By Siobhán Vipond, Executive Vice-President, Canadian Labour Congress and Mitzie Hunter, President and CEO, Canadian Women’s Foundation 

With global trade in turmoil and economic instability reshaping the world, the Carney government has promised strategic support for key sectors to strengthen Canada’s economy. Without bold, sustained investment in the care economy, those efforts will fall short. 

The inclusion of the care economy in the recently announced Workforce Alliances is a step forward. Still, past decisions like the lapse of the Sectoral Table on the Care Economy—on which we had been tapped to serve—gaps in the latest federal budget, and allowing progress toward national $10-a-day child care to stall, raise serious concerns. 

Any funding directed toward the care economy must be recognized and treated as what it is: an investment in a powerful economic engine, and a foundation that supports every other strategic sector. 

Care work, performed primarily by women, and disproportionately by Indigenous, racialized, immigrant, and migrant women, is what allows the rest of our economy to function and thrive. Without child care, parents can’t work. Without long-term care and home care, families are pushed out of the workforce. Without nurses, teachers, personal support workers, and early childhood educators and assistants, there is no productivity, no innovation, and no economic growth. 

That is why Canada needs a comprehensive federal strategy to support and invest in the care economy.

Paid care jobs generate at least 13% of Canada’s GDP and account for 22% of all jobs. Unpaid care work, such as caring for children, aging parents, or people with disabilities, is worth up to $860 billion, or roughly 37% of Canada’s GDP. That is more than the combined contribution of manufacturing, wholesale, and retail. 

As Canada’s population ages and care needs grow, the care economy is projected to become one of the country’s largest drivers of economic growth and job creation. 

Investments in care deliver real economic gains. Studies show that Québec’s child care system, the most supportive in Canada, generates $1.75 in provincial and federal tax revenue for every dollar invested. That is clear proof of a successful public program.   

Prime Minister Carney has spoken about strengthening Canada’s economy through investment. An effective strategy must recognize that people are our most important asset. That means universal access to affordable, high-quality public and not-for-profit care services so people can work, learn, and live in dignity. It means good jobs with safe working conditions. And it means recognizing care workers—paid and unpaid—as essential to Canada’s economic resilience. 

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, care workers were hailed as heroes while enduring burnout, chronic understaffing, and the deadly consequences of years of austerity and privatization. Many left the sector. Some became seriously ill. Some lost their lives. We cannot forget these consequences, nor can we move forward without addressing their root causes. 

Six years later, demand for care continues to rise, while workforce shortages deepen. Women continue to bear the burden, scaling back paid work, turning down promotions, or leaving the workforce altogether to fill gaps in child care, elder care, and disability supports. 

Now is the time for ambitious, nation-building conversations about the care economy as a foundation for how Canada can weather the multiple economic crises at our doorstep, including the uncertainty created by a rapidly shifting global economic order. 

Canada’s unions and women’s rights organizations are ready and willing to partner with this government to strengthen Canada’s economic resilience and independence through a visionary, world-class care investment strategy. 

To arrive there, Canada needs a Care Economy Commission: a coordinated, cross-sector initiative mandated to develop concrete recommendations to grow the care economy sustainably, ensure decent and dignified jobs with livable wages across all care sectors, strengthen protections and fairness for caregivers, and guarantee access to care for everyone in Canada. 

If this government truly intends to fortify Canada’s economic sovereignty, it must begin where real economic strength starts: with care. 

Women’s economic justice and Canada’s economic security—two sides of the same coin—depend on it. 

The post The Care Economy Is Canada’s Untapped Economic Superpower appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Canada’s unions are marking 2025 gender equality week by rising with a bold vision for gender justice at the heart of our economy.

“Unions know thatthe economic resilience of our country, depends upon the labour of women and gender diverse workers, whether that is in the workplace, at home or in our communities,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress.

Unfortunately, women, and in particular Indigenous, Black, racialized, newcomer, young, 2SLGBTQIA+, and women with disabilities, continue to bear the brunt of the affordability crisis.

This is why the CLC is urging this government to act now on gender inequities in our economy by: 

• Investing in the value of women’s work by adding an additional $20 million over three years to expedite the work of the Office of the Pay Equity Commissioner. This includes ensuring that this office has the resources necessary to support and enforce compliance, including regular independent public reviews and sustained funding for the development of the disaggregated data needed to support pay equity initiatives. 

• Providing sufficient and long-term core operational funding to women’s rights and equality-seeking organizations so they have the stability they need to continue to provide services and carry out vital advocacy and research, including an initial investment of $1 million for consultations on the development of a National Strategy for the Gender-Based Violence Workforce that addresses issues of precarious work, access to decent salaries, pensions, benefits, supports for workers, and retention and recruitment issues. 

• Investing in key social infrastructure to address the epidemic of gender-based violence, including fully funding the continuation of the 10-year National Action Plan to End Gender Based Violence.

• Modernizing the Employment Equity Act with a commitment of $20 million over the next three years to establish:

• A dedicated Employment Equity Commissioner (similar to the Pay Equity Commissioner);

• Two new designated equity groups under the Act: Black people and 2SLGBTQIA+ people; and

• Improved data collection and disaggregation to support intersectional analyses and a better understanding of the distinct and nuanced challenges and barriers to employment faced by equity groups.

• Committing $30 million over the next three years to the operation of the Sectoral Table on the Care Economy to meaningfully respond to the gendered impacts of Canada’s care crisis.

“Any plan on the part of the government to strengthen our economy, which does not include investments in care and care work, will fall short of ensuring all workers, particularly women, are able to fully participate in the labour market,” said Siobhan Vipond, Executive Vice-President of the CLC and member of Canada’s inaugural sectoral table on the Care Economy.

“As this government prepares to unveil its first full budget this fall, Canada’s unions are putting our federal leaders on notice: it’s time to centre gender equity in our budgetary policy and ensure it is a key proponent of sustaining Canada’s economic growth,” added Vipond.

The post Economic justice depends on bold vision, investment in care  appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Happy Labour Day. Today, we celebrate the power of workers — past, present, and future. It was workers who won weekends, universal health care, pensions, unemployment insurance, parental leave, pay equity, and health and safety laws. And it will be workers who win the next generation of rights, protections, and fairness. 

This year gave us a powerful reminder of that truth. Just hours after Air Canada flight attendants began their strike, Prime Minister Carney tried to crush it by invoking Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code — at the behest of Air Canada’s CEO. This Trump-style attack on workers is not what Canadians expect from their newly elected Prime Minister.  

But CUPE flight attendants knew their rights. They defied the order, forced Air Canada back to the bargaining table, and bargained a deal. The lesson is clear: workers will not and should not be taken for granted. 

This victory comes at a critical moment — because inequality in Canada is beginning to look like it did during the first Gilded Age more than a century ago. Back then, a handful of robber barons hoarded unimaginable wealth while workers endured 12-hour shifts in unsafe factories, living in poverty with little protection and no voice. Governments bent to corporate power, and working people paid the price. 

Today, we see similar patterns. The richest 100 CEOs in Canada now make 243 times more than the average worker. Grocery giants are posting record profits while families cut back on food. Oil and gas companies are pocketing billions while Canadians struggle with heating bills. Banks make excessive profits while workers struggle with high interest rates. And public services — the very tools that make life affordable and fair — are under attack from government austerity. 

The parallels with the Gilded Age are chilling: extreme concentration of wealth, corporations writing the rules, and politicians rigging the system in favour of employers and against workers. 

But history also teaches us how to break this cycle. The antidote to runaway greed has always been the same: unions. In the last Gilded Age, it was workers organizing and building solidarity that won health and safety laws, shorter work hours, weekends, pensions, and the foundation of Canada’s public services. Every gain was won by workers standing together and forcing change. 

Today, the solution is no different. We need more unions. We need to organize harder. We need stronger worker power so that no government dares to trample on our rights again, and no corporation can treat workers as disposable while handing out huge bonuses to their executives. Because when workers join together, we don’t just win for ourselves — we lift entire communities. We strengthen public services. We build fairer economies. We create a more just society. 

This Labour Day, let’s not just look back at past victories. Let’s look forward. Let’s commit to organizing in the face of corporate greed. Let’s commit to growing the labour movement, defending free collective bargaining, and building worker power strong enough to end this new Gilded Age once and for all. 

Happy Labour Day. Workers together, we’re organizing. Together, we’re mobilizing. Together, we’re building the future workers deserve.

The post Happy Labour Day: Workers’ Power Is the Answer to the New Gilded Age appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Workers are the backbone of our economy. Every day, we power industries, drive innovation, and support communities. Yet, as we work to keep Canada running, we face an ever-growing financial squeeze. Housing, a basic human right, has become a luxury few can afford. Pay cheques, already stretched thin, can no longer cover basic necessities. Grocery bills, utilities and other essentials that form the bedrock of our daily lives are becoming increasingly unaffordable, pushing families to the brink.

Meanwhile, corporations and the wealthiest individuals are reaping record profits. This stark contrast is not just unfair—it’s unsustainable. By inflating prices, hoarding profits and dodging taxes, corporations shift the financial burden onto ordinary Canadians.

It’s time to end corporate greed and make those who have benefited the most contribute their fair share.

We need our politicians to ensure that corporations and the wealthy are held accountable and made to pay up. Some politicians, like Pierre Poilievre, speak often about the struggles working people face, but refuse to hold corporations accountable. In fact, Mr. Poilievre has voted consistently to cut corporate taxes throughout his 20 years in parliament.

Failing to make corporations pay what they owe makes it harder to provide relief to families and hollows out crucial funding for services like healthcare, education, and infrastructure. These services support the well-being and security of everyone—helping to build a society where everyday people can improve their lives and their families’ futures. This is exactly why pushing back against corporate greed and fighting for fairness is so important to Canada’s unions.

The collective strength and relentless advocacy of unions and workers have led to the creation of essential social programs that improve affordability and quality of life. Through our united efforts, programs like the Canada Pension Plan, public healthcare, public transit, employment insurance, and affordable childcare have become pillars of support for all workers.

