“Workers have always understood that an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. Canada’s unions are proud to be allied with the trans and gender diverse communities bravely facing down attempts from conservative and alt-right politicians trying to distract from their economic mismanagement by scapegoating the most vulnerable among us,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress.

In Canada and around the world, there is a growing backlash against human rights, with the most relentless forms of harassment and violence directed at trans and gender diverse people. From 2016 to 2023, Statistics Canada reports that police-reported hate crimes motivated by sexual orientation had increased by a staggering almost 400%.

More recently, governments in Saskatchewan and Alberta have taken aim at the fundamental rights of queer and trans youth by denying them access to education, health care, and other protected human rights. These governments admitted that their use of the notwithstanding clause violated people’s basic rights and freedoms. That didn’t stop the Alberta government from using the same clause to violate teachers’ protected bargaining rights. Trans and gender diverse people were the first targets, but they won’t be the last. 

“Conservative right-wing forces, supported by uber-wealthy oligarchs, want hard-working Canadians to turn on each other. They help fuel the ongoing affordability crisis, keeping workers, families, and entire communities in a constant state of struggle. Meanwhile, the politicians they control push anti-human rights agendas to keep everyone distracted and divided,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the CLC. “Well, this TDOV, we’ve got news for them: Canada’s unions remain united against hate and, more determined than ever, will continue the fight for a society that supports dignity, human rights and equal opportunities for all Canadians.”

Workers are taking action every day to build, sustain and defend a progressive and united vision for our unions, workplaces, and communities.  

• Canada’s unions are part of global human rights advocacy efforts for more inclusive and representative language on gender rights and gender justice in bilateral and multilateral agreements that affirm, protect, and dignify the human rights of all working people;
• The CLC is proud to be united with 2SLGBTQIA+ rights organizations across Canada, like the Society of Queer Momentum, EGALE Canada and the Enchante Network, working together on our collective and solidarity-driven vision of an inclusive Canada for every worker and their family; and
• Union representatives are fighting—and winning—provisions at the bargaining table that affirm access to gender affirming health care services, workplace transition supports and anti-violence, harassment, and discrimination policies that make work safer for everyone.

“On Trans Day of Visibility 2026, Canada’s unions are proudly proclaiming that our movement is one of Workers United Against Hate. Together with our allies, we will push back on any anti-worker agenda that seeks to politically divide us, and we will win,” said Rousseau.

The post Canada’s unions stand in support and solidarity with trans and gender-diverse people appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

In our view, the CORE’s final report on our complaint reflects an approach that undermines this would-be watchdog’s mandate to such a degree, it is difficult to conceive of any human rights abuse it would deem to have jurisdiction to investigate. This is why the USW and the CLC sought a judicial review of this decision.

On Oct. 6, 2025, the federal court dismissed our application for judicial review of the CORE’s final report, ruling that the ombudsperson’s findings are advisory in nature and therefore not justiciable. In his determination, the Honourable Justice Gleason wrote “[…] the CORE has no authority to compel participation in a review or to impose consequences that will impact upon any individual, organization, or community. The CORE is essentially an advisor […]”

Our overall experience with this complaint, including the result of the judicial review, has exposed the ineffectiveness of this office and further strengthens our position that the office of the CORE desperately needs genuine independence and legal powers to fulfil its mandate. Ongoing failure to act in this regard will continue to exhibit the limited intentions of the government to ensure real corporate accountability for Canadian companies operating abroad.

As the Government of Canada considers its financial priorities, we will remind it of the commitment made to Canadians when the creation of the CORE was first announced in 2018. The CORE is a critical component of the government’s commitment to responsible business conduct and to human rights as it is Canada’s only non-judicial mechanism that independently investigates complaints of human rights abuses related to the activity of Canadian companies operating overseas and reports publicly on its findings.

Many Canadian civil society groups called for an ombudsperson office in reaction to the weak grievance mechanism under the National Contact Point (NCP) to handle specific instances where companies may have failed to comply with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprise and the UN Guiding Principles. The process under the NCP is voluntary and non-binding, which highlighted the need for an independent CORE with the power to compel evidence.

With no ombudsperson in place since May 2025, we are urging the government to honour its commitment to Canadians, to human rights and to those affected by the operations of Canadian companies overseas to ensure the CORE soon will be staffed with a new ombudsperson so that it can continue to do its vital work. Secondly, the CORE needs to be empowered with the independence and essential powers needed to effectively investigate allegations of abuse by Canadian corporations and to demand accountability.

The post Result of judicial review further strengthens the need for an empowered CORE to ensure corporate accountability of Canadian companies appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Canada’s unions are marking International Human Rights Day by urging the federal government to ensure that the pursuit of Canada’s economic prosperity does not come at the expense of human rights.

Workers around the world are facing precarity due to ongoing global conflicts, trade wars, artificial intelligence, and climate change. These issues are reshaping labour markets, raising new equity challenges, and worsening existing ones.

Here in Canada, workers are shouldering the greatest pressure from the Carney government’s response to Donald Trump’s escalating trade war. While the government acted quickly on Trump’s demands by boosting spending on border control and military defence, workers and their families continue to face deteriorating public services, widening inequities, and a growing affordability crisis.

The 2025 Federal Budget does take important steps to support workers in sectors directly hit by tariffs and trade disruption, and that progress matters. But millions of Canadians who are struggling right now still need meaningful relief. A truly worker-focused approach would pair trade-related support with bold investments in public and social infrastructure, affordability measures, and policies that strengthen economic security for everyone.

The budget indicated no additional investments to implement Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy or continue the important work of the Federal Anti-Racism Secretariat. Canada’s unions urge the government to ensure ongoing funding for these to address and mitigate the impacts of systemic racism that many workers face.

The Liberals’ election platform promised a review of Carney’s government policies and programs using an intersectional lens to understand the potential impacts of these on Canadians in all their diversity, but no action has been taken.

This is evident in the introduction of regressive legislation such as bills C-2 and C-12, which pose significant threats to freedoms and civil liberties, migrant and refugee rights and the privacy of all Canadians. These Bills are concerning, as they come at a time when Canada seeks to secure and deepen trade relationships with several governments for whom gender equality is decidedly not a priority, and with poor records for respecting human rights and labour rights. Canada must negotiate strong labour chapters in all trade agreements to ensure fair working conditions, enforce labour standards, protect workers’ freedom of association rights and prevent forced labour as Canada works to diversify its trade relationships.

In a time of global uncertainty when workers and their families are facing real pressures and rapid change, Canada needs a government that strengthens our foundations.

A responsible government should be focused on building a stronger, more resilient Canada by protecting the rules-based order, advancing economic and social progress, and ensuring every person can live and work with dignity. That means standing up to bad actors, reinforcing the systems that keep our economy stable, and investing in the people who make this country work.

The post A thriving economy shouldn’t cost us our human rights appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“Our labour movement remains deeply committed to the fight for a barrier-free Canada that is truly accessible for everyone and all abilities. This includes drastically reducing the economic barriers disproportionately faced by persons with disabilities in our country,” said Lily Chang, Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress.

Currently, more than 1.5 million people with disabilities in Canada are living below the poverty line. Moreover, women with disabilities experience poverty at a higher rate (17.7%) than men with disabilities (15.7%); and people aged 65 and above with disabilities had higher poverty rates (18.8%) than people with disabilities aged 15 to 64 (15.9%).

The employment situation for persons with disabilities is not much better either. About 1/3 of people with disabilities looking for work are shut out of today’s labour force, and the employment outlook is most dire for racialized people with disabilities. Those who are employed report experiencing disproportionately high levels of harassment and violence in the workplace (75%), alongside an hourly wage gap that has widened from $1.91 in 2023 to $2.22 in 2024. This is a weekly wage gap of $115.20, or almost $6,000 per year!

“Disability rights and economic justice for people with disabilities across Canada have always been, and will always unequivocally be, workers’ issues,” said Chang.

Despite the welcome introduction of the Canada Disability Benefit earlier this year, the relatively low benefit amount of only $200 a month, restrictive eligibility criteria, separate application process, and the risk of provincial claw-backs have resulted in a benefit that does little to meaningfully address the enormous socio-economic barriers facing millions of persons with disabilities in this country.   

While the 2025 federal budget included a small $150 top-up and tax exemption, it still falls short of delivering real change for Canadians with disabilities. This is why the CLC will continue to work alongside disability rights and justice advocates across the country in demanding immediate action from our federal government to shape a better benefit that truly lifts people with disabilities out of poverty.

“Canada’s unions are holding this government accountable and demanding they fulfill their promises and human rights obligations to make the eradication of disability poverty a reality in this country,” said Chang.

The post Canada’s unions echo the call: End disability poverty now appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

This award is named in honour of Carol McGregor, an outstanding disability rights activist, member of NUPGE and the CLC Disability Rights Working Group―and who was much loved by all those who worked with her. Carol passed away in 2006.

In 2025, the award recognizes the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) Canada activist Stephannie Leach. 

Stephannie is an inspiring leader in our labour movement who has tirelessly advocated for the rights of workers with disabilities in Alberta and in the Northwest Territories. Stephannie’s leadership in this area spanned both her involvement in her workplace and in her union, UFCW Canada Local 401.

As an employee of Vision Loss Rehabilitation Alberta, and a vision impaired worker herself, Stephannie travelled across the province and in the Northwest Territories to provide education to remote and rural communities about vision loss and accessibility awareness, as well as education about guide dogs and service animals. She also trains people with vision impairment to work with their service animals, to access public transit, and to get around their own homes.

Stephannie serves on her local bargaining committee, and she is the health and safety representative for her union in northern Alberta. Thanks to her successful advocacy efforts, the company agreed to bereavement days for the loss of service animals. 

As a trailblazing advocate, she also took the initiative to translate the collective agreement into braille, the first of its kind at her union!

As a dedicated champion for disability rights and inclusion of people with disabilities in her union, in her workplace, and in her communities, Stephannie perfectly embodies the spirit of this award.  

Congratulations to Stephannie and thank you for your leadership and activism for disability rights and inclusion.

The post Stephannie Leach – Winner of the 2025 Carol McGregor CLC Disability Rights Award appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Attacks on the human rights of any community are deplorable, despicable actions, and the timing to table Bill 9, which uses the notwithstanding clause to restrict the rights of trans and gender diverse people across the province to access gender affirming care, is especially cruel to introduce in the middle of the Trans Week of Awareness 2025.

Canada’s unions recognize these tactics that undermine our fundamental human rights as coming from the same toolbox of strategies that, not even a month ago, attacked the rights of striking teachers in that province through the introduction of back-to-work legislation.

Shame.

Shame on Danielle Smith and her conservative government for blocking an already vulnerable community of Albertans from the basic set of rights afforded to all Canadians under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Canada’s unions are all too familiar with dirty tricks like Bill 9 from bad bosses like Danielle Smith’s government, who would rather scapegoat human rights than be accountable for the impacts of the hate-driven, anti-access and anti-care policies her government is continuously pushing through without a care to the real, human and moral costs of these attacks.

We must call it out for what it is: Bill 9 is an abhorrent use of legislation to evade accountability and undermine the human rights and dignity of trans and gender diverse Albertans. 

Make no mistake, an attack on rights of any kind will solicit a response and action from Canada’s labour movement. Unions across Canada are putting Danielle Smith on notice:

We will not stand idly by as an agenda of institutionalized transphobic violence and hate barrels forward, on the eve of the Trans Day of Remembrance no less. We recognize this political agenda for what it is: a shameful, purposeful exercise to undermine our collective fundamental rights and freedoms, including workers’ rights.

Our solidarity runs deep, and together as part of a broader movement to defend human rights and workers’ rights, from coast to coast to coast, we will band together, and we will win.

In solidarity,

Bea

Learn more about the implications of Alberta’s Bill 9 from our allies at EGALE Canada here: https://egale.ca/egale-in-action/alberta-bill9-nov18/?fbclid=PAQ0xDSwOKxIRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAacOPjyqXyr5KZTEEZt-Tp4adzpO322HzMGoiMI2QRdWSSxVEVIiJbYKZCZNNQ_aem_oS7Pd9IQnJM_2KDfxF-jqQ

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The Rana Plaza industrial disaster, which killed 1,134 workers and injured thousands more, shone a spotlight on the lack of accountability of transnational corporations in providing safe and decent conditions for workers in source factories across their global supply chains. 

It inspired a global movement to demand that corporations take responsibility and provide safe workplaces, pay fair wages, allow workers to organize and join democratic unions and to bargain collectively. 

There have been some improvements to working conditions and to the development of national and global mechanisms to ensure the advancement of rights and protections. With global support, there were quick and effective responses to assess and address structural and safety conditions in thousands of factories following the Rana Plaza collapse, but today Bangladeshi workers are still languishing in conditions of poverty wages and unfair workplace conditions.  

Unions in Canada have worked on many fronts to ensure better working conditions for garment sector workers, including with partners in Bangladesh and with global and national allies. We have advocated for corporate accountability legislation and for mechanisms to bring complaints against Canadian companies for human and labour rights violations and environmental abuse in their overseas operations.  

In 2018, unions celebrated the launch of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), an office we had long called for to provide a pathway for people and communities affected negatively by the actions of Canadian companies to seek justice. Unfortunately, this office was never given what it needed to function as a powerful mechanism to address human and labour rights violations in the operations of Canadian companies abroad. We have also long advocated for mandatory human rights due diligence legislation that requires Canadian companies to prevent and address harms to people and the environment throughout their supply chain. 

Since 2016, workers have been loudly calling for global supply chain instruments at the International Labour Organization (ILO), where governments must comply with ratified labour standards in law and practice. We welcome the ILO’s 2024 guidance on living wages, which establishes global principles for defining, calculating and implementing living wages across diverse economic contexts. Trade unions continue to hold the Bangladeshi government to account at the ILO for not registering free and independent unions, for the ongoing harassment and violence against trade union leaders and activists, for the detention of workers trying to form unions, and for the failure to pay fair wages and provide employment injury insurance.  

Twelve years after Rana Plaza, Canada’s unions remain committed to supporting Bangladeshi workers and their demands for the rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining, the basics to allow workers to be heard, to be safe, and to be active social partners in improving living and working conditions for everyone. 

On the eve of the Federal elections, we call on the incoming administration to do all in its power to hold Canadian companies accountable and to ensure the respect of human and labour rights and the environment in their overseas operations, including: 

• To equip and empower the CORE with the investigatory powers, resources, and independence from government needed to effectively serve impacted people;  

• To adopt mandatory human rights due diligence legislation that requires companies to prevent the risk of harm to people and the environment throughout their supply chains and to put in place adequate procedures to minimize the risk, remedy any existing harm, and do everything in their power to prevent future harm; and 

• To support a United Nations Binding Treaty on Business and Human Rights to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises in international human rights law. 

The post Rana Plaza: 12 years of fighting for corporate accountability  appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

The recent wave of targeted actions to stop Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies, programs and initiatives in the United States has profound implications not just for workers south of the border, but for those here in Canada as well.

DEI initiatives are based on the principle that all workers, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or other identities, should have equal opportunities and protections in the workplace. These principles align with the core values the Canadian labour movement has long fought to uphold, and we must continue to defend them now in these polarizing times.

By actively dismantling these initiatives, those wielding the axe are sending a clear message: that the rights of equity-deserving communities are expendable, that the pursuit of equality and fairness is optional and that the systemic inequities that DEI programs aim to address are not only acceptable but desirable.

This is not just a debate over workplace policies—what we are witnessing is not a genuine effort to improve workplaces—but a ploy by reactionary right-wing forces and politicians seeking to roll back the clock on hard-won rights and create a divisive, exclusionary society. Attacks on DEI initiatives are part of a concerted and organized effort to undermine progress on human rights, sow division among workers and maintain power structures that benefit the few at the expense of the many.

“These are deliberate attacks on the fundamental human rights that underpin a just society. They aim to create a narrative, and indeed a society, where equity and social progress are seen as threats, and exclusion and discrimination are accepted, normalized and further entrenched. We won’t stand for it,” said CLC Executive Vice-President, Larry Rousseau.

In Canada, where we continue to see a rise in hate due to years of deliberate fear-mongering by politicians and far-right actors, the widespread anti-DEI actions in the U.S. will only embolden those who seek to undermine and reverse our nation’s progress on social issues and human rights. In a climate where the affordability crisis is seeing neighbours being pitted against one another and entire communities being scapegoated for the actions of big business, big developers and greedy politicians, it is crucial that we remain unwavering and unapologetic in our defense of equity and inclusion. Not only as fundamental safeguards for human rights, but also in defense of workers and the strength of organized labour, which, together, can resist these forces.

The fight for DEI is a fight for unity among workers. It is about recognizing that an injury to one is an injury to all and that when we elevate the rights and opportunities of the most marginalized among us, we strengthen those of all workers. When we stand together—united in our demands for equity, dignity, and justice—we are a formidable force able to use the collective strength needed to challenge the longstanding systems of power that perpetuate widespread inequities.

Now more than ever, we must stand united in defense of the rights and needs of all workers, firmly rejecting any efforts to divide us. Check out our Workers Together campaign and join the fight today.

The post Workers in Canada are pushing back against attacks on DEI policies appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

The appalling working and living standards faced by Bangladeshi garment workers compelled the United Steelworkers union (USW) and the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) to file a joint complaint to the Office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) against retailer Mark’s and its parent company Canadian Tire. 

The joint USW-CLC complaint was one of the first of its kind filed with the CORE, created by the federal government to investigate complaints of human rights abuses involving Canadian companies working in other countries in the garment, mining and oil sectors.

The joint USW-CLC complaint alleged that Mark’s acted in contravention of international human rights principles by paying workers in its supplier factories less than a living wage. Our complaint was rooted in our mutual, longstanding commitment to improving living and working conditions for Bangladeshi garment workers.

For over a decade, the USW and CLC have worked with Canadian trade unions and civil society allies to bring forward the voices and concerns of exploited workers to Canadian authorities, companies and consumers. In this context, there were high hopes that the Office of the CORE would investigate the allegations of human rights abuses in Mark’s Bangladesh supply chain.

The CORE initially agreed that it would investigate the claims made in our complaint in March of 2024. However, a drastic shift occurred a few months later, following the end of the mandate of the first appointed Ombudsperson, Sheri Meyerhoffer. On Dec. 23, 2024, the CORE published its final report, closing our complaint without investigating the issues we raised, and without recommending any follow-up actions to be taken by Mark’s.

