CLC’s recommendations for the federal government on Indigenous rights

The post On Orange Shirt Day, Canada’s unions recommit to supporting Indigenous communities appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Earlier today, the American government reversed the highly contentious tariffs just hours before the Canadian government was set to impose its own retaliatory actions. Those actions would have had significant repercussions in the U.S. and would have impacted jobs.

“The American government had no business imposing these tariffs to begin with. Canadian workers cannot be used as pawns in a political fight that has nothing to do with them,” said Hassan Yussuff, president of the Canadian Labour Congress. “The federal government should be commended for its strong defence of Canadian industry and for its ongoing resolve in defending workers.”

The American government had imposed the 10% tariff on aluminum in August. This came just months after it had lifted previously imposed tariffs following the ratification of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement and which Canada’s unions fought for over a year to have removed.

“We’ll continue to monitor the situation and urge the federal government to continue defending these vital Canadian industries and the hundreds of thousands of workers who rely on them,” said Yussuff.

To arrange an interview, please contact:

CLC Media Relations
media@clcctc.ca
613-526-7426

The post Canada’s unions applaud cancellation of U.S. tariffs appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.