At the core of our beliefs lies an unwavering commitment to the fundamental principle of fairness and dignity in the workplace. We advocate for better wages, safer working conditions, and essential benefits like healthcare and pensions, ensuring that every worker—regardless of their position—is treated with respect.  Unions have long fought for the rights of all working people. Now, it’s time for our political leaders to follow suit. The path forward demands a concerted effort to prioritize people over profits, by creating good union jobs, investing in public services, and ensuring that corporations and wealthy individuals pay their fair share. By doing so, Canada can build a more equitable society where workers and their families can thrive

As Canada approaches this crossroads, the choices made now will determine the future for generations to come. So, this Labour Day, let’s bring workers together – and let’s get a better deal

The post Labour Day Op Ed: It’s Time for a Better Deal for Workers appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Donald Trump has a problem: workers. As he eyes a potential victory in November, the Democrats have strategically chosen a union guy to be Kamala Harris’ running mate. 

Despite Trump’s repeated attempts to appeal to workers, the Democrats’ VP pick has unleashed a fresh wave of energy for the party, which is on full display at the Democratic National Convention this week. 

In today’s political landscape, labour-friendly rhetoric is becoming a common theme on both sides of the border, even from those with a history of opposing workers’ rights. 

Here in Canada, with the next federal election on the horizon, pro-worker messaging is being road tested across the political spectrum. Party leaders are keen to tap into the genuine frustrations that workers feel. 

It’s no wonder. With the soaring cost of groceries, housing, and other essentials, many working families are struggling. If a party can convincingly position itself as the one best equipped to address the challenges facing workers, it can secure the support of this crucial voter bloc. 

So, how do we distinguish between politicians who are merely paying lip service from those genuinely committed to supporting workers? We can take a lesson from the U.S. 

Look at Trump’s Republicans. Despite the fact Mr. Trump is a billionaire with a track record of opposing labour rights, Republicans have recently embraced a pro-union stance amidst widespread support for unions among the working class. A union card is a ticket to fairer wages, improved benefits, respect in the workplace, and financial security during retirement – so the very people who used to lead anti-union attacks are now cosplaying as pro-union. 

Contrast this with vice presidential candidate, Tim Walz. A former teacher and football coach, Mr. Walz is relatable. He is someone who could live next door and who you might chat with on the school run. As a proud and active union member with a history of supporting labour-friendly policies, Walz has real credibility with the working class.  

As governor of Minnesota, powered by a grassroots movement of workers and their unions, Walz has enacted policies that resonate with working families, such as tax fairness, paid sick leave, and free school meals for all children in his state. This is the kind of pro-worker C.V. that working families can get behind – which spells trouble for Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.  

Mr. Poilievre has attacked union advocates. He has repeatedly voted to force striking workers back to work and imposed low-wage settlements on workers.  

During his tenure in Stephen Harper’s government, he led efforts to attack unions’ ability to operate, boasting about wanting to create union-free workplaces and campaigning for right-to-work legislation in Canada. He also helped attack the Canada Pension Plan, weaken Employment Insurance, and cut healthcare funding by billions of dollars. 

Despite his recent rhetoric, Mr. Poilievre hasn’t had a change of heart since becoming party leader. Over the past year, he and his party have done everything to block pro-worker legislation. They voted against and used procedural tactics to stall the Sustainable Jobs Act, a bill designed to create and protect good union jobs and give workers a say in the future of work. They also opposed legislation to provide rental support and voted against dental care and pharmacare for millions of people in Canada. 

As political leaders pay more attention to the working class than ever before, workers are getting increasingly adept at seeing through politicians who claim to back them while working to undermine workers’ rights and weaken unions.  

Like Donald Trump, any politician who pretends to support workers while pushing an anti-worker agenda has a problem. Being truly pro-worker is the only solution.  

The post Pro-worker momentum at the DNC spells trouble for Poilievre as well as Trump  appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

We hear a familiar call coming from wealthy interests – joining forces once again with Conservatives – banging the drum for more corporate tax giveaways and deeper cuts to government spending in the upcoming Budget. Bay Street analysts and bank lobbyists loudly lament Canada’s “tumbling productivity”, sneeringly spreading blame on both workers and the government.

As Budget 2024 approaches, we must confront these anti-worker narratives head on. Because we’ve seen this movie before and, spoiler alert, it really doesn’t end well for workers and families.

Business lobbyists argue wages should be dependent on productivity when it suits them but ignore how for more than 30 years, pay for the bottom 80% has lagged far behind productivity growth. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of how imbalanced our things have become.

A February 2024 report from Jim Stanford and the Centre for Future Work showed that “corporate profits remained historically high in 2023, despite the stalling of economic growth, rising unemployment, and stagnating consumer demand.”  Even the Bank of Canada’s January 2024 Monetary Policy Report acknowledged that “higher wage costs could be absorbed by businesses’ profit margins.”

So, let’s not get taken in by corporate gaslighting that takes aim at workers’ wages and public investments. Government should steadfastly reject a corporate narrative that rests its case on mistreating workers. Instead, government can use the upcoming budget to push companies to invest in their workforce. Things like new incentives to improve training and upskilling, and measures that will create good, sustainable union jobs in low-carbon industries.

With a looming recession, rising layoffs and so many struggling to get by, it would be devastating to families if we cut help now. The reality is slashing our social safety net will only weaken our economy.

National child care has meant more families can find affordable spaces and more women with young children could join the workforce. Creating affordable non-profit housing means more families have an affordable place to call home. According to a 2023 Deloitte report, increasing community housing to the OECD average by 2030 “would boost economic productivity by a staggering 5.7% to 9.3%.” Universal pharmacare will improve health outcomes and provide tangible, financial relief to families, while strengthening EI will mean more workers getting help when they need it most.

Can we afford these investments? Absolutely. Canada is a significant economic power. We’re in the top ten economies in the world with one of the lowest debt-to-GDP ratios in the G7. We can also make profitable corporations pay their fair share and use that revenue to help people.

We know what a Pierre Poilievre budget looks like. Poilievre and the Conservatives slashed programs and services and radically cut corporate taxes last time in power. This boosted companies’ bottom line but didn’t spur businesses to invest in their workforce. Instead, we saw CEOs acting like real-life Scrooge McDuckshoarding ever-growing piles of cash. Just like today, companies cry poor while handing out record bonuses to top executives.

Chrystia Freeland must reject the false narratives flooding in from business lobbyists and fight back against a vision of a Canada where corporations take care of themselves while our government stops caring for people. On April 16, let’s see a budget that puts workers and families, not corporate interests, first.

The post Reject corporate gaslighting and deliver help for people in Budget 2024 appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre speaks so loudly on so many issues. Which makes his silence deafening on how he’ll vote on a new law, Bill C-58, that would ban the use of replacement workers during strikes and lockouts.

After months of trying to woo workers with sympathetic words about the challenges people face, Mr. Poilievre now faces a big test. Will he stand with Canada’s workers or turn his back on us and our families? Will he put his vote where his mouth is?

NDP, Bloc and Liberals have all pledged to support this new law. In fact, New Democrat and Bloc MPs have worked with us for decades to get an anti-scab bill passed.

Scabs, sometimes called “replacement” workers, are brought in during a lockout or strike to take regular workers’ jobs. This intensifies labour disputes and pours poison into workplaces. What might have been a short-lived dispute solved around the bargaining table becomes a destructive and drawn-out fight.

I think we know why Conservatives are so indecisive. Corporate Canada is spending big bucks lobbying against this bill. No wonder, right now rich corporations have the upper hand and are desperate to keep it that way.

The thing is, the powerful business lobby doesn’t want to tell you how Quebec has had an anti-scab law for over 45 years and B.C. for 30 years. They don’t want you to know how these laws and similar ones around the world shorten labour stoppages, reduce the damaging effects scabs have on inflaming disputes, and bring better balance to labour relations.

Companies fighting this bill want to keep the power to strongarm their workers into accepting bad contracts, just to keep their jobs. It’s part of a race to the bottom intended to pit worker against worker.

The fact is, businesses today just have too much power over workers. This has led to workers’ pay lagging behind, reduced benefits and worsening working conditions. Meanwhile, corporate profits have soared to the stratosphere.

A 2022 analysis by Jim Stanford showed that after-tax corporate profits reached their highest share of GDP ever in the first quarter of that year. While companies’ profits surged ahead, wages lagged well behind inflation. A recent Statistics Canada report showed Canada’s top 20% now controls more than two-thirds of the wealth in Canada. While the bottom 20% account for less than 3% of the wealth.

An anti-scab bill can finally start balancing the playing field. But to do so, it must be strong and effective.

To be effective, it must have strong enforcement mechanisms and be brought into force quickly, not a year and a half after it has passed. To protect workers’ rights, the law must apply to all work regularly performed by bargaining unit workers. To make sure it’s applied fairly, it must not have overly broad essential service barriers that take away workers’ right to strike.

Workers and families are now looking to Members of Parliament to turn sympathetic words into concrete action. Canada’s unions are ready to work with all parties to strengthen and swiftly pass this bill.

But make no mistake, when the next election comes Canada’s workers will also remember anyone who caves to the rich business lobby and tries to delay or weaken this important new law.

Bea Bruske is President of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow her on Twitter @PresidentCLC

The post Workers to MPs: Either stand with us or the rich business lobby appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Today Canada faces a once-in-generation economic, environmental, and political challenge, and we won’t get a second chance to get this right. 

Our neighbour and biggest trading partner is aggressively adapting their workforces and industries. Countries around the world are accelerating their transition to a zero-carbon economy. If we fail to act now, our industries will lose out and our workers will be left behind. Our livelihoods and communities will be put at risk. 

We are facing serious economic and political challenges, for sure. But today’s challenges can become tomorrow’s opportunity if we can show our special ability as Canadians to work together. That’s why Canada’s unions are actively engaging governments and businesses. Some issues make strange bedfellows. But we must rise to meet these challenges, and that means workers, businesses and governments must come together and act for the common good.  

The government has introduced positive new legislation that provides a roadmap for Canada’s transition to a low-carbon economy. The Sustainable Jobs Act looks to address climate change and build a low-carbon economy through creating and supporting good, sustainable, union jobs in successful, low-emission businesses. The kinds of family-supporting, middle-class jobs that allow us to build the healthy and thriving communities we want to live in. With some tweaks, the Sustainable Jobs Act will make a real difference for millions of workers and thousands of businesses.  