In our view, the CORE’s report reflects an approach that undermines this would-be watchdog’s mandate to such a degree, it is difficult to conceive of any human rights abuse it would deem to have jurisdiction to investigate. As a result, the USW and the CLC are currently seeking a judicial review of the decision. 

The CORE final report, including our full comments on those conclusions, can be found here. 

It is worth highlighting that the Office of the CORE was created as a result of more than a decade of civil society advocacy for greater corporate accountability to address mounting evidence of human rights and environmental abuses caused by Canadian companies in their operations abroad.

However, the government failed to empower the Office with the independence and essential powers needed to effectively investigate allegations of abuse by Canadian corporations and to demand accountability. Therefore, even had the CORE proceeded with an investigation into the complaint against Mark’s, next steps would have been unclear given its lack of power to compel documents and testimony from witnesses. 

The drawn-out, resource-heavy process that characterized our complaint further strengthens the position of many Canadian civil society groups that the Office of the CORE desperately needs genuine independence and legal powers to fulfill its mission. Ongoing failure to act in this regard will further expose the limited intentions of the government to ensure real corporate accountability for Canadian companies operating abroad.

The post Abject failure: Canada’s would-be human rights watchdog leaves Bangladeshi garment workers languishing in poverty appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Recent data shows that Black workers are the most likely racialized group to be covered by a union contract, with unionization boosting their annual income by more than $3,000. Unionized Black workers benefit from better wages overall, increased job security, and protections against discrimination.

However, systemic barriers in employment persist, creating harmful impacts that ripple across generations of Black workers. Despite higher rates of unionization and the resulting benefits, Black workers still deal with significant barriers at work: the report also shows that Black workers face the second-largest racialized wage gap due to their disproportionate representation in lower-wage sectors and limited access to or exclusion from work in higher-wage sectors.

Black workers in Canada experience ongoing labour market discrimination and systemic racism—severe obstacles which impact their access to fair employment, advancement, and equitable treatment at work. The effects of anti-Black racism are far-reaching, causing enduring barriers to economic advancement and empowerment for Black communities.

A 2023 Black Canadian National Survey conducted by York University’s Institute for Social Research, in partnership with the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, showed that 75% of those polled experienced racism in the workplace as a serious or very serious problem, and that Black workers see workplaces as epicentres of racial discrimination and unfairness.

This is unacceptable, and unions have a pivotal role to play in addressing and redressing these systemic injustices—both in workplaces, and in broader society.

“The labour movement must continue to uphold our core mission to fight for equity, fairness, and dignity for all workers. This means actively working to dismantle anti-Black racism and discrimination in workplaces and unions, bargaining for equitable opportunities, educating members and leaders, amplifying the voices and leadership of Black workers, and engaging with Black workers to organize for better jobs and pay,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the CLC. Unions can be a powerful force for racial and economic justice for Black workers, whether at work, in the union or in society. Don’t forget to register for our webinar on February 18, and be sure to check out our new factsheet on Black workers and unionization. You can also get involved with us this Black History Month and beyond by texting BHM to 55255 (message & data rates may apply).

The post BHM 2025: Join Canada’s unions in advancing racial and economic justice for Black workers appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

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Currently, Canada’s migrant worker streams create and reinforce a system in which migrant workers are made vulnerable to exploitation and precarity. Employers have pushed for the creation and expansion of migrant worker programs with closed work permits, designed to prioritize their own interests over those of workers. These streams bind low-wage migrant workers to specific employers, offering no pathway to permanent residency. This stark power imbalance leaves migrant workers highly vulnerable to mistreatment and abuse, with little to no recourse.  

Under the constant threat of deportation, workers are often unable to leave their jobs or challenge unfair and unsafe labour practices. They often endure poor and dangerous working conditions, racism, discrimination, wage theft, and are denied fundamental human and labour rights, trapping them in involuntary servitude. 

Canada’s unions urge the government to take concrete steps to increase the protections afforded to migrant workers as it relates to the low-wage Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP) streams by replacing employer-specific work permits with open work permits; providing permanent residency opportunities for low-wage workers; and providing permanent residency opportunities for former low-wage workers who are undocumented. 

Further, as we witness a rise in anti-immigrant, newcomer, and migrant sentiment and rhetoric, Canada’s unions also call on all Canadians to reject nativism, xenophobia, and racism in all their forms. 

“The scapegoating and stereotyping of immigrants, migrants, and newcomers—particularly racialized and working-class individuals—as being responsible for rising costs, a housing crisis, and failing public services creates division among workers and distracts from addressing the deep systemic issues and policy failures that are the real root causes of these problems. We must strongly resist these cynical and dangerous ploys to divide us,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. 

This International Migrants Days, Canada’s unions remain steadfast in our solidarity with migrant workers, and in advocating for their human and labour rights while striving to dismantle the barriers that limit their full participation and opportunities in this country, regardless of their immigration status. 

Join us and show solidarity with all workers by getting involved in our Workers Together campaign.

The post Migrant workers in Canada deserve access to permanent residency and citizenship appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Since the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, Canada has made important human rights gains. Fairer wages, safer workplaces, and freedom from harassment and discrimination are the rights of all individuals, regardless of background, identity, or status. While there is still a long way to go when it comes to ensuring these and other human rights are upheld for all, these rights are meant to ensure that anyone can live a life of safety, respect and dignity in this country.

“On this day, Canada’s unions are reminded of our responsibility to uphold the values on which the Declaration was built—equality, freedom and fairness. These are the very core of what our movement stands for. But it’s not enough to simply support or even promote these values and principles; we must actively combat the growing normalization of hatred, racism and xenophobia, and of human rights being under attack in Canada,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress.

Across the country, we continue to witness a deeply concerning rise in hateful rhetoric and harassment. Reactionary far-right forces, emboldened by a climate of increased polarization and fueled by fear-mongering politicians, are attempting to roll back hard-won human rights. Their tactics are divisive: pitting workers and neighbours against one another, using scapegoating and stereotyping, and stoking the fires of racism, xenophobia and discrimination to steadily chip away at the solidarity that is the very foundation of our collective strength. Labour must continue to hold strong against these forces and remain steadfast in our commitment and action to make our workplaces, unions and communities places of safety and respect.

“Today, we call on all workers—unionized and non-unionized—to come together and take a stand against hate, racism and discrimination. As a movement and as a nation, we fought long and hard for these rights, and we’re not turning back now. Every inch of progress was won through determination, activism and solidarity. We’ve come too far to let the clock be rolled back, and we’re not just holding the line—we’re pushing forward, together, because the fight for human rights is far from over,” said Larry Rousseau, CLC Executive Vice-President.

Join us:

Get involved in our Workers Together campaign and fight for fairness for all workers

The post Human Rights Day 2024: Canada’s unions push back against rising hate appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

This award is named in honour of Carol McGregor, an outstanding disability rights activist, member of NUPGE and the CLC Disability Rights Working Group―and who was much loved by all those who worked with her. Carol passed away in 2006.

In 2024, the award recognizes the National Union of Public and General Employees and Ontario Public Service Employees Union activist Greg Snider.

Greg is an inspiring leader in our labour movement who has spent his life tirelessly advocating for the rights of workers with disabilities in Ontario and across Canada. Greg’s advocacy efforts have spanned many workplaces and communities, including his work at the Ontario Disability Support Program of the Ministry of Community and Social Services as an intake specialist, to his work with Community Living Thunder Bay supporting persons with developmental disabilities in group homes for over a decade.

Greg was also an OPSEU member for his entire working life. As a dedicated trade unionist, Greg was president of his local 714 for over 10 years. As a union leader, he was passionate about ensuring OPSEU and OFL conventions were accessible and inclusive spaces for workers with disabilities. He was also involved in several regional initiatives that propelled the rights of workers with disabilities to the top of the union’s agenda, including his efforts alongside the late Carol McGregor to co-found and then co-chair the first ever Disability Caucus at OPSEU.  

As a lifetime champion for disability rights and inclusion of people with disabilities in his union and across many workplaces and communities, Greg perfectly embodies the spirit of this award. 

Congratulations to Greg and thank you for your leadership and activism for disability rights and inclusion.

The post Greg Snider – Winner of the 2024 Carol McGregor CLC Disability Rights Award appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“It’s no secret that Canada’s affordability crisis is hurting those at the margins the most. The proposed roll out for the new Canada Disability Benefit is only $200 per month, which doesn’t even begin to cover the complex needs, materials and resources people living with disabilities in Canada require but often can’t afford.  And that’s not even factoring in other necessities like groceries, medication and rent,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “It’s completely unsustainable.”  

Recent statistics estimate that 1.5 million people living with disabilities in Canada are below the poverty line. This is roughly 16.5 percent of all people living with disabilities in Canada, which is two times higher than the national average of 8.6 percent of people without disabilities that are living below the poverty line. The numbers are even worse for women with disabilities. 

For years, union activists fought hard alongside disability rights organizations for a comprehensive national disability benefit poverty program to lift people with disabilities in Canada out of poverty. Finally, in 2023 the Canada Disability Benefit Act was unanimously adopted. However, the proposed roll out for the benefit in 2025 falls very short of the recommendations made by unions and advocates to truly address the drastically rising levels of disability poverty.  

Currently, the benefit is proposed to be only a $200 per month or $2400 per year maximum payment. And there is currently no guarantee that provincial or territorial programs won’t impose claw backs for recipients of the CDB. This means that someone receiving CDB benefits could see their provincial benefits reduced by $200 per month.  It’s worth noting that none of the provincial or territorial disability support payment programs lift their recipients above the poverty line. Further, the benefit is only accessible through the existing National Disability Tax Credit Program which experts have rightfully pointed out is an exclusionary practice that means that the people who need access to this benefit the most will once again be left out.  

“The situation is dire. We need federal politicians of all political stripes to put partisanship aside and budget a better benefit in 2025 that will lift people with disabilities out of poverty in Canada,” adds Bruske 

The CLC supports calls from disability justice organizations like Disability Without Poverty who have recommended concrete actions to improve the Canada Disability Benefit in its regulations and roll out. This includes increasing the base amount, individualizing the benefit to family income, and simplifying the application process so that it is accessible to those who need it the most.  

“It’s almost 2025, people living with disabilities in Canada should not be living in poverty simply because they cannot afford the materials and resources they need to live a dignified life, let alone pursue employment and participate in our communities. Enough is enough: it’s past time to improve the Canada Disability benefit,” concluded Lily Chang, Secretary Treasurer of the CLC. 

Here are two ways you can take action to end disability poverty in Canada: 

• Check out our newest campaign, Workers Together, to learn more about what you can do to push politicians to tackle Canada’s affordability crisis, including disability poverty. 

• You can also support the important campaign from Disability Without Poverty to #BetterTheBenefit at DisabilityWithoutPoverty.ca 

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We are gravely concerned by the continued escalation of hostilities and the expansion of this horrific war in the broader region.

On behalf of Canada’s unions, we renew our call for an immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the provision of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. The CLC continues to stand with our Palestinian and Israeli labour allies in the pursuit of these urgent goals, and we believe that, through dialogue and solidarity, peace can still be achieved.

In the past year, we have also witnessed a troubling rise in antisemitism, anti-Palestinian racism, and Islamophobia across our society, including in our workplaces. Canada’s unions unequivocally reject all expressions of hate and discrimination. We are committed to fostering environments that uphold inclusion, respect, and dignity for all.

The catastrophic humanitarian cost of this conflict demands that we never give up. No matter the obstacles and the heartbreak, our humanity demands that we work diligently and tirelessly to build a broader and stronger movement for peace.

We owe it to every peace-loving person in the region to keep working, tirelessly, strategically and always aiming for the goal of peace and justice.

That’s what our fellow workers in Palestine and Israel have asked us to do. And that’s what we’ll keep doing.

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Today, we remember all the Indigenous children taken from their families and communities and sent to residential schools. We honour the lives of those who never returned home, and those who survived.

The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is a day of remembrance and action. We are reminded of the ongoing responsibility we have as workers, union members, and allies to confront the historical injustices and ongoing inequities faced by Indigenous communities.

“Truth and reconciliation are not abstract ideas; they are tangible and achievable, but they require sustained commitment and action toward real change. This is why we are calling on Canadians from coast to coast to coast to take this day to learn more about and reflect on Canada’s colonial history and the enduring impact of the residential school system on Indigenous communities and to take action in their communities, workplaces and unions toward reconciliation and justice,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).

Within the labour movement, this means we must continue to be proactive in supporting Indigenous workers in all sectors. This includes fighting for fair wages, safe working conditions, and culturally appropriate policies that reflect the unique needs of Indigenous workers, as well as advocating for greater Indigenous representation and leadership within our own structures.

We must keep pressuring government and advocating for broader policy change, including: safe drinking water; justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit people; and, implementation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action 71-76, Missing Children and Burial Information, to properly address the devastating legacy of residential schools.

We need to keep working to dismantle systemic anti-Indigenous racism and discrimination, and address unequal access to employment opportunities experienced by Indigenous workers. We must also continue to place an emphasis on educating our leaders and members about the history and legacy of colonization, and actively create spaces for dialogue and learning, and opportunities for individual and collective action.

“Reconciliation is a continuous journey – one that requires accountability and consistent action. On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, we urge all non-Indigenous people to consider their role in the fight for justice for Indigenous communities and encourage workers to ask themselves how they can contribute to reconciliation within their workplaces, unions, and communities. Whether it’s deepening their own understanding of Indigenous history, spearheading and supporting policies that foster equity at work, or standing in solidarity with Indigenous co-workers, every action makes a difference, not just today, but every day,” said Lily Chang, CLC Secretary-Treasurer.

Want to take action? Check out our resources:

Actions workers can take on September 30 and beyond

Actions unions can take on September 30 and beyond

You can also find more resources in our Indigenous Rights and Justice Resource Centre, where you can send a letter to your MP, letting them know you want to see concrete action for justice for Indigenous communities.

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The delegation which included the General Secretaries of the ITUC and the Global Union Federations, as well as several top union leaders from across the world, met with representatives of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) as well as union leaders representing workers in the West Bank and Gaza. They also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mustapha, and several government ministers during the mission on 28-30 May 2024. Several global unions are already deeply engaged with their Palestinian colleagues, all committed to supporting and sustaining the struggle of Palestinian workers.

The delegation made clear that “we express our solidarity with Palestinian trade unions and workers in these difficult times. We are deeply concerned by the grave humanitarian crisis faced by the people of Gaza, and we stand with Palestinians, Israelis, and people the world over calling for peace, equality, and justice.”

Immediate priorities must include an immediate and permanent ceasefire with full respect for international humanitarian law, immediate access to humanitarian assistance, the release of all hostages and others held without due judicial process, and enabling the safe return of all workers trapped by the conflict.

The delegation also recalled the ITUC and other global unions’ long-standing policy for a two-state solution, and the call for a just and durable peace through the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 to facilitate a real economic future for an independent Palestine. This involves ending the occupation of the West Bank, dismantling all illegal settlements, and recognizing the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.

The delegation urged governments to resume and increase funding to UNRWA. “UNRWA’s role is vital in providing essential services and supporting Palestinians at a time when they are most in need.”

“We came here to reinforce the depth of our commitment to Palestinian workers and their unions – we are all part of the same family. Our goal is a democratic and sovereign Palestine, living in just and lasting peace and security alongside Israel. We know that trade unions are an essential element of any democracy, and that strong and democratic independent unions will be a key building block towards that end in Palestine. “

The delegation reported hearing moving testimony from Palestinians who have paid a terrible price during the current war. On top of the distressing reality of destruction and loss of life in Gaza, we have heard about settler violence and restrictions on human rights such as freedom of movement and economic hardship in the West Bank.

Nevertheless, what shines through is the commitment to trade unionism and its potential to help deliver a just settlement in the broader chaos of this conflict.

Our responsibility as global trade unionists is to nurture that sentiment and we call upon the global labour movement to deliver on its principles of peace, humanity, democracy, and solidarity. This includes continuing to invest in a constructive dialogue with trade unions in both Palestine and Israel which recognizes their critical role in their respective societies”.

“Global unions will neither forget nor forsake our sisters and brothers in Palestine. We will redouble efforts to support your unions and support you. Trade unions have remained a constant – democratically rooted in their communities and well equipped to provide concrete support during the reconstruction which should embed the principles of decent work and quality public services.”

Many of the global unions have already provided significant aid to workers through unions in Gaza and the West Bank. For example, Education International has provided financial assistance for more than 1,000 teachers in Palestine and provides shelter centres for more than 5,000 children in Rafah. The International Federation of Journalists provides direct support for reporters in Gaza and operates a solidarity centre with workspace and equipment in Khan Younis, and the International Transport Workers Federation and PSI have launched a Palestine solidarity fund to provide immediate relief and longer-term support for Palestinian transport and public service workers and their families. BWI provided humanitarian support and shelters for construction workers and their families.

The delegation concluded: ‘Trade unions are part of the global peace movement. We stand for peace alongside such important values as democracy and humanity. That’s why we are here.”

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2SLGBTQI+ workers are integral members of Canada’s labour movement, proudly serving as activists, shop stewards and leaders.

“Pride is a time to celebrate the gains that we’ve made, but it’s also a time to clearly state that we will defend these rights when they are put at risk. We’ve seen a sharp rise in hate-motivated harassment and violence against the 2SLGBTQI+ community, that is being driven by right-wing conservatives,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “We have long recognized a collective responsibility to address discrimination and hate against 2SLGBTQI+ workers, by promoting equality at work and in our communities. So, while we have lots to celebrate this Pride season, we also have so much left to do.”

In the past year, conservative leaders have fomented a climate of hate, fear and loathing by perpetuating harmful queerphobic and transphobic stereotypes through legislated attacks against trans and gender-diverse children, youth and adults. As workers and families are coping with an affordability crisis, climate change and cuts to public services, Conservative politicians are using trans and gender-diverse children as political pawns to distract Canadians from their failure to offer real solutions. 

Their efforts are also supported by individuals and groups in the anti-gender movement, who use intimidation and harassment to undermine any efforts of businesses and institutions to foster inclusion, equity and safety for 2SLGBTQI+ people.

