There is no economic recovery without adequate child care
June 3, 2020
By Hassan Yussuff and Goldy Hyder as published in The Star. 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…
Home is not safe for everyone: Domestic violence during a pandemic
March 26, 2020
Canada’s unions are calling for increased vigilance and awareness to the growing risk of domestic violence amidst the coronavirus pandemic. The recommendation that people stay in their homes, along with added financial pressure and stress, can elevate the risk of violence and further entrenches isolation, which increases opportunities for abusers to exert power and control. Women’s shelters and transition houses…
Unions vow to protect reproductive rights as fundamental rights
May 25, 2019
Following a series of regressive abortion laws passed in several American states, Canada’s unions are expressing solidarity with advocates in the United States who are fighting to protect reproductive rights. The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) further commits to protecting our own hard-won gains and to fill the gaps in access to sexual and reproductive health and rights in Canada, including…
By Hassan Yussuff, as published in The Globe and Mail. It was disheartening to see some of the negative reactions to a recent proposal that free menstrual products should be available in all federally regulated workplaces. There clearly remain a lot of misperceptions and ignorance about the challenges women face every day in the workplace. Access to menstrual products is…
Canada’s unions mark Equal Pay Day with a call for pay equity implementation now
April 9, 2019
April 9, 2019 marks Equal Pay Day in Ontario, the date recognized as the amount of time it takes for women’s wages to catch up to men’s wages in 2018. Nationally, Equal Pay Day is an opportunity to educate communities across Canada on the realities of the gender wage gap and its negative economic impacts on women, especially women with…
International Women’s Day: #DoneWaiting for equality in the workplace
March 5, 2019
Canada’s Unions are marking International Women’s Day in 2019 with a bold message on the future of women and work: women are #DoneWaiting for fairness at work. It’s time to expose what it’s like #BeingAWomanAtWork and demand changes to help make workplaces and working life better for women. #DoneWaiting is a campaign for women’s economic justice. Launched one year ago, the campaign…
Sisters in Spirit Vigils on October 4th are an annual way to honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. The violence experienced by Indigenous women and girls is a national tragedy that unions and the labour movement have been pressuring governments to address. Each year, the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) and Families of Sisters…
Canadian postal workers go on strike for maternity leave – and win big!
June 30, 2018
On June 30, 1981, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers led its members into a strike to win improved maternity leave benefits. The strike lasted 42 days and changed everything. It won 17 weeks of paid maternity leave and set a new standard for parental benefits that all workers would soon access. In 1981 after a 42-day strike, the Canadian…
Canada’s unions mark National Indigenous Peoples Day by calling for two-year extension of MMIW public inquiry
June 21, 2018
This National Indigenous Peoples Day, Canada’s unions are calling on the federal government to grant the two-year extension to the mandate of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Earlier in June, the Commission was only granted a six-month extension in response to its request to add an additional two years to their mandate. “We must…