But make no mistake, we certainly will never build the communities we want to live in with precarious, low-wage jobs. Governments can’t just hand out billions in blank cheques to private companies and then hope good things happen. We must always make sure communities benefit when we invest public dollars in private companies.  

Workers stand on the frontlines of climate change, including fighting wildfires, restoring downed power lines, and rebuilding our communities after extreme weather hits. Workers are also front and centre dealing with the impacts of this economic transition. Like the energy workers worried about the future, the farm workers battling droughts, or the construction workers who keep on building through sweltering heatwaves.  

As the democratic representatives of workers, the labour movement must have meaningful seats at the decision-making table. Workers and the businesses that employ them must be at the table with governments if we are serious about crafting solutions. There should certainly be no opposition to the principle that, as Canada shifts to a low-carbon economy, no workers or industries are left out of this conversation.  

This might be a global challenge, but our solutions must be local. Building a low-carbon economy will mean new opportunities across the country, in every sector and every region. Clean energy manufacturing, critical minerals, non-emitting and renewable energy, electric vehicles, and the list goes on. Unions are ready to work with businesses, so they are well-positioned to succeed in tomorrow’s economy.  

In 2015, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said moving to a low-carbon economy would “require a transformation in our energy sectors.” Now, workers are looking to MPs from all parties to work with us to quickly pass a strengthened Sustainable Jobs Act. Then we can get down to the hard work of creating good jobs and successful businesses in a sustainable economy.  

Hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity hang in the balance.  

Bea Bruske is President of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow her on Twitter @PresidentCLC 

The post Government, workers and businesses must come together to win the low-carbon economic transition appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

By Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress as published in National Newswatch

Over the next four weeks, Conservatives will spare no expense to try to scare the wits out of you. Their campaign strategy is, in a nutshell, hoping they can panic you into voting for them yet again.

Indeed, my fellow Manitobans, brace yourself for the great ‘Stefansmear’ campaign of 2023.

You will hear false claims about taxes and crime, and dishonest attacks on Wab Kinew’s character. Anything and everything they can think of to keep you from remembering the 7 long years of Conservative broken promises.

But we remember. For over seven years we’ve watched while Brian Pallister, Heather Stefanson, and the whole Conservative gang let us down. Their lack of care and compassion for working people is stunning. Time and again they’ve displayed an almost criminal level of neglect.

Let’s not forget how Conservatives promised action on affordability – but then raised hydro bills. Now they are planning to ding Manitoba families with ‘surge’ energy pricing. Which is government-speak for making you pay more for energy, just when you need it most.

Remember how Conservatives promised a constructive relationship with workers? Then they imposed contracts with lower pay, attacked workers’ rights, cut apprenticeships, and rolled back worker safety.

Who can forget how Conservatives promised 200 more nurses, 80 more paramedics and more personal care home beds? In government, Conservatives then delivered 300 fewer nurses, 87 fewer paramedics and 149 fewer personal care beds.

But look, broken promises aren’t about the numbers, it’s about all the people getting hurt by Conservative policies. If your pay is falling so far behind inflation you can’t make rent, or if you’re waiting for your child to get care in an Emergency Room, or if you’re waiting in vain for a personal care bed for your elderly relative, you’re another Manitoban who’s paying the price for these heartless Conservative policies.

Conservatives try to scare people into thinking you must choose between the fair treatment of workers and a strong economy. Ms. Stefanson has demonized unions. Hypocritically, she attacks workers fighting for fair wages while she gave herself a raise.

The reality is, making workers poorer may make billionaires richer, but it doesn’t help to build thriving communities. No, it’s workers who build and power our economy. This is why I was delighted to see Wab Kinew’s New Democrats already making a commitment to reverse Conservative cuts to training, restore the 1-to-1 apprentice ratio to improve worker safety, and ensure local communities benefit from major projects. Kinew’s plan will put more Manitobans to work and create good, sustainable jobs.

In contrast, for over 7 years we’ve watched as Ms. Stefanson steadily failed her way upwards through the Manitoba government. She was Brian Pallister’s Deputy Premier, his justice minister while crime got worse, his health minister while Conservatives closed three Emergency Rooms in Winnipeg. Despite this, bizarrely, Conservatives gave her a promotion. As premier, she’s cut education, raised energy costs, and failed to fix the health crisis she helped create. Now Ms. Stefanson wants to be rewarded for doing a bad job. It’s time for a change.

I know Wab Kinew, and I know how deeply he cares about how tough things have gotten for working people. He knows what it means to worry about whether care will be there for your kids. He’s been through trial by fire and has the strength of character to stand up to powerful interests. That’s why I trust him to put help for people and good jobs at the centre of his government.

As we mark Labour Day in Manitoba this year, I urge workers and families to see past the latest Conservative promises and their scaremongering rhetoric to take a close look at what they actually delivered over the past 8 years in government. Look at how Conservative policies have made life more expensive for families and hurt workers, then ask yourself: Who cares about people getting good jobs, with fair pay, for an honest day’s work? Who can I trust to help families as their budgets are stretched to the breaking point? Who will make sure public health care is there, not only for my family, but for generations of Manitobans to come?

In 2023, only the NDP are offering this kind of positive change.

Bea Bruske is President of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow her on Twitter @PresidentCLC

The post Brace yourself for the great ‘Stefansmear’ campaign of 2023 appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Bill C-50, just tabled, provides a roadmap toward making Canada’s economy competitive for years to come.

“On a global scale, clean energy investment has surpassed spending on oil and gas for the first time.” From raging wildfires to extreme storms, each day brings stark reminders of the impacts of climate change and the urgent need for climate action. Climate change is an undeniable reality, and its effects are worsening. Regardless of who might be in power a decade from now, Canada must act today to fulfill its role in the global fight against climate change while securing our position in the low-carbon economy of the future.

Last year, the United States took a significant leap forward with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), placing immense pressure on Canada to keep pace or risk falling behind. The IRA outlined the Biden administration’s plan to slash emissions, invest in clean energy and provide direct supports to communities.

The Canadian government’s response began to take shape when it committed to invest $80 billion over the next decade and signed notable deals with Volkswagen and Stellantis. With the introduction of the Sustainable Jobs Act, C-50, Canada is taking another important step forward for our workers and businesses. This legislation provides a roadmap for making Canada’s economy competitive for years to come.

On a global scale, clean energy investment has surpassed spending on oil and gas for the first time, signalling the most substantial transformation of our economy in recent memory. With fierce global competition to attract new investments, Canada faces the potential loss of up to $600 billion over the next 15 years if we fail to get this right.

Our competitive advantage lies in Canada’s businesses, workers and government working together to ensure that new industrial investments entice companies to do business in Canada and that this new economic activity brings tangible benefits to our people and communities.

At the heart of this new Act is a Sustainable Jobs Partnership Council, bringing workers and business together to advise the government on the best ways to create sustainable jobs in this new economy. We believe that at the core of Canada’s approach must be the fundamental principle that workers deserve a meaningful seat at the table and a voice in decision-making around Canada’s industrial strategy. We must provide workers with a pathway to the good jobs of tomorrow while giving the labour movement a real say in any new government body making decisions about workers’ futures.

Multinational corporations possess influential platforms and a strong lobby. They prioritize their investors’ interests. But Canada’s labour movement represents everyday people and brings forward the unique experiences and insights of Canada’s workers.

The decisions we make now will determine whether we build thriving communities powered by good, family-supporting union jobs with decent pay, pensions and benefits. Providing better training and apprenticeship support will mean people can keep their jobs as their industry moves to new low-carbon technologies or learn the skills they need to take on new jobs. We also have a once-in-a-generation opening to create new opportunities for historically excluded people, including women, Indigenous and racialized workers, workers with disabilities and other equity-seeking groups.

By bringing labour, industry and government together, the Sustainable Jobs Act provides a new approach that can position Canada at the forefront of the global low-carbon economy. Working together, we can create good union jobs while we help businesses shift to cleaner technologies, move to lower-emissions manufacturing jobs, and make Canada a leading supplier of the critical minerals needed for new low-carbon technologies.

This is how we can build the kinds of flourishing communities Canadians want for their children and grandchildren.

Bea Bruske is President of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow her on Twitter @PresidentCLC

The post Bruske: How Canada can create sustainable jobs as we shift to a low-carbon future appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

You have led the charge, for decades, to improve women’s rights and gender equality at work. Years of tireless advocacy, over generations, has tipped the scales through every lobby, campaign, conversation and rally to get that much closer to achieving the feminist and equitable world those who stood before us dreamed of.

Now, don’t get me wrong, because our work to advance gender rights in the workplace is definitely far from over. There is still so much to do to eradicate sexism and the patriarchy from our workplaces and that won’t happen overnight.

We certainly could spend our time this International Women’s Day taking stock of the challenges that persist, and we will, but I don’t want us to stop there either.

This year, I want to celebrate.

Because when I look around at our movement of fierce union women, there is no denying that we are change makers.

As gender justice champions, you are constantly pushing the envelope, bringing your identities as Black, Indigenous, and racialized women, as 2SLBTQI+ women, and as women with disabilities to continue to fortify and build an equitable agenda for our labour movement.

I cannot help but beam with pride at the enormous gains we’ve made over the years. Victories that inch us closer every day to the feminist and equitable workplaces that unions have championed for generations.

In the last five years alone, we’ve won federal pay equity legislation, we’re on the path toward a national child care system, we’ve won paid domestic violence leave for almost all workers across the country and most recently, we successfully pushed our federal government to ratify a new international labour standard on violence and harassment at work.

And that’s not all.

When we have each other’s back—we accomplish phenomenal things.

I think of Laura Walton from the Canadian Union of Public Employees, who stood up to fight for the 55,000 education workers in Ontario who walked off the job last fall and whose successful strike action led to major wins for education workers across the province with vast improvements to wages and working conditions.

I am also reminded everyday of those who broke glass ceilings: Grace Hartman was the first woman to lead a national union in North America, Shirley Carr was the first woman elected at the head of the Canadian Labour Congress, Jan Simpson is the first Black woman to be elected president of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Irene Lanzinger, the first woman elected to the presidency of the B.C. Federation of Labour and Patty Coates became the first woman to lead the Ontario Federation of Labour.