“Let us be unequivocal: anti-2SLGBTQI+ hate is a worker issue. The bigotry and violence directed at our 2SLGBTQI+ siblings jeopardize their fundamental human rights,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the CLC. “And anti-2SLGBTQI+ hate often manifests as harassment and violence in workplaces, posing serious health and safety risks for workers. We need a unified response rooted in solidarity from all workers, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.”

Canada’s unions remain committed to our core principle: an injury to one is an injury to all. We stand resolute against any attempts by conservatives to erode our hard-won rights. We will continue to amplify the voices of 2SLGBTQI+ workers and tirelessly advocate for a Canada that is safe, just, and inclusive for all.

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The Employment Equity Act represents a critical tool in our efforts to combat racism in the workplace and address the inequities experienced by Black, Indigenous, and racialized workers. Enacted to promote equality and eliminate discriminatory barriers in employment in federally-regulated workplaces, the Act provides a framework for employers to proactively address systemic inequities and ensure fair representation for all groups, including Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, women, and racialized people – designated groups under the current Act.

While the Employment Equity Act lays the foundation for progress, much work remains to be done to fully realize its potential, which can be achieved through its modernization. The recently released Employment Equity Review Task Force report, which came after consultations with numerous stakeholders, including Canada’s unions, provides a number of recommendations to strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of the Act, including measures to address systemic racism and discrimination in hiring, promotion, and retention practices.

“We stand firm in our commitment to combat systemic racism and discrimination in the labour market, to ensure a future where every individual is treated with dignity, respect, and equality,” said CLC Executive Vice-President Larry Rousseau. “The recommendations put forth by the Task Force offer an important opportunity to eradicate existing deep-seated inequities and prevent future ones, which is absolutely essential to addressing systemic racism and ensuring Black, Indigenous, and racialized workers are no longer being left out in the cold. This is how we build a society free from discrimination, racism, and prejudice.”

The Task Force recommendations include investing in targeted initiatives to support the recruitment, training, and advancement of underrepresented groups in the workforce, as well as ensuring robust enforcement mechanisms to hold employers accountable for compliance with the Act.

Addressing racism and discrimination in the labour market is paramount to achieving fairness for all workers. Racial income gaps persist, as Indigenous, Black, and racialized workers continue to face barriers to employment opportunities, discriminatory hiring practices, unequal pay, and limited opportunities for advancement. Failure to address these inequities will only result in further exacerbation of the issues faced by these workers and perpetuate their exclusion from full and fair participation in the workforce.

Canada’s unions also have a role to play by taking proactive measures to advance employment equity within our own organizations. This includes removing barriers to equal opportunity and fair treatment, making employment equity part of the bargaining agenda, and ensuring that those most affected are on bargaining committees. Other measures include raising awareness among their members about the importance of employment equity, educating staff and leadership on the issue, and establishing accountability mechanisms for monitoring progress on employment equity within their organizations. Lastly, it is crucial for unions to advocate for policies and initiatives that advance employment equity, including a strengthened Employment Equity Act.

Read the full report from the Employment Equity Review Task Force here.

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“We care about the well-being of children. We also know that it is tough for kids to feel different from others growing up, and how important it is to feel safe and included at school. Unfortunately, conservative politicians are trying to make it more challenging for kids and youth by undermining the ability of parents, caregivers, educators, and health care providers to support them,” said Bea Bruske, President of the CLC. “Unions are in the business of defending people’s human rights, whether they’re union members or not. We will not sit by as 2SLGBTQI+ kids’ rights are attacked.”

Bruske added: “Political leaders have a choice to either facilitate bullying and harm against trans children and youth or to protect their safety and well-being.”

In the past year, there’s been a rise in policies, legislation, and actions that undermine the ability of 2SLGBTQI+ youth to learn and grow in safe and affirming environments. Even before this recent increase in harmful policies, 2SLGBTQI+ children were facing difficulties at school. In 2021, Egale’s second national climate survey on homophobia, transphobia and biphobia in Canadian schools revealed:  

• 2SLGBTQ students report more incidents of homophobic, biphobic, and/or transphobic verbal, physical, and sexual harassment and other forms of targeted bullying than their cisgender heterosexual peers;

• 77% of 2SLGBTQ Indigenous students had been harassed at school in the year leading up to the survey, the highest percentage of any group, and they were more likely to report skipping school due to feeling unsafe; and

• 2SLGBTQ Black students were most likely to be verbally harassed about their race and to indicate that they wished they attended a different school.

• Overall, 62% of 2SLGBTQ respondents reported feeling unsafe at school, compared to 11% of cisgender heterosexual students.  

“Recent policy changes are fueling hate, forcing 2SLGBTQI+ kids and youth to hide their identities and go without support from their teachers. They’re losing access to critical education about gender identity and sexual orientation. It shouldn’t be a struggle for educators to create affirming, inclusive, and welcoming school environments, but educators are facing backlash, with many of them identifying this as a barrier to creating school-wide gender inclusivity,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the CLC.

In Alberta, for example, parents and doctors are facing government overreach, disrupting their ability to provide quality healthcare to trans and gender-diverse kids and youth. 

Pink Shirt Day began as an initiative in a small-town Nova Scotia school in 2007 to counter homophobia and transphobia at school. It has since grown into a movement to create a more kind and inclusive world by raising awareness and funds for anti-bullying initiatives. 

This year, Canada’s unions remind governments that all children deserve the freedom to grow and express themselves without fear of bullying, ostracism, or violence. Anything less is unacceptable.

In solidarity with 2SLGBTQI+ leaders, we are calling on conservative politicians to stop bullying 2SLGBTQI+ kids: 

• Repeal any legislation and rescind any policies that deny trans and queer youth the ability to be safe and thrive at school and in their communities; and

• Collaborate with 2SLGBTQI+-led organizations to identify educational resources and best practices to create welcoming, safe, inclusive learning environments. 

You can take action too! Sign on to the Free and Equal Alberta letter writing campaign.

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Politicians must be held accountable to make evidence-based, compassionate decisions and Smith’s proposed policies are the exact opposite, relying instead on disinformation and putting trans and queer kids at risk. 

Premier Smith claims to “care deeply” about trans and gender-diverse children and youth. But her proposals are a cynical attempt to violate queer and trans children’s rights to privacy and safety in Alberta.  

We are witnessing an increase in legislated transphobic violence, namely, the rise of so-called “parental rights” policies and legislation in Canada and we will not stand for it.  

Canada’s unions will not stand for Smith’s tactics to sweep the real issues under the rug at the expense of 2SLGBTQI+ youth. We need to prioritize the health and well-being of 2SLGBTQI+ youth by rejecting transphobic policies. 

This announcement is the latest in a string of decisions by Smith’s government that have had a detrimental effect on Albertans and does nothing to fix the real crises they face. Choices made by the Smith government, for example, have exacerbated the affordability crisis and have led to a spike in food bank usage. At a time when Smith is losing support from Albertans generally and UCP members specifically, she has taken a page from a damaging conservative playbook to try and gain political points. 

This week’s announcement also makes Smith the third conservative Premier to use trans kids as political pawns, and we won’t stand for it. Canada’s unions will not be idle while Premier Smith and other conservative leaders play politics with trans and gender-diverse communities, we will continue to unite workers across the country and work in solidarity with 2SLGBTQI+ advocates to strike down these discriminatory policies. 

We cannot allow our governments to overstep their boundaries to push their personal agenda or use kids as a political tool to deflect attention from their failure to confront the real challenges facing workers and their families – like the cost-of-living crisis.”

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“We are extremely concerned by the continued violence in Gaza, West Bank and Israel” said CLC President Bea Bruske. “The global community has a responsibility to bring this war to an end. That’s why Canada’s unions want to see an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and we’ve been working on that goal, engaging and collaborating with unions from around the world, including labour allies in Palestine and Israel.”  

Bruske reported on a number of ITUC and International Labour Organization (ILO) actions supported by the CLC, including:

• Reiterating the call for an immediate, and permanent, cease-fire;
• The release of all hostages and others held without due judicial process, that conforms with international law—along with their safe return home;
• Full respect for international humanitarian law;
• Calling on the government of Canada to fund the ILO’s three-phase response programme in support of Palestinian workers;
• Contributions to Gaza humanitarian emergency funds through aid organizations;
• Meeting with representatives of Histadrut (the General Organization of Workers in Israel), to understand the challenges faced by Israeli trade unionists who support a lasting peace; and
• Meeting with the General Secretary of the Palestinian Workers’ Union to work collaboratively for a ceasefire and support for Palestinian workers.

“We strongly believe that supporting the demands of the workers in the region is how we, as Canada’s unions, are best placed to respond to the crisis and push for a just and lasting peace” said Bruske. “We’ll remain focused on that work.”

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Canada is facing a crisis: Statistics Canada data released earlier this year showed a record jump in hate crimes against 2SLGBTQI+, Muslim, and Jewish communities in 2021. This number continues to increase. This includes an alarming rise in incidences of hate and hate crimes, divisive ideologies, and racist, prejudicial, and discriminatory acts, both online and offline. It is crucial for all Canadians to urgently come together, to confront and combat this hate head-on. 

Canada’s unions are urging the federal government to take immediate action to put an end to the rise of hate in this country. This includes releasing its National Action Plan on Combatting Hate, a much-needed tool to help combat the rapid increase and spread of hate.  

Hate speech also continues to thrive online. This environment allows white supremacist, fascist, and right-wing extremist groups to organize and spread hate-based rhetoric and ideologies, quickly and effectively. The federal government must release its long-promised online harms bill, aimed at countering the deeply troubling trend of online hate, harassment, and violence.  

To combat rising anti-2SLGBTQI+, anti-inclusion, and pro-violence campaigns across the country, Canada’s unions are also calling for the implementation of all 29 policy recommendations in the White Paper on the Status of Trans and Gender Diverse People.   

“This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As we mark and reflect on this significant milestone, we must unite against hate in all its forms. Hate—whether rooted in racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, or any other form of prejudice and discrimination—has no place in our society. It undermines the principles of human rights and jeopardizes the very fabric of our society,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). 

Canada’s unions have long been at the forefront of human rights issues and will continue to fight for a more just and equitable future for all.  

“We will not let anyone roll back hard-won human rights. Every worker deserves to live a life free from fear, prejudice, and bigotry. We remain unwavering in our commitment to confronting hate in our workplaces, unions, and communities,” said Bea Bruske, President of the CLC. “The ongoing rise of hate requires an urgent response, and we’re calling on the federal government to take concrete steps to protect and preserve human rights in Canada. But we also have a collective role to play in confronting and combatting hate. It’s up to each of us, to stand up to hate when we see it and when we hear it. Only together can we make our workplaces and our communities safer for everyone.” 

Everyone in Canada must do their part to confront and combat hate. Join the fight by: 

• Downloading our Workers in Transition Guide to learn more about how you can support trans people in your workplace.  

• Downloading our report on confronting Islamophobia in our workplaces and communities
  Islamophobia at Work: Challenges and Opportunities.  

• Learning more about how right-wing extremism and populism are spreading online and in communities across Canada. 

• Sign the #TransEqualityNow petition to tell the federal government they must act. 

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This year, on the twelfth anniversary of the award, the Canadian Labour Congress is pleased to announce OECTA member Angelo Tocco as the 2023 winner of the Carol McGregor CLC Disability Rights Award! 

Angelo has been a teacher and OECTA member for over 26 years, using his knowledge and lived experience as a person with a disability to advocate for accessibility, inclusion and meaningful change for those with hearing loss in his union, workplace and profession.    

Angelo empowers students and workers with disabilities to start conversations about access and inclusion. As a teacher at Dante Alighieri Academy in Toronto, Angelo helped a group of students create an educational film titled “Exploring Speech to Text, Inclusion and Belonging.” The video raised awareness of informational, technological and attitudinal barriers to accessibility and inclusion. Angelo and his students won the Rick Hansen Foundation School Program Difference Maker of the Year award for the film. Angelo has also facilitated a “connecting with members forum,” which offered a safe space for OECTA members with disabilities to build community.   

Angelo has advanced accessibility on a systemic level, raising organizational consciousness of accessibility in each role he holds. He completed a one-year secondment with the Ontario College of Teachers Standards of Practice and Education (SP&E) unit, where he played an instrumental role in revising Standards of Practice and Education accessibility practices.

He is also a member of the Ontario Ministry of Seniors and Accessibility Kindergarten to Grade Twelve (K-12) Standards Development Committee under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). As a member of this committee, Angelo contributed to removing barriers to accessibility in Ontario’s Kindergarten to Grade 12 publicly funded education system. Angelo is also a member of the York Region Accessibility Advisory Committee (YRACC).

Angelo has also been an active leader in advancing accessibility and inclusion within the labour movement and his union. He was also a foundational member of the OECTA Accessibility, Inclusion, Diversity and Equity (AIDE) Task Force, a member of the Diversity Advisory Board, and he is a current member of the Member Engagement Committee. He’s advised the Provincial Executive in each role, using his extensive knowledge of best practices to facilitate meaningful inclusion for members with disabilities.  

Within the broader labour movement, Angelo has also participated actively at the CLC Convention, contributing to preparatory discussions on disability-related resolutions. He regularly shares updates on policy and social issues, cultural competency and critical legislation such as the AODA.

A cornerstone of Angelo’s activism is using his lived experience to teach others. In the words of his nominator, René Jansen in de Wal, “[h]is greatest contributions involve using his own needs to educate and create awareness to provide universal accessibility tools and resources. Angelo has not only shown us the roadmap, he has also taught us how to use it.” 

Congratulations Angelo! 

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TDOR is observed every year on November 20. This year’s TDOR theme “Trans Equality Now” highlights the urgent need for legislation that protects the trans community and advances their rights. Trans and gender-diverse people are experiencing ongoing and increasing levels of violence and discrimination, including a push by conservative politicians for dangerous and discriminatory legislation. 

“Right-wing decision-makers are using dog whistle tactics to attack trans and gender-diverse people. They’re using human rights as a wedge to distract voters from their failure to deliver relief on the very real affordability and other challenges facing Canadian families,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “But while they play politics with people’s lives, the impact of their actions is very real and dangerous for trans and gender-diverse people, especially young people. The federal government has a duty to uphold trans rights in Canada, like they promised to do in Bill C-16. Without concrete action to put these measures into practice, they aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.” 

In 2023, there has been a significant uptick in legislated transphobic violence, namely, the rise of so-called “parental rights” policies and legislation in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, which undermines the safety of trans and gender-diverse children. Governments in Ontario and Alberta have expressed interest in similar legislation.  

“These governments are setting an alarming precedent, made worse by other Conservative leaders across the country looking to copy them. In Saskatchewan, Scott Moe went so far as to use the notwithstanding clause to push through this regressive legislation,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the CLC. “This shows that he knows what he’s doing is not only wrong, it’s unconstitutional. We need urgent action at the federal level to protect trans and gender-diverse people from further attacks by leaders who are stripping away their human rights.” 

Here in Canada, and across North America, we’ve also witnessed a marked increase in violence against diverse gender expression, like  right-wing protests and threats aimed at shutting down drag-queen story events and targeting schools, school boards and libraries. 

Along with discrimination, trans and gender-diverse communities also face staggering social and economic disparities. In 2020, trans women and men were more likely to experience poverty than their cisgender counterparts, and more than 1 in 5 non-binary people lived in poverty – more than twice the national rate. Poverty, housing and food insecurity are among the key contributors to poorer health outcomes. These outcomes are even worse for trans people of colour.

Last year, the government released Canada’s first-ever 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan, and while this was a step in the right direction, much more needs to be done. 

“It’s not enough for federal leaders to acknowledge what is going on; they need to act. We know that 2023 has seen unprecedented anti-2SLGBTQI+ legislation and violence globally,” said Bruske. “Trans and gender-diverse people in Canada can’t afford to keep waiting. The federal government must take concrete steps to address these issues, now.” 

Get involved:  

• Sign the #TransEqualityNow petition to tell the federal government they must act now.  
• Learn more about how to support trans people in your workplace by downloading the CLC’s Workers in Transition Guide. 

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“Today we must all take time to remember and honour all the Indigenous children taken from their homes, families, and communities to be sent to residential schools, where they faced mistreatment, violence and abuse. No child should have to endure these atrocities, nor should any community have to experience the fallout of these racist policies,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).

Approximately 80,000 residential school survivors are still alive today. The trauma inflicted by the residential school system has had far-reaching and devastating impacts on survivors, their families, and Indigenous communities more broadly.

“While residential schools closed, the impacts of the system remain, and the horrors of the residential school system are echoed in current government policies. This includes the use of birth alerts, the underfunding of child and family services on reserves, and the over-representation of Indigenous children in the child welfare system. Indigenous children, workers, and communities deserve better, and it’s long past time for these injustices to be righted,” said Lily Chang, CLC Secretary-Treasurer.

For survivors, their families, and the families of the children who never made it home, the traumatic impacts of the residential school system continue to be felt today. The ongoing discovery of the graves of thousands of Indigenous children at former residential schools, and the slow degree to which action has been taken to release records on residential schools to survivors and their families, creates additional trauma for community members.

In order to redress the legacy of colonization and advance the process of reconciliation in a meaningful way, it is imperative that the federal government address the harms caused by the residential school system, as well as the colonial policies and practices that have and continue to have devastating consequences for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples.

This is why on October 3, 2023, workers from across Canada will be heading to Parliament to meet with Members of Parliament and Senators as part of CLC’s second National Indigenous Lobby Day. There they will urge lawmakers to take action on Indigenous justice, including:

• Addressing the harms caused by the residential school system by implementing, without delay, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action 71 through 76: Missing Children and Burial Information;
• Providing appropriate funds and resources to support the development of essential publicly delivered water infrastructure and ensuring the elimination of all long-term boil water advisories in First Nations communities;
• Immediately creating a national Red Dress Alert system to notify the public when an Indigenous woman, girl, or Two-Spirit person goes missing;
• Releasing an implementation plan for the government’s National Action Plan, and accelerating fulfilment of all the Calls for Justice from the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people; and
• Along with the government of Manitoba, prioritizing and adequately funding a search of the landfills to return Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris of Long Plain First Nation, and Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe to their loved ones without further delay.

Show your solidarity and join the calls by signing our action letter and letting your MP know that you want to see concrete action for justice for Indigenous communities!

