International Day of Care and Support: Care workers deserve care too
October 29, 2023
Canada’s unions are marking the first International Day of Care with a call for greater investment in improved wages and working conditions for care workers. We all need care at some point in our lives. Our jobs, our families and our economy depend on having our care needs met. In Canada, nearly 1 in 5 workers are employed in paid…
International Equal Pay Day: Canada’s Unions Call for an Integrated, Long-term Care Workforce strategy
September 18, 2023
Whether it’s health care, child care, long-term care, or community and social services, care sectors across Canada are experiencing severe staffing shortages and wage discrimination. At the root of this crisis is the stark reality that care work is unrecognized and undervalued. On International Equal Pay Day, Canada’s unions are calling for increased wages for care workers and a Care…
Union women across Canada are marking International Women’s Day by celebrating our collective victories and preparing for the coming challenges in the ongoing fight for women’s rights and gender equity. Canada’s unions are lifting up women’s voices, highlighting examples of how women have organised to win, and pledging to continue to be a driving force for progress in workplaces and in…
New child care legislation includes important commitment to non-profit child care and a qualified and well-supported workforce
December 8, 2022
Bruske: We welcome new child care legislation and will fight to strengthen it as it moves through committee OTTAWA –– Canada’s unions welcome today’s early learning and child care legislation, Bill C‑35, another success born of the cooperation between the NDP and the Liberal government. “Ensuring affordable, high quality, accessible and flexible services means we will have a Canada-wide system…
To achieve gender equality, Canada’s decision makers must prioritize investments in care
September 22, 2022
Canada’s unions are marking Gender Equality Week by calling on the federal government to reduce and redistribute women’s unpaid care work and help fix Canada’s broken care systems. “Investments in care are essential if we’re going to reduce and redistribute women’s unpaid work and pave the way for women to take on paid work, or to access education or training,”…
Helping families facing affordability squeeze must be MPs’ job one
April 25, 2022
Bruske: As Parliament returns, Canada’s unions urge MPs to back workers and reject the push for a low-wage austerity agenda OTTAWA –– The highest inflation in over three decades plus the largest interest rate rise in over twenty years adds up to families falling further behind. Figures released last week revealed that inflation now stands at 6.7 percent, and rising,…
Canada’s unions welcome long-delayed Ontario child care deal
March 28, 2022
Bruske: As struggling parents heave a sigh of a relief, now we must make sure affordable child care is there for future generations Canada’s unions welcome today’s long-overdue agreement to bring down the costs of child care for Ontario’s inflation-weary parents and celebrate progress toward Canada finally achieving a nation-wide affordable child care system. “This was the last of 13…
Bea Bruske: Ford government must stop playing politics and sign child care deal OTTAWA – Canada’s unions are welcoming today’s child care agreement between the federal government and Nunavut. With today’s agreement, Ontario is now the lone province or territory that has failed to agree on a deal to bring affordable child care to families. “Every other jurisdiction in Canada…
More needed to help Canadians amid devastating Omicron wave Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress, is available to speak to media today about the federal government’s Lockdown Benefit and the effect restrictions and business closures are having on workers and their families. In advance of the government’s announcement on December 22, 2021, Bruske said: “Canada’s unions are profoundly…
Canada’s unions: Use fiscal update to reverse seniors’ clawbacks and emergency help for workers
December 9, 2021
Bruske: Parliament must act swiftly to help low-income seniors, the 1.2 million unemployed and the 630K working Canadians who want full-time work but can’t find it With low-income seniors and unemployed workers being left behind, Canada’s unions are demanding the upcoming Economic and Fiscal Update be more than an accounting exercise but instead include a course correction on key issues. “The most vital thing about a country’s…