And most recently, Magali Picard broke another glass ceiling. For the first time in its history, la Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec, elected a woman and the first Indigenous person as their president.

These are just a few examples of the courageous, firecracker feminists that make up our movement. Each and every one of us stands on the shoulders of union women giants like them, and those that came before them.

We are part of a proud and unyielding history of working women who have blazed the trail for equity and inclusion, and whose efforts led to paid parental and maternity leave, the right to be paid for the value of our work, the right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, groundbreaking gains that workers of all genders from coast to coast to coast enjoy today.

Together, we have fundamentally transformed the landscape for gender justice at work in Canada.

We are stronger than ever, and our work is just getting started.

Solidarity!

Bea

Bea Bruske is president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow her on Twitter @PresidentCLC

The post To union feminists, this International Women’s Day, I salute you appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Winston Churchill famously said, ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste,’ and clearly Premiers Doug Ford in Ontario and Danielle Smith in Alberta, took note. Both are seizing this crisis in our health care system to institute huge, ideologically motivated changes to health care delivery. They promise a quick fix, but what they really want is to privatize as much of the system as they can, ripping away at the bedrock of our public health care system.

Reports predict that this week Premier Doug Ford will propose a massive shift of tax dollars from public hospitals to private surgical and diagnostic clinics. Make no mistake, the increased use of for-profit clinics will mean two clear outcomes: first, it will result in less funding for our public health system; and second, it will make the current health care worker shortage even worse.

The reality is private facilities are more focused on maximizing their profits than maximizing positive patient outcomes. Even if these are single-payer health facilities, where you can use your health card, for-profit care means dollars siphoned away from public hospitals to private investors. We saw during the pandemic that for-profit long-term care homes saw higher mortality rates than those that were not-for-profit. Innovative ideas for improving health care delivery are welcome but moving towards a U.S. style for-profit care model won’t benefit everyday people, but it will mean private investors are poised to make millions.

At the heart of the crisis facing the Canadian health care system right now is the critical shortage of workers, full stop. Health care employees who went above and beyond the entire pandemic are exhausted and fed up. Short-staffed facilities are clamoring to fill vacancies but it’s hard to retain demoralized staff.

Recruiting a new generation of health care workers into workplaces facing this level of crisis is a monumental challenge. It will be made even harder if more health workers head for private surgical clinics and empty out our public hospitals. It’s a simple question of math. One nurse removed from the public system and placed into a private facility won’t be easily replaced. Just last week we learned from Ontario Nurses’ Association interim president Bernie Robinson that Ontario’s nurse-to-population ratio is the worst in Canada. The Ford government’s bizarre suggestion that it would be the same staff working at the for-profit clinics shows his government simply doesn’t grasp the problem. Is the same nurse already being forced to work double shifts now expected to add a third or fourth shift at a private clinic?

Ford and other conservatives keep repeating the mantra that people just want better care and don’t care how it is delivered. But people do care. Recent polling released by the Ontario Federation of Labour showed that 60 percent of Ontarians oppose private health care delivery. And this number will only grow when someone is rushed to the hospital for urgent care only to find the surgeon out moonlighting at a private clinic, padding the bank accounts of investors off quick and easy procedures.

We are seeing public health care failing across the country. But the solution isn’t for-profit clinics taking money out of the public system. What we need is all levels of government to come together behind a plan to strengthen our public health care system, starting with addressing the critical shortage of health workers we are facing across the country.

The post Beware of Premiers bearing promises of a quick health care fix appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Bank risks substantially weakening our economy, potentially throwing hundreds of thousands of Canadians out of work

Facing a one-two punch of sky-high prices on daily essentials combined with rising credit card, mortgage and other bills, the last thing Canadians need right now is a recession, which could mean massive job losses and economic upheaval. But that’s exactly what could happen if the Bank of Canada raises interest rates Wednesday for the seventh time in the past nine months.

The Bank of Canada, led by governor Tiff Macklem, has already raised interest rates faster than almost any other country. These hikes have left millions of Canadians facing eye-popping rises in credit payments. Combined, Canadians now owe $2.29 trillion in credit, according to TransUnion LLC’s Q3 2022 Credit Industry Insights Report. Rate hikes have even pushed the Bank of Canada itself into the red for the first time in history, with a loss of $522 million in the third quarter.

Central banks raise interest rates to cool the economy and slow inflation, but Macklem has been doing more than just tightening monetary policy. He has also been waging an ongoing public relations campaign against phantom wage growth, arguing that wages are fuelling inflation. There is zero evidence that wages are fuelling inflation. Statistics Canada’s labour force survey, released Friday, shows wage increases are lagging inflation, not driving it.

In a recent report from the Canadian Labour Congress and the Centre for Future Work called A Cure Worse than the Disease? Toward a More Balanced Understanding of Inflation and What to Do About It, economist Jim Stanford lays out evidence showing how wages are not the cause of inflation. Stanford points out that corporate Canada’s pricing power has been fuelling higher prices, resulting in corporate accounts being padded with sky-high, record profits. In 2022, corporate profits in Canada reached the largest share of gross domestic product (GDP) in Canadian history, or put another way, corporate profits grew three times faster than wages since 2019.

Despite all this, Macklem has stubbornly declared that the Bank of Canada will continue raising interest rates, even if it pushes our economy into a harmful recession. With the myopic policy focus on achieving the target inflation rate of two percent, the bank risks substantially weakening our economy and potentially throwing hundreds of thousands of Canadians out of work.

If the Bank of Canada is determined to manufacture an economic recession, we know the pain will not be shared equally. Just last week, the International Labour Organization (ILO) warned that global poverty and income inequality are on the rise worldwide while people’s purchasing power is falling behind. The ILO’s Global Wage Report recently warned that for the first time in history, real wages fell into negative territory in 2022, down 0.9 per cent, with low-income workers and households feeling the pinch most of all.

The ILO cautions that this not only puts the pandemic recovery at risk, but it could also fuel growing social unrest. As the inquiry into the Ottawa convoy occupation wraps up, and the U.S. hearings examining the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection draw to a close, the prospect of a manufactured economic crisis driving growing social unrest is not one we should take lightly. Pouring more cold water on our economy now — and driving it into a damaging, monetary policy-induced recession — will only make things worse.

As Macklem announces the Bank of Canada’s interest rate decision this Wednesday, he should consider the well-being of the workers and families already paying the biggest price from the cost-of-living crisis. This should start with Macklem pushing pause on more interest rate hikes. Let’s take time to evaluate the impact of previous hikes before raising them any further.

Bea Bruske is president of the Canadian Labour Congress.

The post Bea Bruske: Bank of Canada should pause rate hikes now to avert a manufactured recession appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

For the past three decades, during the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, individuals and groups around the world have called for the prevention and elimination of all forms of gender-based violence against women and girls.

This year, we are casting a light on the disturbing and growing phenomenon of third-party harassment and violence in the world of work.

A recent survey by the Canadian Labour Congress paints a horrifying picture. Seven in ten workers have experienced harassment and violence at work in the past two years–often at the hands of third parties such as customers, patients, and members of the public. That’s the majority of us, and the people we work with. Women and gender-diverse workers are at higher risk of third-party violence because they dominate public-facing jobs.

It’s high time for the federal government to wake up and say ‘never again’ to violence and harassment at work.

The scale and scope of violence are staggering. Last July, a Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) poll demonstrated that the pandemic and never-before-seen hospital staff shortages led to a surge in physical and sexual violence from patients and members of the public against women, who make up 85 per cent of the hospital workforce. The numbers are troubling, particularly for racialized workers, with over 70 per cent saying they are subject to harassment or abuse because of their race or appearance.

For five years now, the United Steelworkers have been drawing attention to the harassment of call-centre workers by customers. Some employers had a no-hang-up policy, leaving workers with no way to escape the harassment. The abuse was often sexual and racist when the workers’ voices were identified as female or racialized.

Widespread verbal and physical violence is known to be a critical factor in the erosion of nurses’ well-being. The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU) states that decades-old cycles of gender-based harassment and violence have led to a serious decline in nurses’ health, including mental health. These are the same nurses who spent the past two years on the frontline, caring for us, our family members and our friends.

Another recent survey from SEIU (Canada’s Healthcare Union) paints a grim picture. 4 out of 6 home care workers said they regularly experience verbal assault, 2 out of 5 said they were punched, and 1-in-4 experienced sexual assault while delivering care at a client’s home. These workers are some of the lowest-paid healthcare workers and they are also subject to some of the highest rates of workplace violence outside the walls of big institutional care settings.     

Violence and harassment happen in all corners of the workforce. University of Ottawa researchers found that over half of the educators surveyed experienced physical violence during the 2017-2018 school year–overwhelmingly at the hands of students. More than 70 per cent reported acts of explicit verbal insults, putdowns, and obscene gestures from a student and 41 per cent experienced this sort of behaviour from a parent.

In public-facing workplaces, such as retail and hospitality, the rates of violence and harassment are alarming. 90 per cent of respondents of a United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) survey said they have experienced harassment in their workplaces. Another crushing example from Unite Here Local 40 revealed that more than two-thirds of women workers at one Vancouver hotel had been subjected to sexual harassment from guests.

As you can imagine, workers report feeling stressed, and worthless, and some are even forced to leave their jobs. Few legal protections exist against third-party violence, which leaves workers vulnerable to harm. No one should have to feel unsafe when doing their job.

There is hope. In 2019, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention No. 190, also known as C190, was deemed a historic convention which would establish the right to a world of work free from violence and harassment. We are still waiting for the government to ratify C190 and take this step toward addressing third-party and gender-based violence at work.

However, without an implementation plan, the legislation will fall short. As a first step, Canada’s unions are calling on the federal government to host a summit bringing other levels of governments, employers and unions together to examine third-party violence as a persistent and escalating phenomenon.

We are ready to roll up our sleeves to work with governments and employers to develop an action plan to implement C190.

Whether you are a call centre worker answering our questions, a nurse caring for our loved ones, or a barista fuelling us with coffee, everyone has the right to feel safe at work. Let’s make it a reality.