Other ways to take action on this day and beyond:

• Visit CLC’s Indigenous Rights and Justice Resource Centre, for information and resources on tangible actions you can take to support Indigenous workers in your workplace, union, and community.
• Find and join an event or action in your area to commemorate Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (example in Ottawa).
• Wear orange to show your support for Indigenous communities impacted by residential schools.
• Donate to and support Indigenous organizations and Indigenous community supports such as the Indian Residential Schools Survivor Society, and First Nations Child & Family Caring Society.

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By enacting these policies, these governments have condoned the hateful behaviour of people across the country who are targeting and endangering trans children. In this climate of rising hate, Canada’s schools should be inclusive and safe spaces for children and staff to be present and protected, not places that out kids to potentially unsupportive families. 

Politicians must be held accountable to make evidence-based, compassionate decisions that prioritize human rights and support the protection of marginalized communities such as 2SLGBTQI+ youth from violence and harassment. 

A silver lining in all of this has been the swift action taken by workers and their unions across the country. As news of hate-based marches and protests spread, so too did plans for counter-protests, often organized by unions, labour councils, and federations of labour. Standing in solidarity against hate and injustice has always been a cornerstone of the labour movement, and that was proven again this week. 

I am proud to be part of the fight against regressive and hate-motivated actions like the recent decisions in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan and the increasing harassment of trans youth. 

Canada’s unions will always fight for a fairer, just, and more equitable future for all – including children.  

-Bea 

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Emancipation Day – recognizing the abolition of slavery in Canada and other British colonies on August 1,1834 – is a time to honour the struggles, triumphs and resilience of Black communities in Canada, and to confront the ills of racism, oppression and discrimination that continue to plague Black people in this country.

“An updated Employment Equity Act is crucial, but Black workers also need to see the creation and implementation of an intersectional national anti-Black racism strategy that includes strong employment and pay targets and solid measures to combat persistent labour-market discrimination and exclusion, which is what Black workers are consistently up against,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the CLC.

The impacts of anti-Black racism are far-reaching, causing major barriers to economic advancement and empowerment for Black communities and ongoing labour market discrimination. This has resulted in Black workers earning lower wages and facing barriers in hiring, advancement, promotion and retention.

A 2023 Black Canadian National Survey conducted by York University’s Institute for Social Research, in partnership with the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, found 75% of Black Canadians and 70% of other non-white people experience racism in the workplace as a serious or very serious problem. 47% of Black Canadians reported they had been treated unfairly by an employer in hiring, pay or promotion in the previous 12 months, compared to only 15% of white Canadians.

“Canada’s unions continue to stand in solidarity with Black workers by calling on our governments to address these longstanding inequities in employment stemming from this country’s unjust history. This includes strengthening the Employment Equity Act to acknowledge the barriers experienced by specific communities through the collection and analysis of disaggregated data. A renewed Act must also be accompanied by sufficient funding to support its full and proper implementation by employers, and the enforcement functions of the Canadian Human Rights Commission,” said Bea Bruske, President of the CLC.

The CLC is looking forward to the release of the report of the Employment Equity Review Task Force. We are committed to working with the government to ensure meaningful action on implementing its recommendations in support of greater equity for Black workers, and all workers experiencing barriers to employment equity.

Canada’s unions also continue to support the legal action taken against the Government of Canada via the Black Class Action, which seeks redress for the injustices faced by Black federal public service workers, past and present, who have experienced discrimination in hiring and promotion practices.

This Emancipation Day, here are some things you can do to celebrate and support Black workers and communities:

• Find and participate in Emancipation Day events in your area
• Educate yourself on Canada’s history of slavery and its lasting impacts
• Find labour education opportunities within your union to tackle anti-Black racism in all its forms https://canadianlabour.ca/who-we-are/labour-education/

The post Emancipation Day: Canada’s unions demand stronger measures to address systemic racism appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

WINNIPEG—Canadian Labour Congress President Bea Bruske, with the support of Manitoba Federation of Labour President Kevin Rebeck issued the following statement today:

“Canada’s unions call on governments at all levels to commence a search for the remains of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, and an unidentified woman who has been named Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (Buffalo Woman) in the Prairie Green landfill.”

“The decision on whether to search the landfill, first and foremost must be made keeping basic decency, respect for human life and spirit in mind. Indigenous Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S) are not garbage. These MMIWG2S were sisters, siblings, daughters, aunties, and mothers. People loved them. Their lives mattered. Governments must do all they can to ensure that a landfill is not their final resting place.”

“As allies, we stand in solidarity with the families and communities of these MMIWG2S. The police have stated they believe their remains are in the landfill. A search must be conducted. It is unacceptable that the provincial government is not prepared to look at ways to move forward.”

“In 2019, the National Inquiry report into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls called for action directing police to put into place protocols to ensure that all MMIWG2S cases are thoroughly investigated. We must all heed the report’s 231 calls for justice and work to improve the quality of life of Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit and gender-diverse people. 

“The health and safety of workers must be prioritized in moving forward with search plans, including ensuring proper personal protective equipment (PPE), training, and expert planning at every stage.”

“The families and community have been dealt with too many delays, court battles and jurisdictional disputes. We call on governments at all levels to begin a landfill search immediately, as the sooner the search begins, the sooner the healing and closure may commence.”

“This is our collective responsibility towards meaningful reconciliation.”

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

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“We have stood in solidarity with disability activists and organizations who have lobbied for this benefit for years. Today is a historic moment to celebrate these efforts and reaffirm labour’s support to lift the floor on disability poverty from coast to coast.” said Bea Bruske, President of the CLC. “This win belongs to all the disability rights and justice activists who fought so hard to get us here.”  

Bill C-22, the Canada Disability Benefit Act, was first promised in the September 2020 throne speech and proposed a new benefit program specifically targeting persons with disabilities in Canada. This benefit is to be distributed in addition to existing programs at the provincial and federal level that offer financial supports for persons with disabilities in Canada. 

Once implemented, the new benefit would be the first federal-level guaranteed monthly income supplement aimed at people living with disabilities of its kind in Canada. 

According to Statistics Canada, people with disabilities make up 41% of the low-income population in Canada, compared with 18% of the non-low-income population. Working aged people with severe disabilities face the highest rates of poverty in Canada. And while inflation has skyrocketed across the country, provincial disability benefits are not index-linked. This means people with disabilities who are already struggling to make ends meet and who face existing barriers to accessing the unique and often expensive supports they need, have been hit the hardest by Canada’s ongoing affordability crisis. 

“We look forward to continued solidarity and collaboration with the activists and organizations who have led these efforts to pass C-22, and to work with the government to ensure that the implementation of the new Canada Disability Benefit is well-resourced in the next budget,” said Lily Chang, Secretary-Treasurer of the CLC. 

For further updates on the implementation of the benefit, follow the continued advocacy efforts of organizations led by people with disabilities, like Disability Without Poverty and Inclusion Canada.  

The post Unions celebrate new Canada Disability Benefit appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“Whether on the shop floor, in union halls or in government spaces, Canada’s unions know that we are stronger together. We will continue to build unity not only to celebrate, but to defend the diversity within our movement. Our commitment to fighting against homophobic and transphobic violence and discrimination is a daily practice that extends beyond just Pride season,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “Pride is an important opportunity for us to highlight this work, but our solidarity and support reaches much further.”

The rise of anti-2SLGBTQI+ phobia and violence has been an alarming trend across Canada and around the world. According to a recent report from Statistics Canada, domestic police-reported hate crimes based on sexual orientation increased drastically – by almost 60 per cent between 2019 and 2021. A 2018 report also found that transgender Canadians are disproportionately more likely to experience violence than their cis-gender counterparts, including in public, online and at work.

According to ACLED, a non-partisan organisation that compiles statistics on violence globally, anti-LGBTQ mobilizations in the United States more than tripled in 2022 compared to 2021. This led to horrific tragedies including the Colorado nightclub shooting, and has raised concerns of a spillover effect in Canada.

In fact, anti-inclusion and pro-violence campaigns are continuing to gain momentum in our country, targeting a growing number of Pride events and related programming. They also seek to undermine important legislative gains aimed at increasing equity and inclusion of 2SLGBTQI+ communities in Canada. This includes disruptions at local drag story-time events and attacks against inclusive curriculum development in schools. Many of these anti-2SLGBTQI+ mobilizations have documented connections to far right and white supremacist groups . These connections include direct funding from and similar strategy to anti-2SLGBTQI+ fascist organisations, based in the U.S. and globally. 

In the face of mounting hate, we will continue to vehemently oppose racism, colonialism, homophobia, biphobia, intersexphobia and transphobia in all of its forms, across Canada and around the world.

“The actions of a hateful few threaten to injure the progressive, inclusive and equitable vision for all that our labour movement has defended for decades. But make no mistake: Canada’s unions will continue to show up to defend these hard-fought gains on 2SLGBTQI+ rights, in the workplace and in our communities. We will fervently defend against the bigotry and ignorance peddled by the far right,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the CLC.

While the new federal 2SLGBTQI+ Action Plan is an important first step, more direct action is needed to support local organisations, particularly in rural areas. Canada’s unions will continue to lobby governments at every level to support and protect these organisations dedicated to combatting homophobia and transphobia. We are equally committed to helping sustain safe community spaces for 2SLGBTQI+ people across Canada and around the world.

Canada’s unions must also be part of the solution to end homophobia, transphobia and 2SLGBTQI+ phobia internally by showing leadership and challenging discrimination anywhere we see it. We can do this with member education, awareness campaigns, bargaining 2SLGBTQI+ collective agreement language, and participating in pride events every year. 

Show your support by attending Pride events in your community. Be sure to download our Workers in Transition Guide to learn more on how you can support trans people in your workplace.

The post Pride 2023: Together always, united in our diversity appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“All workers, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity, deserve to work free of violence and harassment. Unfortunately, this reality is especially untrue for 2SLGBTQI+ workers, who often face disproportionate amounts of discrimination and bullying at work.” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. 

In fact, the CLC’s most recent survey on harassment and violence in Canadian workplaces found that 73% of gender-diverse respondents reported experiencing multiple forms of harassment and violence at work, a disproportionately high number compared to their cisgender colleagues. LGBTQ2S+ respondents were also more likely to have experienced harassment and violence, particularly sexual harassment and violence.

A 2020 study on Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual earnings in the Canadian labour market also found these populations were more likely to earn lower incomes, experience more discrimination in the workplace and deal with increased barriers to finding and advancing in employment compared to their heterosexual counterparts. And a 2020 Trans PULSE Canada survey report on trans and non-binary Canadians found that less than half of trans respondents were employed full‑time, while 35% were employed part-time.

“While these statistics paint a grim picture of the reality of anti-2SLGBTQI+ sentiments in the workplace, it doesn’t have to be this way. Canada’s unions believe in the power of properly implementing ILO C-190, the newly ratified global standard on harassment and violence at work, as a key part of the puzzle to address discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics in the workplace,” continued Rousseau

Unions applauded the recent news of Canada’s ratification of ILO C-190, a historic global convention to end violence and harassment at work, first introduced in 2019. However, ratification is only the first step toward meaningful change. There needs to be a strong plan for implementation in all jurisdictions, which requires a coordinated effort involving governments, employers and unions.

“As Pride season commences from coast to coast, there is no better time for governments to take action and bring all stakeholders together to end all forms of violence and harassment at work. 2SLGBTQI+ workers deserve to feel safe at work and it’s time Canada take action to make this a reality,” concluded Rousseau.

The post Urgent action needed to end homophobic and transphobic violence at work appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Compounding this immense tragedy, is the fact that workers had refused to enter the factory because cracks in the walls had been spotted the day before, but were ordered back to work to avoid costly production delays.

“Rana Plaza exposed the dire conditions for workers in these factories that produce the world’s garments: poor wages, unsafe working conditions, precarious work, and intimidation and harassment in the workplace. Garment workers not only in Bangladesh, but around the world, are still working in absolutely appalling conditions and receiving unfair wages for their labour. It is way past time for things to change,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress.

Canada’s unions, representing 3 million workers, have supported Bangladesh workers in their struggle for decent working conditions and the right to form independent unions to represent workers. We are part of allied networks pushing the government to enact robust legislation to mandate human rights obligations in the supply chains of Canadian companies.

On this grim anniversary, Canada’s unions stand in solidarity with workers in the garment sector in Bangladesh who are demanding respect for their human rights, including freedom of association, healthy and safe working conditions, and a living wage.  

In order to effectively prevent the next Rana Plaza, we call on the Canadian Government to:

• Introduce mandatory human rights due diligence legislation that requires Canadian companies, and companies that import goods into Canada, to respect human rights throughout their supply chains;
• Promote and protect the right to organize and bargain collectively as key enabling rights, without which decent work cannot take place; and
• Make trade preferences dependent on the respect for workers’ right to organize.

We call on Canadian clothing brands to:

• Sign the International Accord, the continuation of the Bangladesh Accord on Building and Fire Safety, which brought massive success in health and safety inspections and repairs to thousands of factories. When the Accord expires, it should be renewed as a legally binding, enforceable agreement, expanded to more countries for the long-term;
• End the race to the bottom borne by workers, by providing living wages and living wage compensation for workers suffering injury or death in the workplace across their supply chains; and
• Take responsibility for financing a permanent Employment Injury Scheme (EIS) in Bangladesh to compensate workers injured at work. 

Click here to add your voice to the struggle by leaving a message commemorating victims of the Rana Plaza disaster on a virtual memorial, and by calling on major international brands to sign the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile and Garment Industry, ensure workplace safety and recognize the rights of workers to organize, refuse unsafe work and raise health and safety concerns.

The post Never again: Canada’s unions mark 10 years since the Rana Plaza factory collapse appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“On Refugee Rights Day, we recognize and celebrate the 1985 Supreme Court of Canada ruling that refugee claimants are entitled to fundamental justice. Today, Canada’s unions urge the federal government to uphold the principles of fundamental justice and fulfill its moral duty and international obligation to protect the well-being of people and families seeking safety, by suspending the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA).

“We are deeply concerned by the recent decision between Canada and the United States to expand the Safe Third Country Agreement. Expanding the Agreement to the entire border, including Roxham Road, means that refugees crossing in both directions will be driven underground, forced to take even more dangerous routes, and put their safety and lives at risk. It will inevitably lead to harm and more deaths.

“Under the STCA, refugee claimants must request refuge in the first safe country they arrive in. Although the United States is the only country that has been designated as a safe country according to the Agreement, the reality is that the U.S. does not guarantee safety for refugees.

“We all want to do what is best for our families. Under international law, people have the right to seek refugee protection and to a fair process that determines whether they should receive it. People seeking refuge in Canada deserve to be treated with compassion and must have their claims processed fairly and efficiently, not be turned back to harm.

“Canada’s unions stand in opposition to the Safe Third Country Agreement, and in solidarity with our allies fighting for migrant and refugee justice.

The post Statement from Bea Bruske: To uphold refugee rights, Canada must suspend the Safe Third Country Agreement appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

33 years after the École Polytechnique attack, the CLC’s National Survey on Harassment and Violence at Work exposed the unnerving reality that gender-based harassment and violence remain a persistent threat to workers. The survey also found that third-party violence (from customers, clients, patients and others) accounts for 1 in 3 of these incidents and is a particular threat to women and gender-diverse workers who are more frequently employed in public-facing jobs.

“We hear heartbreaking stories from workers of harassment and violence from members of the public, their patients, or clients,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “And even more devastating, every year workers in Canada are murdered at work due to rising rates of third-party violence fuelled by misogyny, racism, transphobia, and homophobia. We know that third-party violence is a significant and sometimes deadly threat to workers, yet existing legislation on workplace health and safety does not adequately cover it.”

Inaction can be deadly. In 2019, Deborah Onwu, a youth social worker was killed while caring for a client. In 2021, Julia Ferguson, was murdered at the law firm she worked at. In 2022, Harmandeep Kaur was murdered while working as a security guard on the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan campus. The murder of these three women is a stark reminder of how much work we have yet to do to address gender-based violence and harassment at work and the continued threat of third-party violence.

“We need a gender-responsive and intersectional approach to tackling third-party violence and we can find that approach in International Labour Convention 190 (C‑190),” said CLC President Bea Bruske. “While the Canadian government has taken the first steps to ratify C-190, we need a plan to implement it properly and workers’ voices need to be at the centre of that plan. Labour is ready to do our part, but we cannot do it alone. Governments and employers must work with us to address third‑party violence and its disproportionate impact on women and gender-diverse workers.”

That is why, during this year’s 16 Days of activism, the CLC is calling on the government to bring other levels of governments, unions and workers together for a tripartite summit to examine the issue of third-party violence, its impact on women and gender-diverse workers, and to formulate a plan for addressing this urgent issue as a key step toward implementing C-190. Refusing to act is not an option as workers continue to face life-threatening incidents of harassment and violence at work.

“Together we can make work safer and say Never Again to gender-based violence.”

Read more about third-party violence at work and its impacts on women, two-spirit, trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming workers in this statement by labour leaders.

To read the results on the National Survey on Harassment and Violence at work click here.

The post It’s time to commit to ending gender-based violence and say never again! appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

This week marks Mental Illness Awareness Week, which is aimed at raising awareness and increasing action in support of Canadians living with mental illness. More than two million Canadians have a mental health related disability and one in three Canadians will be impacted by mental illness in their lifetime.

According to a recent poll, 40 percent of Canadians reported feeling like they were at a mental health breaking point, while almost 60 percent said someone in their immediate circle of close friends, co-workers and family members has suffered a mental health crisis.

“People living with a mental illness must have access to social safety nets that will help them live in dignity and pursue decent work. Unions welcome the new disability benefits bill because we believe it is part of the solution to pull back the barriers that work against people with mental illness in our society,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).

People with mental illness are disproportionately unemployed when compared to their counterparts in the labour market, and consequently, they are more susceptible to living below the poverty line. Even when they are employed, they are more likely to receive wages that are either at or below minimum wage. The Mental Health Commission of Canada found that up to 90 percent of people living with a serious mental illness are unemployed.

The Commission also found that a rising number of people with mental illness are transitioning to various federal, provincial, territorial and private income supports, a situation that has only gotten worse since the COVID-19 pandemic began. What’s worse: these income support programs have already been proven to provide insufficient and inconsistent financial resources that often deepen the economic disparities faced by people with disabilities in Canada compared to the general population.