1. Bea Bruske, President, Canadian Labour Congress
2. Linda Silas – President, Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions
3. Sharleen Stewart – President, SEIU
4. Chris Aylward – Public Service Alliance of Canada
5. Daniel Boyer – Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec
6. Marc Hancock – Canadian Union on Public Employees
7. Paul R. Meinema – United Food and Commercial Workers
8. Bert Blundon – National Union of Public General Employees
9. John Di Nino – Amalgamated Transit Union Canada
10. Marty Warren – United Steelworkers

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Bea Bruske is president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow her on Twitter @PresidentCLC

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

The post It’s time to end gender-based violence at work appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

If you appreciate having weekends, a forty-hour work week, pensions, compensation for workplace injuries, maternity leave or even collective bargaining at all, thank a union organizer.

The reality is, without the contributions of the labour movement, Canadian workers wouldn’t have these or so many other protections. But these gains were not accomplished without a struggle. Workers had to fight tooth-and-nail for every victory and every bit of progress in the long march to workers’ rights.

Today, inflation grows at a breakneck pace while wages fall further behind the fast-rising cost of living. Workers and their families struggle to put food on the table, keep a roof over their heads, or pay for all kinds of other essentials, like transportation and even medication.

But not everyone is hurting. While their employees are just trying to get by, grocery, oil and gas, and other companies rake in record profits. These companies’ inflation-driving profiteering has even given birth to a new word: “greedflation.”

Billionaire CEOs take home record profits while the wages they pay lag far behind inflation. The President of Loblaws – while lobbying hard against a $15 an hour minimum wage – raked in around $5,100 per hour last year. Meanwhile, Loblaws saw its profits jump by 40 percent in the first quarter of 2022.

In another display of greedflation, Canada’s four largest oil companies saw revenues skyrocket nearly three-fold over 2021, an eye-watering $12 billion in net earnings, just in the last quarter.

The rich have never been richer. And we know they aren’t going to give up their mega-profits without a fight. Bay Street CEOs, the corporate elite and their political friends will try and convince you you’re powerless against them. But they are wrong. Their voice isn’t the loudest, their position isn’t the strongest and they don’t have the most influence.

Part of Canada’s history, rarely taught in schools, is how unionized workers – not the corporate elite – were the ones who carved out a path to the middle class for millions of Canadians. And today it’s once again up to us, the workers of Canada, to come together and tell those in power that they’re working for us, for a change.

So, as we celebrate Labour Day, let us remember the collective power of workers – from all walks of life and in communities across Canada – to make positive change happen. We honour the workers who built this country and thank the ones who keep it running, day in and day out. We play tribute to the critical role unions have played in securing fair wages and better working conditions for all.

I invite all Canadians to march shoulder to shoulder with us this Labour Day. Help us in our work to make life more affordable for everyone and our fight for good jobs, ones that offer a living wage, with benefits and pensions. Join our growing movement of workers realizing that they deserve better, and are ready to stand up to employers who try to exploit them.

While giant corporations try to maximize their mega-profits at the expense of giving workers what they deserve, Canada’s unions will work tirelessly, today and every day, to make sure all workers have the opportunity not just to survive, but to thrive.  

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Bea Bruske is president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow her on Twitter @PresidentCLC

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

The post A path to the middle class for millions of workers appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

With the federal budget just a day away, Bay St. CEOs and senior bankers are stumbling over themselves, rushing to declare mission accomplished and claim the economic crisis is over. They are determined to fill up Canada’s opinion pages with arguments urging the government that it’s time to go back to normal. Let’s remember what normal really looked like.

In 2019, Canada’s poverty rate was over 10%. In 2020, it plummeted to 6.4%. The rate of children living in poverty was cut in half. This was a result of governments at all levels providing emergency support, help that overwhelmingly went to low- and modest-income workers. This not only helped reduce poverty, but it also prevented our economy from falling into a depression.

Contrast that to 97 million more people falling into poverty worldwide in 2020.

For the last two years, it has been hard to think about the next quarter, let alone the next year or decade. But this week’s budget presents us an opportunity to learn from our pandemic experience and carve out a better path forward, to build the kind of Canada we want.

We must recognize the years of cutbacks and underfunding that left supports like paid sick leave or Employment Insurance in shambles. The pandemic led to a series of improvised patches and ad-hoc fixes to help workers and families left with nowhere to turn. Now we must fix these programs for good.

We must acknowledge the deep-seated inequality that hurt women, racialized workers and recent immigrants. We must address these inequities and better protect precarious workers left vulnerable to the whims of giant companies.

With the rising cost of living, families are struggling to pay for so many daily essentials, Budget 2022 must provide concrete support for families with action on pharmacare, dental care and support for low-income families alongside investments and action on climate change and Just Transition, so no workers are left behind in the new low-carbon economy.

I hear you, right-wing naysayer. You are asking: “Who’s going to pay for all of this?” That’s easy. We must all contribute, based on our ability to pay.

A cornerstone of a more equitable society is fair taxation. Giant corporations and the richest Canadians, who profited tremendously during the pandemic, must now be asked to contribute their fair share to our country’s rebuilding effort.

I hope our finance minister is mindful of the wisdom of the old saying, ‘fix your roof when the sun is shining.’ With our economy improving, now is the time to build a solid foundation for the future.

The alternative is listening to the Conservatives and their right-wing friends and go back to the old normal. Remember that the last time Conservatives were in power, Canada had 782,000 more children and 187,000 more seniors living in poverty.

I believe people want their governments to strive to do better, not go back to a whole lot of worse.

Bea Bruske is president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow her on Twitter @PresidentCLC

The post Canada at an Economic Crossroads: A Better Normal or Settling for Worse? appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

I think almost everyone can agree 2021 was a rough year. The pandemic we hoped was ending now rolls on with new variants and new disruptions.

But in 2021 we also saw some hopeful signs of what’s possible when people work together in common cause. Workers with newfound confidence demanding better. People seeking out jobs that offered regular schedules, better wages, and less precarity. Increased unionization rates in the middle of a pandemic.

That’s the energy Canada’s unions are bringing into 2022. So as everyone gets going on their New Year’s resolutions, we’ve got a few of our own. And we intend to keep them.

This is our time to build and our time to demand better. By lunchtime on January 4, Canada’s highest paid CEOs had already made the same pay that an average worker will take home for the year. Which is why Canada’s unions have resolved that 2022 is the year that the country’s top earners will pay their fair share.

Enough of these $10 million pay days for high-ranking executives. Enough of tax loopholes and bailout programs that support millionaires and billionaires. Frontline workers have been the ones to keep us all afloat through the last 22 months. It’s unconscionable that they’ve struggled to make ends meet while Canada’s top earners had one of their most profitable years ever in 2020.

In 2022 we must also resolve to permanently fix Employment Insurance and stop letting so many workers and their families fall through the cracks in hard times. As Omicron is teaching us, we can’t keep lurching from wave to wave; we must instead get ready for the next crisis. Supports for people thrown out of work were inadequate before the pandemic and the federal government’s new Lockdown Benefit is falling far short of the mark.

Our public health care has struggled under the strain of the pandemic and chronic staffing shortages. Health care workers are overextended and underpaid, and burnout rates among health care workers are at an all-time high. We must resolve to strengthen public health care, starting with investments in more nurses and health professionals. And we can save lives and improve living conditions by taking profits out of long-term care.

With so many drowning under the rising costs of essentials, we must resolve to make life more affordable in 2022. We can save families thousands through investments in affordable housing, making child care available and accessible to every parent, and actually implementing pharmacare.

Positive change is within our grasp – if we in the labour movement can work together with governments, civil society, and business. But we must learn the right lessons from the past 22 months of pandemic and make the right investments – so our communities are ready when the next crisis hits.

2021 showed us the road may be hard at times. We must resolve, together, to respond with resilience, determination, and real ambition to do better in 2022.

Bea Bruske is the president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow her on Twitter @PresidentCLC

The post Resilience, Determination and Ambition in 2022 appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Buried in the government’s 724-page federal budget is an important commitment that has yet to receive its fair share of praise: the promise to increase corporate transparency and crack down on tax evasion and money laundering.

Taken on its own, the budget’s promise to create a “public beneficial ownership registry” does not mean much to the average Canadian. That’s fair; most of us aren’t tax evasion experts. However, what we’re talking about here is an essential instrument that will not only prevent dirty money from being used to fund illicit crimes like terrorism or sex trafficking, but that can also be used to increase Canada’s tax revenues. This will have important implications for the day-to-day lives of Canadians.

Every year Canada loses an estimated $20 to $24 billion due to tax non-compliance. That represents about 1% of Canada’s total GDP, a significant sum. This is money that could otherwise be used to fund important commitments in the federal budget, like creating a national child care system or investing in green and low-carbon jobs and infrastructure.

And let’s face it, while pandemic spending is absolutely vital to helping Canadians and our economy weather this storm, we also need to take a serious look at new ways to raise public revenue to ensure our economic sustainability. Not only are our most essential jobs – from education to food safety to health care – all reliant on sufficient and stable government revenue, but all Canadians depend on well-funded governments to deliver quality public services and to provide critical infrastructure. Tax fairness is essential to raising this public revenue and is crucial to addressing Canada’s growing inequalities.

The hard truth is that Canada’s weak corporate transparency rules have earned it an international reputation as a place to launder money and evade taxes. We currently rank 11th out of 145 countries in the total amount of money lost due to shady tax practices. This is in part because Canada allows individuals to easily register shell companies with little scrutiny; not even requiring the name of the real owner. Combined with other benefits that Canada provides companies to minimize their taxes, we have now become a prime destination for tax evasion, even earning a unique nickname for the practice – “snow-washing”.

A 2015 risk assessment conducted by Canada’s own finance department noted that Canada faces significant threats of money laundering in which shell companies are used to facilitate the proceeds of crime. The RCMP has also brought to light the increasingly complex corporate and legal structures that are used to hide proceeds of crime. They have stated that collecting and publicly disclosing corporate ownership information would be a powerful tool to apprehend those who attempt to launder money, evade taxes or commit other complex financial crimes.

Canada has dragged its feet for years while some countries, like the UK, have already implemented a corporate registry. Last year, Canada finally began picking up the pace and launched a public consultation on strengthening corporate transparency in Canada. Canadian unions, alongside a range of other organizations, delivered a clear and consistent message: that there is a legitimate and pressing need to create a public registry – now.