“Unions across Canada will stand in solidarity with our coalition partners in the disability rights and disability justice movements demanding that this government live up to its promise to build a Canada without barriers. Fast tracking the disability benefits bill is a critical part of fulfilling that promise,” said Lily Chang, CLC Secretary-Treasurer. “Reducing disability poverty through the adoption of Bill C-22 is the right thing to do.”

The Canada Disability Benefit bill was first introduced in the throne speech of fall 2020. It was then reaffirmed in the 2021 mandate letter for Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough. Learn more about advocacy efforts to fast track the benefits bill from the National Disability Without Poverty Network.

The post Political leaders must work together and fast-track Bill C-22 on Disability Benefits appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Canada’s unions are calling on the federal government to ratify the International Labour Organization’s Convention No. 190 (ILO C-190) and affirm the right to a world of work free from harassment and violence. The government must also implement a federal LGBTQ2S+ action plan that addresses a range of action areas including health care, mental health, poverty reduction, justice reform and international assistance, among others. This should be backed by funding for 2SLGBTQI organizations providing essential services and supporting 2SLGBTQI people across the country.

“Pride season is a time for celebration and support for 2SLGBTQI communities. But racist and anti-gender movements have become increasingly bold, putting human rights and peoples’ lives at risk,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “Whether it be the wave of homophobic and transphobic bills being introduced across the United States, to increased hate crimes against 2SLGBTQI people here in Canada, we are seeing unprecedented and calculated assaults on 2SLGBTQI rights. We are committed to standing in solidarity with 2SLGBTQI folks and calling on our governments to do more to protect everyone’s basic right to live free from harassment and violence.”

2SLGBTQI people also experience other forms of violence and discrimination, which can impact access to health care, housing and employment. Just last month, the CLC and researchers from the University of Western Ontario and the University of Toronto released initial findings from a national survey on workplace harassment and violence in Canada. It found that 73 percent of gender-diverse respondents reported having experienced sexual harassment and violence at work.

“We have some important victories to celebrate this Pride season, like the fact that conversion therapy is now illegal and the end to the discriminatory blood ban. But we remain vigilant and continue to fight for the rights of 2SLGBTQI people,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice‑President of the CLC. “From the ratification of ILO C-190, to improving access and inclusion across all public services, there is still much work to be done.”

Following muted Pride festivities throughout the first two years of the pandemic, this year, there is a shift back towards in-person events. We urge labour councils, local unions and union members to take part and show your support for 2SLGBTQI rights, whether in-person or online.

Together, let’s move #ForwardWithPride.

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Unions across Canada will be participating and visible in Pride events in their regions. Click here for a full list of Pride events and to find one near you.

Send a tweet to Canada’s Minister of Labour calling on Canada to take action to address violence and harassment at work by ratifying C-190.

Check out the CLC’s Workers in Transition Guide on how to best support trans workers and combat transphobia in the workplace.

The post Together, let’s move #ForwardWithPride! appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“Across the globe, we are seeing unprecedented attacks on the rights of 2SLGBTQI people,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “In 2022 alone, we’ve witnessed the introduction of more than 240 anti-LGBTQ bills in the United States, and increasing criminalization and violence against 2SLGBTQI populations in regions including Eastern Europe and West Africa.”

A concrete first step in advancing protections for 2SLGBTQI workers and reaffirming a commitment to protecting those with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions and sex characteristics is for the government to ratify ILO C-190 and affirm the right to a world of work free from harassment and violence.

The CLC and researchers from the University of Western Ontario and the University of Toronto recently released the initial findings of a national survey on workplace harassment and violence in Canada. The findings are unsettling, with 7 in 10 workers reporting having experienced a form of harassment and violence at work. The survey also found that women, trans, nonbinary and gender-diverse workers are experiencing higher rates of harassment and violence. 73 percent of gender-diverse respondents reported having experienced sexual harassment and violence at work, compared to 46 percent of women and 38 percent of men. Nearly 5000 workers took part in the survey.

“Violence and harassment is not part of the job. Governments and employers must do more to make workplaces safer and more inclusive for all,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice‑President of the CLC. “These eye-opening survey results should push governments and employers to address and prevent all forms of gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work, including homophobic and transphobic violence and harassment.”

ILO C-190 is the first international standard of its kind that acknowledges the universal right to a world of work free from violence and harassment, and establishes a clear framework for ending it. Once ratified, governments are accountable for preventing and addressing all forms of violence and harassment, including gender-based violence and harassment. It also gives unions the tools they need to make work safer for everyone.

The Convention was adopted in June 2019, by the ILO at the International Labour Conference, and came into force in June 2021. To date, 12 countries have ratified the Convention.

In recent years and during the course of the pandemic, hate crimes targeting sexual orientation have increased. Statistics Canada reports that people belonging to sexual minority groups are almost three times more likely to experience violent victimization than heterosexual people. This reinforces reports of how COVID-19 has exacerbated pre-existing inequities and impacted various populations differently.

IDAHOTB was first recognized in 2004 to raise awareness and mobilize to end discrimination and violence faced by 2SLGBTQI people globally. May 17 was chosen to commemorate the day on which the World Health Organization decided to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1990. Today, IDAHOTB is celebrated in over 130 countries around the world.

Send a tweet to Canada’s Minister of Labour calling on Canada to ratify C-190

Check out the CLC’s Workers in Transition Guide on how to support trans workers and combat transphobia in the workplace

The post IDAHOTB: Canada’s unions call for an end to violence and harassment appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

OTTAWA – Canada’s unions are shining a spotlight on how the Conservative Party is missing in action when it comes to standing up for workers who are seeing their buying power shrink as their wages rise at half the rate of inflation.

“Workers are worried about how the rising costs of groceries, gas and family essentials are eating into their paycheques more and more each month. Conservatives love to talk about inflation yet are silent on how corporate greed is fuelling skyrocketing prices or how workers’ wages are falling behind,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “All we hear from these leadership candidates is the same low-wage austerity playbook we have seen for decades from Conservatives and their Bay St. buddies.”

Evidence shows that continued government spending to help Canadians through these difficult times and wages aren’t what is driving up inflation, instead it is global events disrupting supply chains, pandemic profiteers, and the hollowing out of our manufacturing driving up the cost of living.

“Fair wages, good jobs and investing in our infrastructure and supply chains are all vital parts of the solution. This will help Canadians pay for family essentials and strengthen our ability to withstand international instability,” continued Bruske. “Yet what we hear from the Conservative Party and the candidates competing to lead them is scaremongering about government spending.”

Bruske added that if Conservatives on the leadership campaign trail want to talk about government spending cuts, they must be honest about what services and help for people they are planning to cut.

“Conservative candidates are attacking the Bank of Canada, talking about ending supply management, and floating bizarre suggestions around crypto currencies, while loudly condemning public spending,” concluded Bruske. “Yet they won’t say what they plan to cut. Conservatives must now level with Canadians. Are they planning to cut health care, employment insurance, and other vital services people depend on, just like last time they were in government?”

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

The post Conservatives refuse to talk lagging wages instead push low-wage austerity agenda appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

A national report released by the Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter and Project 1907 shows that anti-Asian racism and xenophobia have continued to rise consistently across Canada two years into the pandemic.

“Historically, Asian Canadian workers faced exclusion from organized labour. They were barred from joining unions in numerous sectors, limiting opportunities for gainful and fair employment. Sadly, the discrimination and racism experienced by Asian workers is not relegated to the past. Workers continue to face anti-Asian racism in workplaces and unions, as well as – and increasingly since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic – in society at large,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).

Canada’s unions are committed to working to eliminate anti-Asian racism and discrimination, both in the labour movement and society. This includes carrying on the work started by the CLC’s Anti-Racism Task Force, which developed a crucial report with recommendations on what needed – and still, 25 years later, needs – to be done within union structures to live up to the labour movement principles of justice and equality.

“We must do everything we can to adequately reach out to and support Asian workers to join and get involved in unions as workers and leaders, ensure that Asian workers are properly represented and supported as union members and support and amplify the great work being done by Asian community and labour activists across Canada,” said Lily Chang, CLC Secretary-Treasurer.

Asian Heritage Month is a time to celebrate and recognize workers from across Asia. It is an opportunity to highlight the rich and varied contributions made by generations of Canadians of Asian descent, and reflect on everything they have overcome. This includes the struggles of Asian workers in securing labour and human rights and facing racism and discrimination within workplaces, trade unions and broader society.

In the 1800s, an estimated 17,000 Chinese workers were first brought to Canada as indentured labourers to build the Canadian Pacific Railway. Workers laboured under dangerous and difficult conditions. They faced widespread racism from employers, government and from within the communities in which they worked and lived.

Asian workers also faced discrimination and exclusion in certain industries. In British Columbia, for example, the province’s Inspection of Metalliferous Mines Act of 1897 barred Japanese and Chinese workers from the metal mining industry. Asian workers were also excluded from public works projects, and several subsequent laws prohibited Asian workers from being hired by smaller railway companies in the province. While many South Asian workers found work in the lumber industry after arriving in Canada in the early 1900s, a law passed shortly thereafter barred all Asian workers from holding logging licenses.

Action:

Help us celebrate the contributions made by Asian communities in Canada. Share a story today.

Learn more:

As Asian Canadian scholars, we must #StopAsianHate by fighting all forms of racism

Doing the Work: Race, Labour and Transformative Justice

Short Documentary: Toronto Solidarity Rally Against Anti-Asian Racism

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OTTAWA –– After waiting three decades, Canada’s unions welcome today’s decision by the Canadian government to reverse its discriminatory blood donation policy, which had been in place since 1992.   

“This is a positive step in addressing ongoing systemic discrimination experienced by 2SLGBTQI people,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC).  “By ending the ban on blood donation for men who have sex with men, the government and Canadian Blood Services are finally ending this discriminatory and unscientific practice which perpetuated negative homophobic and transphobic stereotypes.”

The ban reinforced a negative stigma surrounding men who have sex with men and misgendered trans women for the purposes of blood donation, preventing potentially healthy donors from donating blood.

“It should not have taken such a long time to ensure that all people are treated equally. Fear and negative stereotypes about men who have sex with men made this ban last for three decades,” said Larry Rousseau, CLC Executive Vice-President. “Today, the government and Canadian Blood Services have adopted criteria that is gender neutral with behaviour-based screening and finally ended this unacceptable homophobic and transphobic policy, once and for all. Now Canadian Blood Services must work to earn the trust of the 2SLGBTQI community and encourage much-needed donations.”

The federal Liberals made a campaign promise in 2015 to end the discriminatory blood ban following years of activism and pressure from the 2SLGBTQI and human rights advocates. The ban has been challenged at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, and in June 2021 the federal government lost an attempt to terminate the tribunal’s inquiry.  

“Today we celebrate alongside all of the activists and the 2SLGBTQI community and we thank the advocates who have worked so hard to make this day possible,” said Bruske. “This victory has taken far too long, but today’s announcement is about saving lives, and making up for years of missed opportunities for those who were excluded from donating simply because of their sexuality or gender identity”.

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

The post Canada’s unions celebrate end to discriminatory blood donation policy appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

We believe every worker deserves the same high standard of protection under the law. Employers have long used excuses to misclassify their employees as independent contractors, and have lobbied for exceptions and special categories that restrict workers’ rights. In recent years, platform companies like Uber, Lyft and Skip the Dishes have taken that effort to new extremes that threaten workers everywhere.

Globally, app-based workers are standing up, overturning misclassification as independent contractors, and coming together to improve their working conditions. Courts and legislatures in France, Spain, Belgium, Chile, Australia, and numerous other countries are recognizing the presumption of employment status for food delivery workers and other app-company gig workers. The new European Union Commission directive, establishing the presumption of employee status unless the company can prove the platform worker is an independent contractor, shows us that around the world, the tide is turning towards full employment rights for app-based workers. The OWRAC report recommendations are offside and out of step with this global trend.

We repeat our call from March 2021 for governments to give app-based gig workers the same legal protections as other workers, and to end employee misclassification. The CLC and Canada’s central labour bodies urge all governments to apply employment standards universally and eliminate exceptions and special categories that restrict worker rights. We urge governments to end the misclassification of workers as independent contractors and reverse the legal onus so employers must prove a worker is not an employee and is truly an independent contractor.

The OWRAC report has recommended the opposite. In line with the wishes of the digital platform companies like Uber, Lyft and Skip the Dishes, OWRAC recommends the government of Ontario create a new category of dependent contractor under employment standards legislation which would give gig workers fewer rights and entitlements than employees. Workers classified as dependent contractors would continue to have reduced or restricted access to the Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance, and workers’ compensation that are the bedrock of decent work. Instead, OWRAC recommends the government establish a ‘portable benefits’ scheme which will unquestionably provide inferior benefits for these workers.

As the report of the Expert Panel on Modern Federal Labour Standards recognized, the best portable benefits are universal social programs like Canada Pension Plan, Employment Insurance and national Pharmacare. Ontario workers need and deserve full access to EI and CPP, not crumbs tossed into an individual savings account.

OWRAC has heard and responded to the wishes of the platform companies, whose business model exploits the fact that workers are denied basic minimum employment standards. At the same time, OWRAC has ignored the recommendations of gig workers themselves and labour groups that are demanding governments and advisory groups protect workers’ rights, not the gig employers.

The Canadian labour movement remains firmly united with the growing global movement demanding full rights and protections for gig economy workers. We reject the platform companies’ efforts to pressure governments to invent a niche category for app-based employment. Like Proposition 22 in California, Uber and other platform companies are hoping the Ford government will enshrine insecurity and inferior work conditions into Ontario’s legislation while undermining the right of workers to organize.

Gig work is vitally important work but commonly underpaid and undervalued. Grocery store workers, delivery drivers, bike couriers and many others play a critical role in keeping our economy moving and ensuring that we have essential supplies. This work matters, and these workers matter.

Governments have a responsibility to make work better – to provide workers with security, safety and fair pay. We reiterate our call on the provincial, territorial and federal governments to protect gig and app based workers by:

• Applying employment standards universally and eliminating exceptions and special categories that restrict worker rights;
• Proactively addressing the misclassification of workers as independent contractors and reversing the legal onus so employers must prove a worker is not an employee and is truly an independent contractor; and
• Ensuring all workers have the right to organize into a union should they choose and making that right meaningful by addressing barriers to organizing.

Endorsing bodies:

Canadian Labour Congress
Alberta Federation of Labour
British Columbia Federation of Labour
Manitoba Federation of Labour
New Brunswick Federation of Labour
Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour
Northern Territories Federation of Labour
Nova Scotia Federation of Labour
Ontario Federation of Labour
Prince Edward Island Federation of Labour
Saskatchewan Federation of Labour
Yukon Federation of Labour

The post Statement of the CLC and provincial and territorial federations of labour in response to the Ontario Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee Report appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

On this day, the Canadian Labour Congress recognizes a union member with an award for their disability rights activism. The award is named in honour of Carol McGregor, an outstanding disability rights activist, member of BCGEU/NUPGE and the CLC Disability Rights Working Group, who was much loved by all those who worked with her. Carol passed away in 2006.

On the tenth anniversary of this award, the Canadian Labour Congress is pleased to announce Sheryl Burns as the 2021 recipient of the Carol McGregor CLC Disability Rights Award.

Sheryl became a union activist and CUPE member in 2005, working in Vancouver’s women’s shelters and as a legal advocate supporting survivors of abuse, including women with disabilities. She is now the President of CUPE Local 1936, representing social service workers throughout British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. In this role, she provides fierce advocacy to ensure the duty to accommodate is enforced for members who are permanently or temporarily disabled.

She is recognized for her outstanding leadership for persons with disabilities in Canada’s labour movement and tireless advocacy in the community. This includes fighting for and winning accommodations for workers, crucially preventing job loss, ensuring job gain, and significantly improving working conditions for workers with disabilities. Most recently, Sheryl led important work to ensure accommodations for workers struggling with mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sheryl has spoken on various panels and delivered numerous workshops on disability rights and decent work for people with disabilities and has pushed for important changes within CUPE and the broader labour movement, including improved accessibility provisions and increased representation of members with disabilities in leadership positions.

In the community, Sheryl holds a position on the Executive Board for Disability Alliance British Columbia and was previously a member of the City of Vancouver Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee. In these roles she worked on campaigns for improvements to emergency preparedness for persons with disabilities, a strengthened Guide and Assistance Dog Act, a push for more accessible transportation, and improvements to income assistance and housing for persons with disabilities, among other issues.

Sheryl is a General Vice-President on the CUPE BC Executive Board, has been the co-chair of the CUPE BC Persons with Disabilities Committee, and currently sits on the Executive Council of the BC Federation of Labour as the Persons with Disabilities Representative, a position she has held since 2014.

“Sheryl has been a powerful advocate for disability rights throughout her life, bringing her lived experience as a woman with a hearing disability to a multitude of spaces,” said nominators, Mark Hancock (National President, CUPE) and Charles Fleury (National Secretary-Treasurer, CUPE). “She has displayed incredible strength and courage in negotiating ableist barriers to achieve significant change and improvements for persons with disabilities in Canada.”

Congratulations, Sheryl!

The post Sheryl Burns awarded the 2021 Carol McGregor CLC Disability Rights Award appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress, is available to speak to the media about the upcoming return of Parliament and what a workers-centred recovery looks like.

“The pandemic laid bare existing inequities and the reality is many workers and families are still struggling. Parliament must act quickly to help people now being left behind after the cancellation of emergency help last month,” said Bruske. “Canada’s unions are committed to working with the government and all parties in Parliament on behalf of Canada’s workers and their families.”

“We need concrete action to help take the strain off family budgets with investments in making housing affordable; implementation of pharmacare – to make medicine affordable for everyone; child care deals with every province and territory, so parents now pushed to the economic sidelines have a path back to the labour force; and a permanent fix to our broken EI system, so our social safety net is there for the next crisis, whether health or climate related,” concluded Bruske.

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

When: Interviews can be arranged between November 19 and November 22

What: President Bea Bruske available for comment on Canada’s unions’ priorities for return of Parliament

Where: Virtual or in-person, by arrangement

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

The post President Bea Bruske available to speak about Canada’s unions’ priorities for new Parliament appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“We are committed to working toward reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and we stand in solidarity with them,” said Bea Bruske, CLC President. “We call on the new federal government to recommit to reconciliation and to make it a priority as they plan their new mandate.”

September 30, 2021 marks the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, recognized by the Federal and some provincial and territorial governments as a new statutory holiday. This day has also historically been recognized and commemorated across the country as Orange Shirt Day, a day to remember and honour all the Indigenous children taken from their families and communities and sent to residential schools, where they experienced abuse, racism, violence, and mistreatment.

Canada’s residential school system is estimated to have violently uprooted and impacted the lives of at least 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, and its multi-generational impacts are still deeply felt across Indigenous communities to this day.

“The residential school system is a significant part of Canada’s heinous history of colonial violence enacted upon Indigenous communities. Its legacy continues with the ongoing marginalization and traumatization of Indigenous peoples and communities, and the creation of widespread socioeconomic and health inequities that have rippled across generations,” said Bruske.

“A National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is important in recognizing and facing the historical and present-day harm inflicted upon Indigenous people and communities, and reminds us all of our individual and collective responsibility in working toward reconciliation with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We all have a role to play when it comes to fighting to dismantle the systems that continue to perpetuate these longstanding injustices,” said Lily Chang, CLC Secretary-Treasurer.

For Canada’s unions, this means continuing to support Indigenous workers and communities and pushing all levels of government to make concrete commitments and take action on reconciliation by:

• Implementing all of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Calls for Justice, beginning with implementation of the TRC calls to action 71 through 76 on the Missing Children and Burial Information, which include searching all residential school burial sites in Canada and providing sufficient funding to the National Residential School Student Death Register;

• Urging all provincial and territorial governments to recognize September 30 as a statutory holiday to observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation;

• Dropping government court battles against residential school survivors;

• Ending discrimination against First Nations children in the delivery of child welfare services on reserves Implementing by reforming the First Nations Child and Family Services (FNCFS) program in compliance with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s ruling.

“We’re encouraging all workers to take time on September 30 to learn more about the report and recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to reflect on what reconciliation means, and to take the first steps on this journey toward justice by pushing for change,” said Bruske.

Take Action:

Send a letter to the Prime Minister to push for real commitments and meaningful action toward reconciliation and justice for Indigenous people and communities.

Other actions you can take:

• Learn more about Orange Shirt Day and wear orange to show your support for Indigenous communities impacted by residential schools;

• Participate in an event online to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation such as Truth and Reconciliation Week (September 27 to October 1) or attend an event in your area (Example: National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day at Beechwood Cemetery (Ottawa) or Intergenerational March for Orange Shirt Day (Vancouver);

• Donate and support Indigenous-led organizations and Indigenous community supports such as the Indian Residential Schools Survivor Society, First Nations Child & Family Caring Society and Legacy of Hope Foundation;

• Read and learn more about Canada’s history and legacy of colonialism:

o Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s 94 Calls to Action

o Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and its 231 Calls for Justice

o Native Women’s Association of Canada’s Action Plan to End the Attack Against Indigenous Women, Girls, and Gender-Diverse People

o Yellowhead Institute’s Calls to Action Accountability: A 2020 Status Update on Reconciliation

o CLC’s recommendations for the federal government on Indigenous rights and justice

The post Canada’s unions call on new federal government to prioritize reconciliation ahead of first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“We have seen his rhetoric around supporting working people. But when you look at his record, you start seeing the real O’Toole,’ said Bea Bruske, president of the Canadian Labour Congress. “While he clearly will now say anything for votes, the fact is Erin O’Toole is a former Bay St. lawyer for giant corporations. And it shows.”

O’Toole’s anti-worker record includes:

• Voting against extending emergency pandemic help for workers;
• Saying the government should have given less to working families and more to businesses instead;
• Proposing a law, making it easier for corporations to walk away from pension obligations;
• Voting in support of Bill C-377, which attacked workers and tried to weaken Canada’s labour movement;
• Attacking a union for standing up against his Conservative government’s cuts to services for vets;
• Voting to make it harder for workers to refuse dangerous work; and
• Supporting unfair trade deals that lost Canada thousands of good manufacturing jobs.

“Sadly, Mr. O’Toole cannot be counted on to stand up for workers. This election, he’s proposing policies that fail to protect workers’ pensions during commercial bankruptcies and start privatizing EI and public pensions,” said Bruske. “And during the pandemic, while Alberta premier Jason Kenney made it easier to bust unions and attacked nurses, Erin O’Toole was silent.”

During election 2021, Canada’s unions are engaging voters, supporting candidates who put workers at the centre of their recovery plan, and holding parties accountable for policies that would hurt working people.

“Our message to hard-working people is simple: Conservatives are dangerous for working Canadians. Don’t risk our future on Erin O’Toole,” concluded Bruske.

Contact information:
Chantal St-Denis
Cell 613-355-1962
media@clcctc.ca

The post Canada’s unions release ad reminding working Canadians Erin O’Toole is dangerous appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Uber drivers successfully petitioned the court to certify a class action on behalf of all Uber drivers and delivery workers who submit they are employees misclassified as independent contractors.

“All workers should have workplace protections and benefits. Canada’s unions support the decision to certify this class action and invite Uber drivers from coast-to-coast to unionize and collectively bargain their rights,” said Bea Bruske, President of the CLC. “For too long, Uber has dictated terms of workers’ employment but hasn’t been accountable for providing basic employment standards like a minimum wage and vacation pay.”

In June of last year, an 8-1 decision of the Supreme Court of Canada found that Uber’s private arbitration clause in its contract with drivers is unfair, unconscionable and invalid. The company required Ontario drivers raising a dispute with the company to go to court in the Netherlands and pay legal and other fees amounting to most of their annual income.

“Courts cannot continue to be the main avenue through which workers demand their rights. It is too costly and time consuming, and companies like Uber have very deep pockets to drag out any legal challenge,” said Bruske.

“Governments must act to address the blatant misclassification of workers contained in gig economy employers’ business models. The competitiveness, growth strategy and business model of companies like Uber is built on denying workers their statutory and collective bargaining rights. Governments must step up and rectify the massive power imbalance between digital platform giants and low-paid gig workers,” Bruske added.

The post Canada’s unions welcome certification of Uber class action appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

A few short weeks ago, I was truly honoured to be elected to serve the working people of Canada as president of the Canadian Labour Congress. My fellow officers and I do not take this responsibility lightly – and it is not a job anyone can do alone. We are counting on you for your support … and your action.

Lily Chang, Siobhán Vipond, Larry Rousseau and I have already hit the ground running because we know that Canadians may very well be headed towards a federal election in the middle of a pandemic – making it one of the most important elections in a generation.

My first experience in the labour movement was as a young worker fighting for fair wages, benefits and protections at a corner grocery store in Winnipeg. My spirits were lifted by the incredible support we received from other workers and community members.

That memory has continued to inspire me to stand up for other people, speak out against injustice, and to always – always – try to make the world a better place.

But that memory also stands out because of how relevant that lesson is today.

When the global pandemic plunged our economy into uncertainty, it was front line workers in every sector who kept our families safe and healthy, and our communities running.

After being celebrated as heroes for the first few months, most of those workers lost their wage premiums, despite their continued dedication and exposure to risk. Meanwhile, many of the corporate CEOs clawing back their benefits continue making record profits.

I am sure that every worker in Canada has a unique story about the impact of the pandemic.

The upcoming federal election will be our opportunity to define Canada’s priorities.

It is our opportunity to fight for decent wages, standards, and equity to ensure no one is left behind, and we know that workers’ rights are human rights.

It is our opportunity to fight for paid sick leave and social programs – like universal pharmacare, affordable childcare, better healthcare and a stronger social safety net – to put an end to precarity and insecurity.

And it is our opportunity to protect the planet for future generations, by demanding bold climate action and a sustainable recovery.

That’s why I am asking you, and every worker in Canada, to sign up to be a part of this fight.

Click here to join our Action Team to help amplify worker issues and priorities in the upcoming federal election. We will call on you to share messages, send letters, and press local candidates and national parties to support worker issues.

I also invite you to follow me on Facebook and Twitter to be a part of my team too.

After all, I know that we are much stronger when we work together.

In Solidarity,

Bea Bruske
President

The post Open Letter to the Working People of Canada appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

“Indigenous people and their communities are still processing the horrifying discovery of mass and unmarked graves at former residential schools,” said Bea Bruske, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “This is not a time for celebration; it is a time for reflection and action. Canada’s unions are standing in solidarity with the communities mourning these losses, and we are calling for justice and accountability for the harmful and destructive impact of colonialism, violence and systemic racism.”

The recent findings include the Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia and Marieval Indian Residential School on Cowessess First Nation in Southern Saskatchewan. More graves are expected to be uncovered across Canada in the coming months and years.

“We cannot see residential schools as simply a moment in Canada’s history. We know that systemic, state, and interpersonal violence and discrimination against Indigenous peoples in Canada continues today,” said Bruske. “We see it in health and income disparities, in the unsafe drinking water on so many reserves, in the extractive industries that strip the land, and in the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and the families who have been left without answers or justice – to name just a few.”

This July 1^st, Canada’s unions are urging their members to reflect not only on the devastation and harmful impact of residential schools, but also on our individual and collective responsibility to raise awareness about colonization and to dismantle the systems that continue to perpetuate harm and injustice.

“Today, and every day, we must support Indigenous peoples in this country, act in solidarity, and work towards reconciliation. We all have a role to play. This includes all levels of government, communities, families, individuals, and the labour movement,” said Bruske.

Send a letter to your elected representatives letting them know that you expect to see real commitments and concrete action for justice for Indigenous people and communities.

Other actions you can take:

• Wear orange to show your support for Indigenous communities and those impacted by residential schools (Learn about Phyllis (Jack) Webstad and the original orange shirt)
• Participate in an Indigenous-led vigil, march, or event on July 1^st (Example: events in Montreal, Ottawa, or find a list of events by town/city here)
• Support Indigenous organizations, causes, and businesses (Example: donate to the Indian Residential Schools Survivor Society, Legacy of Hope Foundation or other Indigenous-led organizations)
• Learn about residential schools and colonialism in Canada and in your own community:

o https://education.afn.ca/afntoolkit/
o https://legacyofhope.ca/english/education/

• Engage in conversation and reflection on genocide, colonialism, white supremacy, and violence against Indigenous people.

Learn to be a better ally

• Read the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action and its 94 Calls to Action: http://trc.ca/assets/pdf/Calls_to_Action_English2.pdf
• Read the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and its 231 Calls for Justice: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/

Access support services

Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line
1-866-925-4419

Crisis Services Canada
1-833-456-4566
Text: 45645

Hope for Wellness Helpline
1-855-242-3310

Kids Help Phone
1-800-668-6868
Text: 686868

The post Canada’s unions say this Canada Day is a time for reconciliation, not celebration appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

The federal government tabled amendments to the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Criminal Code and the Youth Criminal Justice Act on Wednesday.

Yet Canada’s unions say the timing is disappointing, as the House’s adjournment for the summer and a potential election in the coming months decrease the likelihood of the legislation being passed.

“Equity-seeking communities have been waiting a long time for legislation to effectively help curb the rapid spread of hateful and violent rhetoric in our society — which has only gotten more virulent and lethal since the start of the pandemic,” said Bea Bruske, CLC President. “Legislation such as this would go a long way toward tackling it. Lives are at stake and it must be a top priority.”

Bill C-36 would define hate speech as “content that expresses detestation or vilification of a person or group based on a prohibited ground of discrimination,” including over the internet, where hate speech is rampant.

The proposed amendments include a number of provisions the Canadian Labour Congress, along with many equity-seeking groups and organizations, have long been calling for. These include introducing an updated and strengthened version of the former section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA), or implementing an updated provision similar to the previous section 13 within the CHRA to fight online hate and harassment communications.

Given the rapid proliferation of hate rhetoric and escalation of acts of hate and violence such as the recent murder of members of a Muslim family that took place in London, ON on June 6, this legislation must be of pressing concern for government if hate speech and its violent and devastating consequences are to be successfully eradicated in Canada.

Canada’s unions stand ready to help ensure that we get Bill C-36 right to stamp out hate speech and prevent another tragedy such as the one that took place in London.

The post Canada’s unions welcome new hate speech provisions, express concern about timing appeared first on Canadian Labour Congress.

Earlier this week, Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion tabled Bill C-35: The Canada Disability Benefit Act. While the benefit is a welcome step, Canada’s unions joined disability rights groups in sharing concerns about the program.

“The government has stated that the Canada Disability Benefit will be supplementary and will not replace existing supports,” said Larry Rousseau, CLC Executive Vice-President. “However, the precise nature of the benefit and how it will work with existing programs is not clear. We share concerns that this legislation comes too late, and lacks specificity, eligibility guidelines and implementation timelines.”

Initially announced in the Speech from the Throne in September 2020, a Canada Disability Benefit has long been advocated for, with amplified calls for increased support for people with disabilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Canada’s unions stress the need for consultation with rights-holders and swift implementation of this long-promised program.

“With the House of Commons adjourned for the summer, it’s highly likely that the bill will not pass before a fall election is called, and even once it is passed there are many gaps and details to determine,” said Rousseau. “This means that people with disabilities will continue to experience high rates of poverty and marginalization, with little hope of relief in the near future.”

A new poll by Angus Reid shows that the vast majority of Canadians (89%) support a Canada Disability Benefit with 88% agreeing that it is an essential commitment from government to end disability poverty. Despite this support, three-in-five people (62%) say they have very little confidence in the federal government’s ability to manage current supports or benefits and 67% say the same of provincial governments.

To learn more, visit https://www.disabilitywithoutpoverty.ca/.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has hit domestic workers hard – as of June 2020, the ILO estimated that approximately 72.3% of global domestic workers were “significantly impacted” by the pandemic. For many, the pandemic closures and lockdown measures have led to reduced hours or job losses, while for others it has led to more work, unpaid wages, and increasingly unsafe and precarious working conditions.

Women make up the vast majority of domestic workers internationally. In Canada, most domestic work is carried out by racialized women, many of whom are migrants. Their work, while critical to our lives and the economy, has long been undervalued. Without full and permanent immigration status or full access to social security systems and labour protections, migrant care workers are made vulnerable, often unable to leave exploitative – and sometimes even violent – employment conditions. With domestic work largely taking place in the informal economy, workers are left without options, protections, or a safety net.

In Canada, a 2020 survey of migrant care workers found that one in three workers lost their jobs during COVID-19. Another third had their mobility limited by their employer and almost half of surveyed workers experienced work intensification and unpaid overtime as a result of the pandemic. Of those who did lose their job, one in three workers reported problems accessing the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) or Employment Insurance (EI).

“Domestic work continues to be made invisible and is underappreciated. While COVID-19 has made this work more visible, we still have a far way to go to demonstrate that this work is truly valued,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress.

Ten years after the adoption of ILO Convention 189, Canada’s unions call for the essential and skilled work of domestic workers be recognized and their rights protected.

—

Read more about Domestic Workers and COVID-19: https://idwfed.org/en/covid-19

Learn about migrant care worker exploitation during COVID-19: https://migrantrights.ca/BehindClosedDoors/

Read more on the campaign to Ratify C189: https://idwfed.org/en/campaigns/ratify-c189

Canada’s unions call for pathways to permanent residency for migrant workers: https://canadianlabour.ca/canadas-unions-call-for-pathway-to-permanent-residency-for-all-migrant-workers/

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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“Our hearts are with residential school survivors, their families and all the children who never returned to the homes from which they were taken,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “This devastating discovery is yet another disturbing chapter in Canada’s long and ongoing history of colonial violence against Indigenous communities and the deeply traumatic legacy of residential schools.

“While the Canadian government has formally apologized, as have many faith institutions involved in the residential school system, survivors have not yet seen a formal apology from the Catholic Church. This must happen, and those responsible must be held accountable,” continued Yussuff.

While Canada’s unions welcome the federal government’s recent passing of Bill C-5, which would establish September 30 as a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation per Call to Action 80 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), we now call on the Senate to pass this legislation without delay. Currently recognized as Orange Shirt Day, this day is one to recognize the history of residential schools, and honour the experiences and healing journey of survivors and their families, toward reconciliation.

“Without a doubt, Canada needs a National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, but this is only one step on the path to justice for Indigenous communities,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the CLC. “As this recent horrific news has shown us, there remains much work to be done when it comes to addressing the enduring and destructive impacts and outcomes of colonialism, violence and systemic racism experienced by Indigenous community members to this day. Reconciliation means pursuing justice for Indigenous communities on all fronts.”

The TRC report documented the tragic history and reverberations of Canada’s residential school system, in which more than 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis children were subjected to widespread systemic abuse, racism and mistreatment.

Canada’s unions are once again urging the federal government to swiftly implement all of the calls to action laid out in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. Indigenous communities need urgent, concrete and meaningful action when it comes to justice, beginning with implementation of the TRC calls to action 71 through 76 on the Missing Children and Burial Information.

“The TRC report and National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) clearly laid out a path to action on reconciliation, and it is well past time for the federal government to act on every single one of their recommendations. There can be no justice or reconciliation until this is done,” Yussuff noted.

The CLC is also calling on the federal government to comply with the ruling of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ordering an end to discrimination against First Nations children in the delivery of child welfare services on reserves. The government failed to reform its First Nations Child and Family Services (FNCFS) program — which funds prevention and protection services — and by not doing so, failed First Nations children and families.

Lastly, Canada’s unions are urging the government to commit to stop fighting Indigenous families in court who are seeking access to services covered by the federal government. Since 2013, the Canadian government has spent $3.2 million battling a group of Ontario residential school survivors in court. “The government should be supporting residential school survivors and their families who have suffered tremendously as result of this system, not fighting them in court,” said Rousseau.

As we embark on Indigenous History Month, Canada’s unions reaffirm their commitment to reconciliation, to fighting for truth and justice for Indigenous communities, and continue to stand in solidarity with Indigenous workers and communities across the country.

Join us in this fight by writing to all levels of government today to urge action for justice for Indigenous communities.