This year’s federal budget announced $2.1 million to support the implementation of a publicly accessible corporate beneficial ownership registry by 2025. This is an important start and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland must be commended for this.

However, there are still a number of key requirements necessary to get this right. The registry should be publicly accessible and searchable and it should be free of cost. Information must be updated on a timely basis and should be verified by a registrar. A tip-line should be created so that whistle-blowers can flag concerns. The registrar must be mandated to promote compliance, to administrate penalties, and to hold company directors liable for non-compliance. Furthermore, like other budget commitments, the federal government will need to collaborate with the provinces and territories to harmonize the rules.

The federal government has brought us into this international movement for corporate transparency and we have a real opportunity to adopt meaningful policy and draw on best practices from other jurisdictions that have already introduced a public registry.

As this year’s tax filing season comes to a close and hard-working Canadians pay their fair share, it is only reasonable that we require the nation’s companies to do the same.

Hassan Yussuff is the president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow him on Twitter @Hassan_Yussuff

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On any given day of a normal year, Parliament Hill is buzzing with people lobbying elected representatives. According to the federal government’s lobbying commissioner, there were 18,728 monthly communications reports submitted in 2019 20.

Those communications reports were generated in large part by paid, registered lobbyists working with large corporations.

This year, there are far fewer meetings on the Hill but that doesn’t mean that elected representatives aren’t hearing from anyone. They are. And we want to make sure they’re hearing from workers, too. We know that pressing issues are mounting for many workers and communities across the country. In the past six months, people have seen their livelihoods disappear or they are staving off disaster, all while worrying about their health and the health of their families.

Workers want to see governments make decisions that will improve their lives and move Canada forward. They want to trust the government will make decisions based on the needs of everyday working people and of their communities. We only need to look South to see what can go wrong when governments let down their citizens.

In 2019, a study done by the OECD showed trust in government is falling worldwide. In 2019, only 38 per cent of Canadians said they had confidence in the government. The good news is that it has gone up since the pandemic made government more central to our lives than ever, according to a report from Samara Canada. Trust in government now stands at 59 per cent. This should not be taken for granted.

One of the best ways to maintain trust is to encourage citizen engagement in decision making.

This is why we are organizing the first-ever virtual lobbying effort, National Action Week. It’s an opportunity for workers from across the country to participate in our democracy, even in the midst of a pandemic. We are helping them reach out to their elected representatives to tell decision-makers what needs to happen in their communities.

Our hope is that our week of action will not only allow for conversations that will build trust in our democracy, but that these meetings will open the door for further conversations. Knowledge sharing is also essential for trust in democracy, meaning elected representatives should provide information and answer questions from their constituents – and constituents should know to ask questions.

After all, so much has changed and Members of Parliament need to hear from their constituents on what they need to focus on. Millions of people who were employed in March are now dependent on the government for support. As we continue to respond and as we move towards a recovery stage, the Minister of Finance has indicated the government is willing to make more and longer-term investments to provide economic stimulus, given historically low interest rates.

The most important thing right now is to move government investment into those sectors that will offer the most benefit to the most people across the country. The Prime Minister talks about building back better, and there are priorities that can’t be ignored if this government plans to improve the lives of those most affected by this pandemic.

The government made clear in September’s Speech from the Throne that it is listening to the concerns of workers and their families. The speech promised investments to create new jobs, accelerate the implementation of universal national pharmacare and focus on child care and long-term care. Workers across Canada are trusting that the government will include all these investments in the next federal budget and go even further, including raising the federal minimum wage to $15 dollars an hour as promised in the last federal election.

Those who have been working on the front lines without proper protective equipment, those who have watched their loved ones suffer in for-profit long-term care homes, parents who have been stuck with no options for child care, women forced to choose between career and family after all these years of progress deserve support. These workers know where investments need to go and so should their representatives.

They are ready to bring their stories and experiences directly to policy-makers. It’s up to those making decisions to listen carefully and act accordingly in the best interests of the nation’s workers and their families.

Hassan Yussuff is the president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow him on Twitter @Hassan_Yussuff

The post Canada’s workers engage MPs during first-ever Virtual Action Week 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.

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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.

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COVID-19 has forced rethinks on many aspects of our lives that we previously took for granted.

That includes thinking about how our communities function, and specifically about who ensures that they continue to, even in times of upheaval.

This has brought more visibility to the workers who many of us don’t often consider: migrant workers, temporary foreign workers, and newcomers who do the jobs that many Canadians won’t.

Even in the midst of a pandemic, these essential workers were hard at work, day in and day out, in order to put food on our table, to take care of our seniors, and to help us all maintain some level of normalcy.

Their contributions point to how invaluable a well-rounded immigration policy would mean to a nation like Canada that relies on immigrants for its prosperity and well-being, especially now as our communities struggle to recover.

This crisis has shone a light on the weaknesses of our current immigration system and demonstrated how workers can easily be taken advantage of, mistreated and/or prevented from fully integrating due to policies and attitudes that are at times discriminatory and tilted in favour of employers rather than towards the rights of workers.

In fact, after hearing stories of abuse this past summer, Canada’s Health Minister, Patty Hajdu, went as far as to call the treatment of some migrant farm workers a “national disgrace”. The Minister pledged to look at how to reform the program. Overall, some 60,000 temporary foreign workers plant and harvest crops each year, often forced to live in cramped and crowded conditions.

Advocates, including the nation’s unions, have long pointed to solutions such as ensuring that all workers be provided with comprehensive workers protections, and that we finally provide pathways for status for workers who want to stay in Canada and contribute like the generations of immigrants before them.

Numerous studies have pointed out that without immigration, we will struggle to sustain the social programs and services that support our society. With a population that is both shrinking and aging, our reliance on immigration remains high. Yet, this year alone, the number of immigrants arriving in Canada has tumbled significantly from this time last year and the country will fall well below its targets (the government will need to increase its future targets to address this or risk an even more sluggish economy).

In the meantime, we can help address these shortfalls immediately by providing pathways to status to workers who are already here or on their way. The federal government has already provided a temporary measure that would allow asylum claimants working in health care to apply for permanent residency. A similar measure should extend to all asylum claimants working to get us through this pandemic. Whether a worker is clearing our hospitals, stocking our warehouses, or picking fruit, they deserve an opportunity to continue their lives here without the uncertainty and anxiety of the unknown. Otherwise, these programs risk becoming exploitative and make us vulnerable when borders shut down.

As for undocumented workers, they, too, deserve the opportunity to become regularized and to live with their families without fear of being imprisoned and deported. It’s why pilot projects to help provide status for those without it are important, yet represent only a stop-gap measure until we implement more permanent ways to provide amnesty to those living and working amongst us.

Furthermore, even high-skilled professional newcomers require more support to ensure Canada remains an attractive destination. Stories of foreign-trained doctors offering their services during the peak of the pandemic and anemic efforts to provide temporary licences are a reminder that we fail to recognize international credentials to our peril. The under-employment and over-qualification of newcomers is far too common, as are the pay gaps facing immigrants, particularly women.

Our rethink on immigration requires we no longer view those considered to have low skills any less valuable than those with university degrees. And those with those degrees deserve to put them to use and to expect fair treatment.

We need a robust system that welcomes everyone who helps make our country stronger, more resilient, and increases our capacity to take care of each other. This is crucial to our collective recovery.

Hassan Yussuff is the president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow him on Twitter @Hassan_Yussuff

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The images, the stories, the experiences of our seniors during this pandemic are enough to bring a grown man to tears.

In fact, it has.

Even Ontario’s Premier Doug Ford has, at times, become emotional while talking about the conditions in the province’s long-term care facilities. It’s a dire situation right across the country.

No one is doubting the sincerity of every single politician who is expressing frustration and helplessness at the pandemic’s scourge within these facilities. But we do have to question why it took the global crisis, hundreds of deaths and intervention by the armed forces for the message to finally get through: our system is broken.

It’s a message that unions and advocates have been communicating for decades. Long-term care should never have become the hodgepodge of private-public system it is today. This system has allowed for-profit agencies to take significant control, some of them led by politicians like Mike Harris who handed over 68% of 20,000 new spaces created during his tenure to the private sector. Ironically, Harris is now the Chair of the Board of Directors at Chartwell, a private company that runs many long-term care facilities.

Just over a year ago, the head of SEIU Healthcare joined fellow union members and advocates at Queen’s Park to call for better treatment and pay for workers in these facilities, which receive hundreds of millions of dollars from the government. By the way, the CEOs of these facilities have in the past received more than $9.2 million dollars of public money with nary a peep out of the same Premier who is now upset about the state of things.

The expansive growth of the private long-term care industry has led to a further devaluing of care work and driven down workers’ wages in order to boost corporate and shareholder profits. 

What we are witnessing is no accident. The horrific conditions that frontline care workers now describe occurred in spite of repeated warnings that have persisted for years.

Facilities are led by managers and owners who are looking after the bottom line, not the well-being of some of society’s most vulnerable. This has meant that workers are paid very little, forced to take on multiple shifts at different facilities and paid just under full-time hours so owners avoid paying benefits and therefore failing to adequately care for staff who take care of their clients.

“Private, for-profit services are necessarily more fragmented, more prone to closure and focused on making a profit. The research demonstrates that homes run on a for-profit basis tend to have lower staffing levels, more verified complaints and more transfers to hospitals, as well as higher rates for both ulcers and morbidity,” conclude Pat Armstrong, Hugh Armstrong, Jacqueline Choiniere, Ruth Lowndes and James Struthers in a recent research paper titled Re-imagining Long-term Residential Care in the COVID-19 Crisis.

It’s time to fix what is broken. The only way to do that is to take immediate steps to make private for-profit long-term care facilities part of the public health care system aligned with the principles of the Canada Health Act.

In fact, it is the exclusion from the Act that has allowed for the proliferation of private for-profit care in our country. We have repeatedly called on the federal and provincial governments to stop the funding cuts and to ameliorate the health care system so every Canadian can access vital health care services based on need, not an ability to pay. 

Whether you are worried about a loved one, or whether you or someone you know is one of the invaluable workers caring for Canada’s seniors, this is the solution we need.