RESOURCES:

Yellowhead Institute
Calls to Action Accountability: A 2020 Status Update on Reconciliation – Yellowhead Institute

Emergency Residential School Crisis Line, available 24/7 for those who may need support after the recent news:
1-866-925-4419

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

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

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

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

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

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

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“Pride is and has always been political, with deep roots in protest and resistance,” said Larry Rousseau, CLC Executive Vice-President. “As we enter the second Pride season marked by lockdowns and stay-at-home orders, it’s more important than ever to celebrate Pride with calls to action. This includes strengthening Canada’s social safety net so that we are all part of a strong pandemic recovery.”

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 2SLGBTQI communities were already experiencing severe inequities. Over a year later, the situation has become even more dire, as 2SLGBTQI populations have been heavily impacted by the pandemic.

The recent federal budget committed to a $15 million investment over three years for a new LGBTQ2 Projects Fund, and $7.1 million, also over three years, for Heritage Canada to continue to operate the LGBTQ2 Secretariat.

While welcome, these funding commitments won’t address chronic underfunding of supports and services for these populations.

“Without proper investments in community organizations and support services, those who are already most vulnerable will be overlooked and left out when it comes to pandemic recovery,” said Rousseau.

In the coming months, the federal government will be developing an 2SLGBTQI Action Plan to guide its work around issues affecting 2SLGBTQI communities and conducting consultations with organizations to shape the Action Plan.

In order to meet the needs of 2SLGBTQI communities, the root causes of systemic inequity must be addressed. Canada’s unions urge the federal government to:

• Guarantee, in partnership with provinces and territories, long-term, core operational funding for 2SLGBTQI community organizations and service providers across the country, so that they are better equipped to provide the supports needed by community members;
• Strengthen the Employment Equity Act by including 2SLGBTQI workers as a designated population under the Act to combat systemic barriers and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. They must ensure that 2SLGBTQI communities are thoroughly consulted during the process of modernizing of the Act; and
• Ensure that the implementation of GBA+ analysis across all levels of government includes meaningful intersectional 2SLGBTQI experiences and perspectives to properly identify the possible impacts of government policies, programs and services on 2SLGBTQI communities across Canada.

This Pride season, Canada’s unions continue to stand in solidarity with and fight alongside 2SLGBTQI workers and communities. We are calling for change toward a more equitable Canada for all. Sign our petition and join the fight.

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“There is no place for homophobic, transphobic or biphobic violence in our communities,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “Two Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people face disproportionately high levels of violence in our workplaces and in our communities. The federal government must act immediately to address this alarming trend.”

The most recent Statistics Canada report on police reported hate crimes highlights a record high rate of hate crimes targeting individuals in the 2SLGBTQI community. Although members of the 2SLGBTQI community are less likely to report violent incidents to the police than other Canadians, the data indicates a 41% increase in hate crimes against 2SLGBTQI reported to the police, between 2018 and 2019. Over half of those reported crimes were violent.

Canada’s unions will join other organizations across the country in providing input to help shape Canada’s LGBTQ2 Action Plan. The CLC also created a new Workers in Transition handbook to help combat transphobia in the workplace.

“We are always recommitting ourselves to eradicating all forms of discrimination and harassment, whether it is on the shop floor, at the union meeting or at a community event,” said Rousseau. “We want to set an example for workers around the world, that inclusion is necessary for true worker solidarity.”

Canada’s unions continue to organize and fight for anti-harassment policies and awareness initiatives at work that ensure safer workplaces and unions for everyone. Even in the midst of a pandemic, unions are continuing to lead the way in advocating for every worker’s right to safety in the workplace. This includes a national survey on harassment and violence at work in Canada launched late last year.

The International Day Against Homophobia was first created in 2003 in Quebec, and was later amended in 2009 and 2015 to include transphobia and biphobia respectively. You can learn more about the history of IDAHOTB here.

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May Day is an annual celebration held every May 1^st during which workers from around the world celebrate the achievements made by trade unions. This year, the pandemic remains a focal point for the concerns of workers and their families.

“Millions of workers around the world have lost their jobs since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “Here in Canada, the federal government recently promised significant investments to help with our recovery. Canada’s political leaders must now work together to pass the budget implementation bill and turn these promises into action.”

The government’s recently announced investments in child care, training and skills development and a $15 federal minimum wage, in addition to a further expansion of emergency benefits would bring much needed relief to workers and their families.

Workers in Canada – and around the world – continue to struggle under the weight of the year-long pandemic. Developed countries have a responsibility to ensure that all workers in developing and under developing nations have access to vaccines to help put an end to this global health crisis.

In the meantime, gaps in the social safety net, both at home and abroad, have become painfully clear. Those gaps include a shameful lack of paid sick leave in most provinces.

“Workers and advocates have been calling for paid sick leave since before the pandemic,” said Yussuff.

“However, COVID-19 has highlighted just how dangerous a lack of paid sick time can be. Being able to stay home when you are sick is fundamental to reducing workplace exposures and illness. Essential workers being forced to choose between going to work sick and putting food on the table puts us all at risk and is prolonging and deepening the impacts of the pandemic. Provincial and territorial governments must act immediately.”

Canada’s unions further remind all levels of government to respect and uphold the collective bargaining rights of workers, even during times of crisis.

“Upholding workers’ rights is integral to the functioning of a free and fair democracy in which there is a counterweight to the unfettered power of employers and monied interests. Collective bargaining ensures a more fair, equitable present and future for all.”

To learn more about what unions are calling for, visit canadianplan.ca.

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“Even in 2021, women still make on average 32 percent less in wages than men,” said Marie Clarke Walker, CLC Secretary-Treasurer. “The gender pay gap is even steeper for some. Over the past year, the disproportionately gendered and racialized economic and health impacts of COVID-19 have made the financial insecurities faced by women in our economy even worse. The federal government has promised to enforce pay equity and there is no time to lose.”

Racialized women make 40 percent less than white men born in Canada. For Indigenous women, the gap is 45 percent and for immigrant women and women with a disability, that difference is 55 percent and 56 percent less respectively.

“This pandemic has shown us just how important work traditionally performed by women is to the health and safety of our communities,” said Clarke Walker. “Cleaners, cashiers and caregivers are among the workers now recognized as essential. Yet, the low pay and unfair working conditions they endure does not respect their value to our communities.”

The work in these undervalued sectors is often invisible and unrecognized, and exposes workers to possible violence and harassment and other health and safety risks, limited job security and access to benefits, including paid sick leave. Many of these women workers are Black, Indigenous, racialized and recent immigrants. This contributes to wider wage gaps for marginalized workers.

Add your voice this Equal Pay Day by writing to your Member of Parliament to demand that the federal government make pay equity the law here.

For more information on Equal Pay Day 2021, and to join the online campaign and events, click here.

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The International Trans Day of Visibility is celebrated around the world on March 31^st as an opportunity to highlight the contributions of trans and non-binary community members.

“It’s challenging to celebrate a day like today when many trans and non-binary community members continue to fear for their safety and well-being. Trans people face disproportionately high levels of violence and harassment, both in the workplace and in the community,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the CLC. “Furthermore, transphobic violence has worsened during the pandemic. The federal government must take action to make workplaces safer by immediately ratifying ILO convention C-190. Everyone has a right to enjoy a workplace free from harassment and violence.”

Convention C-190 was adopted by the ILO in 2019 and is the first-ever global treaty on violence and harassment in the world of work. It sets out clear, gender-responsive policies for governments and employers to implement in order to work towards the elimination of all forms of violence and harassment at work.

The numbers paint a stark picture. According to research by Égale Canada, 30 percent of Canadian LGBTQ2SI workers report experiencing discrimination in the workplace. For trans workers, the economic impacts of this kind of discrimination are particularly dire. Forty-nine percent of trans people are turned down or suspect they are turned down from a potential job opportunity because they are trans.

Racialized trans and non-binary people experience harassment at even higher rates. A recent report from Trans PULSE Canada on the health and wellbeing of racialized trans and non-binary people during the pandemic found that 72 percent had experienced verbal harassment in the past five years and almost half of respondents had been harassed at work or school. The majority also worried about being stopped or harassed by police or security because of who they are.

Download your copy of Workers in Transition today to learn how to be a workplace advocate for trans workers

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The Canadian labour movement stands united with the growing global movement demanding full rights and protections for gig economy workers.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us many lessons. It has shown the depth and breadth of precarious work in our country. And it has shone a light on the essential labour delivered by many workers — work that is typically underpaid and undervalued. Grocery store workers, delivery drivers, bike couriers and many others play a critical role in keeping our economy moving and ensuring that we have essential supplies. This work matters, and these workers matter.

Governments have a responsibility to make work better – to provide workers with security, safety and fair pay. Workers are making it clear they want this too. Globally, app-based workers are standing up, overturning misclassification as independent contractors and coming together to improve their working conditions. The recent Supreme Court decision in the UK and similar decisions in Spain and South Korea show us that around the world, the tide is turning towards rights for app-based workers.

Uber is playing hardball politics while attempting to block the movement for fairness and justice for gig economy workers. If Uber wanted to provide its workers with benefits or enhanced training, it could do so right now.

Further, workers drawn to Uber and other app-based employment by the promise of flexibility find they are left at the mercy of swings in consumer demands and algorithms that determine when they should work and how much they will earn. They have little to no protection or recourse from arbitrary deactivation or changes in the terms and conditions of their work. Many workers report their pay has steadily declined, and during the pandemic, they experience working conditions that endanger their safety.

App-based workers should have the same full protections and employment rights as other workers. They must also have the fundamental right to organize and bargain collectively. There is too much at stake for us to get this wrong. Worker rights are about more than just individuals; they are the foundation of many of our most important social programs. The Canada Pension Plan, the Quebec Pension Plan and Employment Insurance rely on the participation of workers and employers. It’s a commitment to our economic security while at work and in retirement. The rights of gig workers are entwined with all of us.

We call on the provincial, territorial and federal governments to protect gig and app based workers by:

• Applying employment standards universally and eliminating exceptions and special categories that restrict worker rights;
• Proactively addressing the misclassification of workers as independent contractors and reversing the legal onus so employers must prove a worker is not an employee and is truly an independent contractor; and
• Ensuring all workers have the right to organize into a union should they choose and making that right meaningful by addressing barriers to organizing.

Endorsing bodies:

Canadian Labour Congress
Alberta Federation of Labour
British Columbia Federation of Labour
Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec
Manitoba Federation of Labour
New Brunswick Federation of Labour
Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour
Northern Territories Federation of Labour
Nova Scotia Federation of Labour
Ontario Federation of Labour
Prince Edward Island Federation of Labour
Saskatchewan Federation of Labour
Yukon Federation of Labour

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“Strengthening the Employment Equity Act is an important step towards addressing disparities in employment, and the systemic barriers faced by racialized workers,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the CLC. “But in order to be effective, this process must include meaningful consultation and engagement with members of equity-seeking groups covered under the Act. This must also include bargaining agents who represent them in the workplace.”

Historically, racialized workers have had fewer employment opportunities than their non-racialized counterparts and were often limited to service sectors, regardless of their educational achievements or qualifications. Today, racialized workers still face barriers in all aspects of work, from hiring, to advancement, to retention and workplace supports.

In modernizing the Employment Equity Act, the federal government must:

• Address the distinctive experiences of discrimination and racism faced by equity-seeking populations, rather than grouping them all together as “visible minorities” as it currently does;
• Expand coverage to LGBTQ2SI populations. Despite facing systemic barriers and discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, these workers are not currently included as a designated group under the Act;
• Recognize the reality of the multiple identities workers may hold. These identities can intersect and impact their access to employment as well as the barriers they may face in the workplace. Nuanced and accurate analyses of employment inequities experienced by members of designated groups would allow for the development of more effective and targeted solutions to systemic racism and discrimination in employment.

Canada’s unions continue to call for the government to invest in building a stronger, more inclusive and sustainable economy for our families and the next generation.

A commitment to advancing employment equity is a part of the process, but it is only one piece. Visit canadianplan.ca to learn more.

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The Government of Canada should now move to officially recognize the genocide and implement the recommendations of the Subcommittee of International Human Rights of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (SDIR).

Witnesses say the persecution of Muslim groups in Xinjiang has included mass detention and inhumane treatment, forced labour, pervasive state surveillance, population control and the eradication of Uyghur culture and religion.

It is reported that over three million Uyghurs have been interned in concentration camps. Nearly a million Uyghurs have been forced into industrial slavery in manufacturing facilities across mainland China.

Due to the repressive climate, human rights monitoring by international organizations is not possible and due diligence in supply chains cannot be conducted. These forced labour practices are tainting global supply chains.

Canada’s unions support the human rights committee’s recommendations, which call on the Government of Canada to:

• Investigate potentially problematic sources of consumer goods and to take a strong stand against the use of forced labour, particularly when it involves Canadian companies;
• Enhance import control mechanisms, to prevent products made with forced labour from entering the Canadian market;
• Impose sanctions on entities and individuals that benefit from the use of forced labour;
• Empower the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise with independence and the power to investigate human rights abuse allegations and enact a comprehensive human rights due diligence law that compels businesses to respect the most current international human rights standards across their global operations and supply chains and be held accountable for harms caused or on behalf of their operations; and
• Conduct a review of its procurement practices to ensure it is not purchasing products manufactured through forced labour.

Canada’s unions are also calling on the federal government to condemn other human rights violations including mass detention, inhumane population control measures, and to ensure the protection of activists and Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims living in Canada who have experienced harassment and intimidation by the Government of China.

Here at home, Canada’s unions reject the rise in Sinophobia fuelled during the COVID-19 pandemic and underscore that this statement addresses the actions and practices of the Government of China, as represented by the Chinese Communist Party, and not the Chinese people.

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Although Canada adopted Convention 190 in 2019, the federal government has yet to ratify the convention, which would turn the global treaty into law.

Pink Shirt Day is recognized across Canada and around the world as a day to recommit ourselves to challenging bullying and harassment in our schools, communities, and in our workplaces. This year, the focus of Pink Shirt Day is about working together and treating everyone with dignity and respect as we all navigate the unprecedented realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is no place for bullying and harassment in our unions, workplaces, or in our communities. This includes homophobic and transphobic bullying,” said Larry Rousseau, CLC Executive Vice-President. “COVID-19 has forced many workplaces to become virtual, exacerbating existing concerns around online violence and harassment.”

A recent study by Statistics Canada on the Experiences of Discrimination during the COVID-19 Pandemic found that three in ten respondents reported harassment in the workplace, while almost a third of all respondents reported experiences of online harassment.

In addition, the same study found that 68% of gender diverse respondents reported experiences of harassment online, while half of all Black and South Asian respondents experienced discrimination in public spaces, such as retail, restaurants and banks.

Workers experiencing harassment – including transphobic and homophobic bullying – whether virtual or in person, may feel increased pressure not to report due to the economic insecurities felt throughout this pandemic.

“It’s past time for our government to take a stance against violence and harassment at work,” said Rousseau. “Canada must join other countries around the world by ratifying this convention and solidifying our government’s commitment to the right to a workplace free of violence and harassment for all.”

Canada’s unions have long organized and fought for anti-harassment policies and awareness initiatives at work that ensure safer workplaces for everyone. Even in the midst of a pandemic, unions are leading the way in advocating for every worker’s right to safety in the workplace. This includes the recent launch of a national survey on harassment and work in Canada and the creation of a new Workers in Transition handbook.

Pink Shirt Day started as an initiative in a small town Nova Scotia school in 2007, to address homophobia and transphobia. Since then, it has grown into a global celebration of all identities and includes participants from all over the globe. Learn more about the origins of Pink Shirt Day here.

To show your virtual support, upload a photo of yourself, your workplace or your community with the hashtags #PinkShirtDay and #LiftEachOtherUp. Be sure to include a message on anti-bullying to your social media platforms.

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Following higher than expected job losses at the end of 2020, workers faced another large drop in employment, with 213,000 jobs lost last month.

“We’ve lost the small gains we had made in the fall. Canada lost three times more jobs in January than we did the previous month,” said Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff.

“Many workers are due to exhaust both unemployment and recovery benefits next month. The federal government must extend these benefits so that workers who are unemployed, through no fault of their own, will be supported until our economy begins a more stable recovery.”

Ongoing lockdown measures aimed at slowing the spread of the virus are inevitably having a devastating effect on job growth. Workers of colour and women have been hit especially hard by the economic upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Workers are struggling to make ends meet. The federal government must implement strong measures that will help ensure a healthy economic recovery when the pandemic is over. These job numbers highlight the important need for greater access to training opportunities for jobless workers looking to retrain or improve their skill set while receiving EI and recovery benefits,” said Yussuff.

To read more about the direct investments the CLC is calling for, visit canadaplan.ca.

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

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The Proud Boys, the Base, Atomwaffen, and the Russian Imperial Movement have been listed as terrorist entities. This means that these groups can no longer raise money or organize.

“These groups are a direct threat to the safety and wellbeing of workers of all backgrounds and specifically to those who are Indigenous, Black, Jewish, Muslim, or who represent other minority communities,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “We have seen a drastic resurgence in far-right extremist behaviour over the past several years. Letting these groups operate unchecked is dangerous and poses a real threat to our democracy and to the wellbeing of our communities. Today’s announcement is a welcome step in addressing this scourge.”

Unions in Canada have a long history of organizing against racism through advocacy and education. But far-right groups have thrived online, and the use of social media in particular has made it difficult to stem their use of misinformation to recruit new members and to mobilize.

Last year and for the first time ever, the federal government added two white-supremacist groups to the list of terrorist organizations.

“The reality is that white supremacist groups have not faced the same scrutiny as other racialized groups and that has allowed them to mobilize with relative freedom and impunity,” added Yussuff. “Furthermore, under anti-terror legislation, stereotypes and guilt by association have led to the over-surveillance of Muslim and Arab communities. Public safety measures must not stigmatize specific communities.”

According to counter-terrorism experts in Canada, there were 100 alt-right or white supremacist groups operating in Canada in 2015. There is widespread concern that those numbers are growing.

“Attacks by white supremacists tend to be targeted, and do not happen in isolation. The climate of hatred they foster puts workers’ health and safety at risk,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President at the CLC. “Incidents of intimidation at work and online harassment are on the rise, and must stop. Everyone deserves to live free from violence and harassment.”

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

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“This is a time of reckoning,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “The double crisis of a global pandemic and outcries over racial injustice and police violence have taken a significant toll on Black communities in particular. We must move forward together and ensure no one is left behind.”