Besides, we’re all ageing. Someday, it may be one of us on the other side of the window, looking out at a world that failed us.

Unless we act now.

Hassan Yussuff is the president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow him on Twitter @Hassan_Yussuff

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The economic fallout of COVID-19 is stark – and women are feeling the brunt of it.

Over 1.5 million women lost jobs over March and April, according to Statistics Canada. That’s a 17% drop in employment levels since February. Even with workplaces and services beginning to reopen, families will struggle to return to work without adequate child care in place.

Advocates, employers and policymakers alike fear that the burden of care will fall on women.

With Canadian women typically contributing about 40% of household income, there can be no full economic recovery without what economist Armine Yalnizyan has dubbed a “she-covery”.

Child care is key to making that possible.

It’s become clear that child care is a vital part of social infrastructure. Without child care, workers in women-dominated sectors that keep us healthy, safe and fed could not keep operating. This is why we saw several jurisdictions move quickly to make child care available to essential workers as a central component of their response efforts.

But that temporary solution is a far cry from what’s actually needed to address the gaping holes in a severely underfunded and fragmented system. It’s a system in which child care costs far too much for many families, and even when affordable, is highly competitive – sometimes with three or more children to every one licenced space.

As we begin to shape the new normal, child care must be at the heart of the post-COVID economy. Child care encourages participation in the labour market and is also an important source of employment for women – an economic driver in and of itself.

Investments in the care economy will largely pay for themselves as middle class families engage in greater labour-market participation, higher productivity, rising incomes, and increased tax revenue.

The federal government has the opportunity to spearhead a comprehensive pan-Canadian effort to build back better in the child care sector. Such a sector would ensure children have access to safe early learning and care and that parents are able to return to the paid labour force with relatively little worry.

In the short-term, the government will have to work with the provinces and territories to provide immediate funds to stabilize existing child care infrastructure.

The federal government has already committed to establishing a Federal Child Care Secretariat in order to help strengthen Canada’s social infrastructure.

The Secretariat will play a fundamental role in the reconstruction process, which will require long-term commitment and teamwork.

The Secretariat will also need to develop a workforce strategy to raise the quality of early learning in child care, improve working conditions for early childhood educators and oversee the expansion of the system.

Through collaboration, creativity and trust, we can take meaningful steps forward to ensure a robust economic recovery for all.

Hassan Yussuff is the president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow him on Twitter @Hassan_Yussuff
Goldy Hyder is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Business Council

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We are in the midst of a global pandemic. The federal government is introducing new programs almost daily to support millions of Canadians who have been affected by this crisis. Public service employees are doing amazing work getting that support to the people who need it.

Meanwhile, the calls for austerity are already coming fast and furious, heralded by right-wing conservatives, including former Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Even as we see our health care workers struggle with staffing and supplies as the result of decades of cuts in health care spending across the country.

The opinion pages are full of columnists explaining why program spending needs to be cut immediately – without any idea when a recovery will begin. Even arguing that the public service employees who have been doing unprecedented work processing millions of claims at unbelievable speeds should be punished for having job security.

Public service employees play a fundamental role in our democracy, informing our elected representatives and allowing them to make decisions based on evidence – which is a good thing, despite what some say. Our public service is full of subject-matter experts who our political representatives rely on to help them craft the best policies and programs. We should be glad when our leaders take their advice, rather than ignore it – as we’re seeing to the south.

Judging the amount of government spending that goes to public service salaries without referring at all to the work those employees actually do day to day to keep the country running is ludicrous. You cannot reference a productivity agenda without acknowledging the producers of the work.

Equally ludicrous is the leader of the opposition repeating the false message that applications to the CERB benefit are rampant with fraud daily. A vocal minority is concerned that a $2,000 per month benefit will create a population that doesn’t want to work, but waste no time and effort examining the conditions we are asking them to work in.

Being on government benefits should never mean being treated like a criminal – but perhaps especially now as we face global uncertainly and a new future ahead. The real criminals are the ones who are hoarding wealth on the backs of workers.  

We are about to crown the world’s first trillionaire. One man could single-handedly solve world hunger. The same man who gave workers a $2 per hour pay raise in these unprecedented times and is now clawing it back even as his own warehouses continue to see outbreaks and workers demand safer conditions. In Canada, we see employers like Loblaws boosting employee wages by 15 per cent – $2 an hour for those working minimum wage. Meanwhile, the company estimates that the pandemic has resulted in a $751 million increase in quarterly profits.

The wages and benefits of public sector employees do not represent a problem, they represent an example of what is possible. Every working Canadian deserves the security of a good job with a living wage, benefits and paid sick leave. Access to paid sick leave would give workers leeway so they wouldn’t have to choose between their job and their health, meaning fewer workers would feel forced to work while sick – key in slowing the spread of illnesses like COVID-19.

Getting to the recovery has been a group effort. Canadians, as a population, moved swiftly to protect each other.

We are a society that lifts everyone up, and now is not the time to start punching down.

When we plan out the recovery, we cannot return to the careless individualism that has led to the growing inequality we’re seeing globally. Collective action is what flattened the curve, and collective action is where progress lies.

The most important thing that we have seen over the past nine weeks is this: Canada has the capacity to move quickly to protect the most vulnerable. The money is there when we need it and when there is political will.

It’s time to leave the right-wing, me-first thinking in the past where it belongs. We can’t afford to work against each other anymore.

Hassan Yussuff is the president of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow him on Twitter @Hassan_Yussuff

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There will always be those who believe that the most important aspect of any business is the bottom line, regardless of how such tunnel vision can negatively impact the lives of workers.

But the best employers understand that a sound business model includes nurturing workplaces in which their employees are treated with dignity and respect.

Those who care about the people who work for them will often see higher productivity from a healthier, happier workforce.

It’s with this in mind that Canadians working in federally-regulated sectors will have a lot to look forward to when changes to the Canada Labour Code come into effect on September 1^st.

While there are those sounding the alarm at the new rules, it’s prudent to take a step back and reflect on what the amendments actually mean for everyone.

First, there are the workers who will be directly impacted. These include full-time, part-time, and casual employees working in a range of fields including railways, shipping and banks. Then there is the wider public who these workers indirectly and directly serve. All of us win when people are treated fairly.

Everyone wins when employers recognize that every worker has personal responsibilities and obligations that will change over the person’s career.  Having flexible work arrangements means ensuring that workers can adapt to changing circumstances in their lives without jeopardizing their livelihood.

Everyone wins when workers have the right to refuse overtime so that they can care for their family members and fulfill their commitments to their children’s education.

Everyone wins when workers experiencing domestic violence are able to access paid leave to cope with what would be a highly traumatic and difficult experience for anyone. Victims of domestic violence should not be forced to choose between their well-being and their livelihood.

While these are only a few of the amendments coming into force on September 1^st, the changes to the Labour Code as a whole are designed to ensure that workers are able to balance their health, well-being, personal obligations and their jobs.

Unfortunately, it has become routine to hear a chorus of disapproval when efforts to improve the working conditions of Canadians are implemented. There will always be those who decry the introduction of such provisions as overly burdensome or too much red tape for employers. The reality, however, is that most provincially-regulated workplaces have already had to contend with similar, if not more stringent, rules for a number of years now and the sky hasn’t fallen – the federal government is simply playing catch-up here.

It’s also unsurprising that critics will claim that the plans to introduce updated standards are hidden from public view, to be sprung on unsuspecting stakeholders at the very last minute. These amendments to the Labour Code have been in the works for several years and are the result of wide-ranging consultations between the government, workers, unions and employers.

By improving the lives of workers, we are improving the quality of life for everyone. Employers who lack vision may fall for the scaremongering but those who have the best interests of their workers at heart should welcome these amendments as being long overdue. In fact, they should advocate for further improvements.

For instance, it’s time that the federal government reinstate a minimum hourly wage for workers in federally regulated sectors. The minimum wage must be set at $15 an hour and tied to indexation so that jobs help workers get ahead rather sustaining them in a cycle of poverty.

Workers must also be able to “switch off” their work phones and emails once they’ve returned home. Unfortunately, in this era of instant communication, many employers expect their staff to respond on their own personal time – that’s simply unhealthy and unfair.

Canada’s workers are making positive strides. Employers can either get with the program, or risk losing their best workers.

Hassan Yussuff is the President of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow him on Twitter @Hassan_Yussuff.

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You can be forgiven if you’ve avoided thinking about the upcoming federal election all summer, but Labour Day is here. That means it’s time to return to the fall routine and start thinking about how you are going to cast your ballot.

You may have seen politicians working the barbecue circuit, vying for the support of workers and their families. They often claim to know what voters need. Let’s tell them what voters want.

After all, voting for the country we want is both a cherished right, and a significant responsibility.  And it’s under threat.

Lies, misinformation, and propaganda proliferating online are dividing and distracting people like never before.

We know that domestic and foreign actors will likely continue to foment division through contentious topics like immigration and the environment. We must remain united and focused on what truly matters: a present and future that leaves no one behind.

Not only are we facing an uncertain future, but the strides working people have made in the last four years are also in jeopardy. 

Canada’s unions are cutting through the noise with a simple message to voters: Canadians must elect a government that is committed to a fair Canada for everyone.

This is much more than a slogan but a clear call to action on five key areas that will shape the future of this country. Each of them centre on the health and well-being of Canadians.

Canada’s unions have successfully worked with governments and health experts to make universal pharmacare a ballot box issue this fall.

That’s because over 3.5 million Canadians struggle to pay for the medications they need. Private insurers and pharmaceutical companies have a vested interest in preserving a status quo that sees Canadians paying some of the highest drug prices in the world. Canada remains the only developed country with universal health care, without a universal pharmacare plan. A single-payer system would rein in drug prices and save Canadians over four billion dollars per year, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

Also key to the well-being of Canadians is the assurance that they will be able to live in dignity in retirement. Following the Conservative party’s defeat in the last federal election, Canada’s unions lobbied for an expansion of public pensions and won a 50% increase to Canada Pension Plan benefits, along with top-up payments for 900,000 low-income single seniors and the restoration of Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement for those over the age of 65, down from 67.

We need a government that is committed to improving public pensions and protecting hard-earned private pensions when employers go bankrupt. 

We also need to talk about the economic health of our nation’s working people. With a rise in precarious, temporary, and low-wage work, more and more people are struggling to get by. We need to vote for a government that clearly defines what it will invest towards creating good jobs for all Canadians.

It’s also time for bold action that tackles our climate emergency while creating economic opportunities in green industries. We deserve a government that is committed to clean air and water, invests in public transportation, and supports workers and communities transitioning to a greener economy.

With hardline Conservative governments now running the majority of the provinces, we cannot forget what a decade of Stephen Harper’s Conservatives did to working people and their families and risk the rollback of hard-won social gains and the rewriting of the Canadian constitution.

Can Canadians afford a government that cares more about private corporations and tax cuts for the super-rich than it does about everyday working people? Can we risk electing a government that refuses to address the climate catastrophe? Can we accept a government that is prepared to exploit people’s fear and insecurity to fuel racism and intolerance?

This Labour Day, let’s recommit to standing together for an inclusive Canada where everyone prospers.

Hassan Yussuff is the President of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow him on Twitter @Hassan_Yussuff.

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Finally, some good news for the millions of Canadians who have to choose between paying for groceries or their prescription medications.

Canada’s Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare has laid out a clear path for public, single-payer, universal pharmacare in its final report.

“The time for universal, single-payer, public pharmacare has come,” writes Dr. Eric Hoskins, the Council’s chair. “This is our generation’s national project: better access to the medicines we need, improved health outcomes and a fairer and more sustainable prescription medicine system.”

This is the unfinished business of medicare, as envisioned by the late Tommy Douglas. As Saskatchewan’s seventh premier, Mr. Douglas pioneered North America’s first universal, single-payer health care system. It would become a cornerstone of Canada’s social safety net and a key pillar of our nation.

We know that a fair society must be one in which every person has the opportunity to succeed and to thrive. Just as unions have advocated for expanded pensions and better workplace conditions for all workers, so, too, do we believe that universal, public pharmacare is a necessary step towards greater fairness.

As numerous studies have shown, millions of Canadians are struggling to afford to pay for their prescription medications. One study found that nearly a million Canadians sacrificed basic needs such as food, and close to a quarter of a million people gave up heating their homes. This lack of affordability is hurting not only people’s health and well-being, but the economic strength of our communities.

The new report demonstrates that every family will save, on average, $350 per year on medications. It also points out that the average business owner will save about $750 per employee. That will open up capacity for businesses to increase wages, or expand other types of coverage, including for dental and vision care. It also supports small businesses that find it difficult to compete for workers when they can’t afford to offer drug coverage.

There will be an upfront cost, specifically at the outset, but as time goes on, the money our provincial health care systems will save will be significant. A recent study found that over 300,000 people had additional doctor visits, 93,000 had to go to the emergency department and 26,000 people were admitted to hospital – all because they couldn’t pay for their medications. That creates a significant burden on the health care system, one that we can alleviate with a national drug plan.

There’s a lot of money to be made in the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. Canadians pay some of the highest drug prices in the world, up to an additional $9.9 billion per year, according to the Canadian Health Coalition. Those prices would come down, saving at least five billion dollars with population-wide bargaining and competitive prices.

But you can bet there are plenty of wealthy corporate shareholders who are very satisfied with the status quo and who will always put those inflated profits ahead of people’s health care needs.

In fact, a report by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions earlier this year uncovered a 600% increase in lobbying by at least one major industry group between 2017 to 2018.

“The pharmaceutical industry sees the implementation of pharmacare as worthy of the deployment of unprecedented lobbying resources,” concludes the report.

Our governments, though, serve the public good, not private interests. That’s why the independent advisory council has provided the clearest blueprint yet for this major investment in the people of Canada.

Will our elected officials support this national vision? Or will they toe the industry line and support half-measures that will continue to line industry pockets while putting people’s health at risk?

It’s up to voters to ask those questions in the lead up to this fall’s federal election.

Hassan Yussuff is the President of the Canadian Labour Congress. Follow him on Twitter @Hassan_Yussuff.

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In the four years since the release of the first-ever pan-Canadian study on the impact of domestic violence at work, unions, employers and governments have embarked on a remarkable joint project to help protect jobs and promote workplace safety.

We now have a common understanding of the magnitude of this problem and we must work together to support workers, mostly but not exclusively women, who are experiencing domestic violence. The evidence is clear. Domestic violence affects attendance, productivity, and retention. It follows people to work and puts jobs and safety at risk.

While it’s not the role of employers or unions to eliminate such a complex societal problem, workplaces can have an effect on how a worker is able to respond. The money a woman earns through employment can help her from becoming trapped and isolated in violent relationships, and ensures she can support herself and her children should she decide to leave.

And while not every abusive relationship will escalate to serious injury or death, it happens to women far too frequently – and workplace safety is at risk for her and potentially for her colleagues, as an abuser may look for their target at work.

That’s why, together, governments, employers and unions are taking action. The first step was passing Bill C-65, which clearly recognizes harassment and violence as a workplace hazard. The federal government has provided workers with job-protected, paid domestic violence leave. Employers and unions have negotiated additional paid leave and other workplace supports and accommodations. Unions have built a series of educational tools to better equip union representatives and promote awareness among members.

Our next step is to develop strong regulations on workplace violence that clearly lay out the steps that workplaces should take to respond to domestic violence at work, to manage and reduce risk, and to support workers who are affected. This work should build on positive steps that have already been taken across many organizations.

We are embarking now on a collective effort to promote awareness and ensure that workplaces are prepared.

With support from the Government of Canada, FETCO and the Canadian Labour Congress have partnered with the Centre for Research & Education on Violence against Women & Children at Western University to provide practical, workplace solutions including policies, tools and training materials that clearly delineate employer responsibilities related to domestic violence in the new harassment and violence regulations.

By promoting greater awareness about domestic violence, we hope to challenge the stigma and break the silence that enables the violence to continue – and which can put everyone at the workplace at risk if an abuser’s behaviour escalates.

Abusers seek control over the woman in their life, and isolation is a tool to keep the woman separate from others. People stay silent when they witness or suspect that someone close to them may be experiencing abuse for many reasons. Sometimes it’s uncertainty about whether what is happening is actually abuse. Maybe it’s not understanding how risky a situation really is. It might be that we don’t want to embarrass our co-worker by putting her on the spot, or we think the person is capable of handling it. Or maybe we just aren’t sure what we can do to help.

Breaking the silence is the critical first step for a woman to end the abuse she is experiencing. By giving workers, managers, human resource staff and union representatives tools they need to recognize the warning signs of domestic violence, we can better support and empower people experiencing abuse to safely speak with their friends and co-workers.

Clear workplace policies will be essential to helping manage risk and respond to specific situations. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to addressing domestic violence at work. Each worker will need different supports, and their situation and risk may change over time. But with better awareness and access to training and other resources, we are confident that workplaces will be better prepared to respond, keeping everyone safer, healthier and more productive.

Hassan Yussuff is the President of the Canadian Labour Congress, Derrick Hynes is the President and CEO of the Federally Regulated Employers – Transportation and Communications (FETCO), and the Honourable Patty Hajdu is the Federal Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour.

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Such a strategy would require the government to commit to analyzing race-based statistics on how various institutional policies impact Canada’s Black communities. The key objective would be to eradicate institutionalized racism that is disproportionately harming this specific segment of Canadian society.

“Black people in Canada are systematically disadvantaged in workplaces, criminalized and victimized by the judicial system, and discriminated against in public services and housing,” said CLC President Hassan Yussuff.

The federal government should look to taking the following steps:

• Create an intersectional national anti-Black racism strategy;
• Institute criminal justice reform to address anti-Black racism in the judicial and prison system; and
• Call for an inquiry on the overrepresentation of Black children and youth in care of child protection services.

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2015-2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent as a response to the need to strengthen the rights of people of African descent. Canada’s federal government officially recognized the International Decade of People of African Descent this week.

“Recognition is a step, but it won’t mean much if it isn’t followed up with concrete commitments to addressing the real grievances people have,” said Yussuff.

Canada’s unions are striving to educate their membership on the issue of anti-Black racism.

Last year, the CLC hosted a series of webinars called Working While Black. The series highlighted the contributions of Black activists and organizers in Canada and helped build skills and knowledge towards confronting discrimination.

This year, Canada’s unions are celebrating Black History Month with the release of a special podcast later this month called “Smoke and Mirrors: Uncovering Truths about Human Rights in Canada”. Hosted by lawyer, writer and PhD candidate Hadiya Roderique, the episode will explore the history of anti-Black racism in Canada and its legacy on society today.

The podcast features interviews with Black intellectuals and activists including authors and historians Robyn Maynard and Dr. Afua Cooper, as well as the award-winning journalist Desmond Cole.

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I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be in that sacred space and have that serenity destroyed by a lone gunman, bent on killing as many people as he could.

My thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their loved ones that night, the families of Aboubakr Thabti, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Ibrahima Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Azzedine Soufiane and Abdelkarim Hassane. I think of the seventeen children who will no longer have their fathers in their lives. I think of their spouses who have lost their life partners. It truly is heartbreaking and unfathomable.

I think, too, of the nineteen others who were physically injured that night. One of those men is Aymen Derbali, whose story has now become widely known. Aymen deliberately put himself in the shooter’s line of sight in order to distract him away from his fellow worshippers.  He was shot seven times – two bullets are still lodged in his spine. He is a Canadian hero. I’m deeply inspired by his determination to rebuild his life, though he faces many challenges and obstacles as he will never walk again.

The Quebec City Muslim community is still coping with this tragedy; such loss is understandably deeply traumatic and has both short and long-term consequences.

What I hope to express is my personal commitment to counter the attitudes that would lead to hatred and bigotry of any kind. That is why the Canadian Labour Congress joined in the call for a National Day of Remembrance and Action on Islamophobia. Canada’s unions will continue to work with the National Council of Canadian Muslims, and countless other organizations, to make this happen.

I believe each and every one of us has a responsibility to speak up whenever we hear or see hateful attitudes expressed: in our workplaces, in our social gatherings, in any other day-to-day interactions, and online.

Islamophobia is real. We must face it, and eradicate it, together. Let’s never forget January 29.

– Hassan Yussuff, CLC President

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