Black communities have been among the hardest hit by the pandemic. COVID-19 mortality rates are higher in neighbourhoods with a larger proportion of population groups designated as visible minorities, including Black people.

Black workers are at work on the frontlines of this pandemic. Many of these workers are women who are largely underpaid, working in dangerous and precarious working conditions without access to paid sick leave. This makes them even more vulnerable to the health, social and economic fallout of the pandemic.

“The pandemic has only worsened long-standing, stark social and economic inequities,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President at the CLC. “Racial equity and the needs of Black communities must be a priority in the government’s COVID-19 response and recovery efforts. The government must seize the opportunity to centre the voices and concerns of Black workers and communities.”

Canada’s unions are also calling on the government to make stronger data collection and accountability a priority. The availability and collection of race-based data in Canada is sorely lacking. Without such data, the full scope and manifestations of systemic anti-Black racism and racial inequity will remain unaddressed.

Furthermore, there is an urgent need for critical investments in public social infrastructure including child care, Employment Insurance and affordable housing, as well as community-based health and social services.

The CLC will be hosting a webinar on equitable recovery for Black workers and communities in Canada during Black History Month. Information will be available on the CLC’s Facebook page.

In the meantime, be a part of our work by signing our petition today for a just, equitable and disaster-proof pandemic response and recovery plan.

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The country’s labour movement supported community calls to commemorate this painful anniversary since the attack on the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre devastated the community in 2017. Six men were killed in the massacre, and many more were permanently injured.

“This announcement sends a powerful message to Muslims in Canada, and to the broader public: Islamophobia has no place in our country,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “An annual commemoration ensures we never forget those we lost that day and that we remain vigilant to the dangers that Islamophobia poses to workers and to their families.”

Inclusive communities require proactive efforts and Canada’s unions are committed to ensuring that every worker in Canada has an opportunity to fully participate in society, regardless of race, gender, class, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that makes them who they are.

“With this designation, we will need further concrete action,” added Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the CLC. “The federal government must continue to step up in providing resources and support to advance education and awareness efforts around Islamophobia and all forms of racism and discrimination. None of us are safe until all of us are safe.”

The CLC published a detailed report on confronting Islamophobia in the workplace in 2019, which provides recommendations to employers, governments, and trade unions.

“With this important designation, we ensure a national conversation in which people across Canada will learn about the presence of anti-Muslim sentiment and its impacts on people’s day to day lives. The annual remembrance of the École Polytechnique massacre on December 6 provides Canadians with an opportunity to remember the victims and to take stock of the progress, or lack thereof, towards eliminating gender-based violence. Similarly, this new day of remembrance will allow similar introspection and dialogue around white supremacy, hate, and Islamophobia,” said Yussuff.

The labour movement is committed to advancing anti-racism efforts and works with all levels of government in promoting safe and welcoming communities for all.

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“Canada’s unions stand in solidarity with Muslim communities across the country in marking the fourth anniversary of this tragic event,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “We are calling for this national day of remembrance to honour the lives of the victims of this tragedy and to demonstrate a commitment towards confronting Islamophobia.”

Far-right extremism and populism continue to rise rapidly in Canada, and Islamophobia is a central and fueling feature of their rhetoric. As the CLC’s 2019 report on confronting Islamophobia in the workplace showed, numerous right-wing actors have effectively utilized fear and demonization of Muslims and Islam as a means of channeling various economic and social grievances.

It is vile hatred such as this, and the ongoing and sustained vilification of Muslims that led to the horrific attacks such as the one that took place at Quebec City’s Islamic Cultural Centre, as well as the fatal stabbing of a volunteer caretaker at a Toronto mosque in September of 2020.

“It is our collective responsibility to counter Islamophobia and hatred,” said Yussuff. “It is more important than ever to work together and show that there is no place for Islamophobia in our workplaces, nor in the communities in which we live.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated how critical it is for workers to come together for the greater good and ensure the safety and well-being of all Canadians, regardless of religion, ability, race, ethnicity, gender or sexuality. This need for unity extends to our shared obligation to counter hatred, xenophobia and Islamophobia in our communities.

The CLC will be hosting a special webinar “Countering Islamophobia: how to be an ally” on Friday, January 29, 2021 at 1:00 pm EST. Join the webinar.

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“Deregulating local produce markets will have a devastating impact on farmers, farm workers and food security in India,” said Canadian Labour Congress President, Hassan Yussuff. “We stand with the international labour movement to support workers who are taking to the streets to protest these reforms and fight for their rights.”

India’s central and local governments passed three farm acts in September. Taken together, these acts threaten to impoverish millions of small farmers and leave millions more farm workers unemployed. Farmers’ unions have been protesting since August, escalating to a national general strike on November 26, 2020.

The government of India has also proposed reforms that undermine unions and violate international labour standards that India has ratified as a member of the International Labour Organization.

“The government’s legislation leaves farmers and workers at the mercy of large multinational corporations and global commodity price swings,” said Yussuff. “We deplore the fact that some states in India are also using the coronavirus crisis as an excuse to suspend labour laws and attack workers’ rights. The international community has to stand up.”

The protesting farmers are making several demands, including asking that the new farm laws be repealed; that all repressive measures taken against protesters cease; and that movement leaders who have been arrested be released. Other workers’ unions in the country have joined the protests in support of the farmers.

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The federal government recently announced that it will be accepting applications for permanent residence from refugee claimants working in the healthcare sector. This important announcement recognizes the crucial contributions refugee workers have made to the safety and wellbeing of communities across the country, throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, Canada’s unions are concerned that the eligibility criteria are too narrow.

“While we applaud the government’s recent announcement, the option to apply for permanent residency should be available to migrant workers in all sectors,” said Hassan Yussuff, CLC President. “The pandemic has shown that migrant workers provide essential services. All migrant workers deserve the opportunity to stay in Canada and to have their human and labour rights protected, just as any other worker.”

This week, the federal government also announced that it will allow seasonal migrant workers from Trinidad and Tobago – stuck in Canada due to COVID-19 travel restrictions – to apply for open work permits. This grants them job mobility, and gives them access to healthcare and employment insurance while Canadian officials negotiate their return home.

Although this is a step in the right direction, it highlights the vulnerability of migrant workers.

Migrant workers face insecurity, discrimination and often work in dangerous conditions. Their precarious position leaves them dependant on employers and makes them especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. The pandemic has only made this worse.

During the initial quarantine period earlier this year, migrant workers reported wage issues, food insecurity and a lack of required public health measures in their accommodations. By the month of November, nearly 2,000 migrant workers on farms across Canada had fallen ill with COVID-19, and three had died.

“The federal government must also ensure that migrant workers have comprehensive worker protections to prevent exploitation, abuse, mistreatment and discriminatory workplace policies,” said Yussuff. “These workers have been doing critical work throughout the pandemic to keep our families and communities safe and cared for, while they faced instability, insecurity and unfair working and living conditions. It’s past time for their efforts to be recognized and valued.”

Canada’s unions believe that all workers in Canada should be treated fairly. Migrant workers deserve a fair future just as all workers do. Our country’s recovery depends on the expansion of equal rights and protections for all workers so we can ensure a better, more inclusive, and just economic recovery.

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The new bill, Bill C-15, comes four years after former NDP MP Romeo Saganash introduced Bill C-262, a similar private members bill that died in the Senate.

“By introducing Bill C-15, the federal government is taking a long overdue and much needed step on the path toward reconciliation,” said CLC President Hassan Yussuff. “The Bill would require the government to take concrete action to ensure that Canadian laws are consistent with the Declaration.”

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People establishes a framework of global minimum human rights standards for the survival, dignity and well-being of Indigenous peoples. Just as Bill C-262 did before it, the new Bill affirms UNDRIP as a universal international human rights framework with application in Canadian law.

The Bill would require the federal government, in consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples, to:

• Ensure the laws of Canada are consistent with the Declaration;
• Prepare and implement an action plan to achieve the objectives of UNDRIP, to be completed as soon as practicable, but no later than three years after the day on which this section comes into force; and
• Prepare and table an annual report on progress on the action plan, and to align the laws of Canada with UNDRIP.

Both the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls called for the government to fully adopt and implement UNDRIP as the framework for reconciliation and justice for Indigenous peoples, including Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit persons who continue to face the deep brunt of the legacy of colonial violence.

Canada’s unions are calling on the federal government to pass and enact Bill C-15 in a timely fashion and are joining Indigenous leaders and community members in stressing that Indigenous peoples have been waiting far too long for substantive and resolute measures from the federal government when it comes to justice and reconciliation.

“The government must seize this opportunity to make significant and meaningful change in the lives of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples and move forward on the path to true reconciliation,” said CLC Executive Vice-President Larry Rousseau.

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“Recover Better – Stand Up for Human Rights” is the United Nations theme for this year’s International Human Rights Day, which is observed December 10.

“It is critical that Canada’s COVID-19 recovery efforts tackle the human rights failures that have been exposed by the pandemic. Significant government investments in the care sector will help level the playing field for those most affected by this virus,” said CLC Executive Vice-President Larry Rousseau.

“We welcome the federal government’s recent commitments to invest in public care systems. Canada must focus on creating better jobs, improving working conditions, and addressing the deep disparities within our economy,” he added.

The pandemic has demonstrated how our communities rely on precarious, low-wage work and unpaid labour in critical care sectors. This includes child care, early childhood education, elderly care, mental health, and other social care services that serve the health and safety of our communities.

Many of the workers in these sectors are Black, Indigenous, women of colour and recent immigrants. While this work is deemed “essential”, it is undervalued and workers face poor working conditions, violence, harassment and numerous other risks to their health and safety. They also face a higher risk of exposure to COVID-19 and a lack of job security and access to benefits.

“This global crisis has laid bare what we’ve been saying for years: systemic discrimination and marginalization have put certain groups at a disadvantage. Entire communities are having a much harder time recovering due to unequal access to opportunities and services such as employment, health care and housing,” said Rousseau. “Long-term investment in care is crucial to disaster-proofing our economy, safeguarding our social safety net against future crises, and ensuring our collective well-being.”

Sign our petition urging the government to increase investments in our public care systems so we can move forward together and build a more sustainable and inclusive economy.

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This award is named in honour of Carol McGregor, an outstanding disability rights activist, member of BCGEU/NUPGE and the CLC Disability Rights Working Group―and who was much loved by all those who worked with her. Carol passed away in 2006.

In 2020, the award recognized the lifetime achievements of Darryl Flasch, a member of the British Columbia Government and Services Employees Union (BCGEU/NUPGE). As an active trade unionist since 1990, Darryl has dedicated 30 years of his life to removing barriers and ensuring the inclusion of workers with disabilities in his workplace and in the labour movement. He also worked tirelessly to advocate for more tools and resources within his union, including accessibility audits, in order to build a labour movement and communities that are inclusive of all abilities.

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Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s unions have collaborated with disability rights coalitions like the Include Me Campaign, to highlight the unique challenges and barriers faced by persons with disabilities during this health crisis.

“We know that the current health crisis has intensified the discrimination and stigma towards workers with disabilities. Hard-won workplace accommodations are at risk when the office becomes virtual, and workers with disabilities are at a greater risk of being laid off or having their jobs furloughed,” said Larry Rousseau, CLC Executive Vice-President.

“It’s critical that we shine a light on the challenges faced by persons with disabilities during this pandemic, especially those whose experiences are amplified by multiple marginalized identities including women, Indigenous and racialized people, and those in the LGBTQ2SI community.”

Even before the pandemic, unemployment rates ranged between 35 per cent for people with ‘mild’ disabilities to 74 per cent for people with ‘severe’ disabilities. High levels of poverty and unemployment have only worsened for persons with disabilities in the midst of this crisis.

Meanwhile, the reliance on affordable housing, income and health care supports is greater than ever – programs for which funding and availability already vary greatly across the country.

The federal government’s throne speech earlier this fall highlighted many new and important initiatives to help address the disproportionate impacts of this crisis on persons with disabilities. This included a new Disability Inclusion Plan, which would feature:

• A new Canadian Disability Benefit modelled after the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors;
• A robust employment strategy for Canadians with disabilities; and
• A better process to determine eligibility for government disability programs and benefits.

“While we welcome the new disability inclusion strategy, we are also calling for the voices of workers with disabilities and their unions to be at the forefront,” added Rousseau.

“These discussions will guide the design and implementation of this strategy and must ensure that it adequately addresses the barriers to employment and economic security that workers with disabilities face.”

The federal government can help alleviate anxiety by investing in jobs and collaborating with unions on initiatives like a robust employment strategy for persons with disabilities, making long-term care part of public health care, supporting a child care strategy, and implementing national pharmacare.

Learn more about the CLC’s Forward Together campaign at canadianplan.ca.

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Conversion therapy aims to change an individual’s sexual orientation or to change an individual’s gender identity. This harmful practice negatively impacts LGBTQ2SI people and reinforces myths and stereotypes.

“Conversion therapy is a cruel and dangerous practice that stigmatizes LGBTQ2SI communities. It must stop,” said CLC Executive Vice-President Larry Rousseau. “Canada’s unions support strong legislation to help protect LGBTQ2SI people from the life-long trauma and harm conversion therapy can inflict.”

The federal government introduced legislation earlier this fall to ban the practice. Bill C‑6 is now before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. The Yukon recently banned conversion therapy, making it the only territory to have such a ban. Ontario, Nova Scotia and P.E.I have also previously banned conversion therapy provincially.

This annual Day of Remembrance is an important opportunity to highlight the disproportionately high levels of violence that trans communities face. Transphobia and transphobic violence were at a crisis point even before the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is no doubt that the situation has worsened. So far in 2020, 350 trans and gender diverse people have been reported murdered worldwide.

The most recent report on health and well-being among racialized trans and non binary people in Canada found that, among respondents, 72% had experienced verbal harassment in the past 5 years, 45% had been harassed at work or school, and 73% worried about being stopped or harassed by police or security because of who they are.

“Canada’s unions have a critical role to play when it comes to fighting back against these terrifying statistics,” said Rousseau. “Our workplaces and our unions are not immune from transphobia, but we can be part of the solution to combat and end transphobic violence.”

The CLC created the Workers In Transition handbook, a guide to supporting trans rights in the workplace.

There have been several important victories in recent years in support of trans rights in Canada. In 2017, gender identity was included in the Canadian Human Rights Act as a protected identity. Accessible public educational and mental health supports in communities across the country have also become more widely available.

However, there is still lots of work to do to support trans rights and the wellbeing of trans people in Canada. For example, the trans rights from region to region are inconsistent, and access to life saving health care – like hormone replacement therapy and gender affirming surgeries – is not available to all.

“We must continue to fight for trans lives at work, in our provincial and territorial legislatures, and on parliament hill. We cannot live in a world where our comrades and friends are being harassed or killed because of their gender identity,” said Rousseau.

Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, many Trans Day of Remembrance vigils are being held virtually. Check out this list to show your solidarity and join a virtual event.

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Before the pandemic, ever-increasing globalization meant many workers were employed in precarious, low-wage work with few, if any, benefits. Now millions of people across Canada and around the world have seen their jobs disappear. We need a worldwide recovery focused on secure employment and social protection.

This context serves as the backdrop for the annual commemoration of the World Day for Decent Work today, October 7.

“It’s clear that we need a recovery that is focused on shared prosperity and sustainability,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Better jobs are at the core of a robust recovery and that is true both nationally and internationally.”

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is calling for a new social contract to ensure a strong global economic recovery. Canada’s unions have similarly launched Forward Together: A Canadian Plan, a campaign calling for a similar focus on better jobs and reducing inequality.

“With millions of jobs lost across Canada, and hundreds of millions globally, we have to turn our focus to job creation. That includes focusing on secure employment, living wages, the universal right to collective bargaining and occupational health and safety,” said Yussuff. “The current economic model has failed working people. It’s time for us to rise to the challenge we’ve been presented with and to move forward, together.”

The CLC is marking the World Day for Decent Work with a webinar that aims to explore the issues at stake. It will be held on Wednesday, October 7 at 2 PM EDT. To register, click here.

Read ITUC’s statement on A New Social Contract for Recovery and Resilience here.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To learn more, visit these links:

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

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“We as a movement are raising our voices to express alarm and outrage over recent incidents of police brutality, including the deaths of Chantal Moore and Rodney Levi,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “We can no longer ignore the systemic racism in this country.”

In light of these tragedies, Canada’s unions reiterate their support for all calls to action calling for reforms of policing and the criminal justice system found within the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report, as well as the final report of the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

These incidents also come in the midst of a global health crisis that has, again, exposed inequities faced by Indigenous peoples and communities.

“The CLC supports the calls from the Assembly of First Nations for a dedicated plan in response to the unique realities that have made Indigenous communities vulnerable to the impacts of COVID-19,” said Rousseau. “This day is one occasion to celebrate the history and cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples across this northern part of Turtle Island, also known as Canada, but they cannot be ignored for the other 364 days.”

The Assembly of First Nations has pointed to the remoteness of many First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities, inadequate housing that is often over-crowded, a lack of safe drinking water and more.

“Continued inaction is not an option. We must cement our solidarity as trade unionists in the struggle for justice that Indigenous communities face every day across Canada,” concluded Rousseau.

You can mark National Indigenous People’s Day 2020 with us by reading and reviewing the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as the final report of the Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. In both reports, you will find specific calls to action and calls to justice for organizations, individuals and governments. Do what you can in your communities to support these calls to action and pressure all levels of government to take immediate action to implement them.

Check out the links below to find out about virtual events and calls to action being organized by Indigenous organizations across Canada to mark National Indigenous People’s Day 2020:

Assembly of First Nations
Congress of Aboriginal Peoples
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami
Metis National Council
Native Women’s Association of Canada
Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada

For further reading on Indigenous history and racism in Canada:

• Children of the Broken Treaty : Canada’s Lost Promise of One Girl’s Dream by Charlie Angus
• #IdleNoMore by Ken Coates
• Clearing the Plains by James W. Daschuk
• Peace Pipe Dreams by Darrell Dennis
• Surviving Canada: Indigenous Peoples Celebrate 150 Years of Betrayal, Edited by Myra Tait and Kiera Ladner
• Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality by Bob Joseph
• Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death and Hard Truths in a Northern City by Tanya Talaga

Find more resources here.

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“It is important that we recognize the significant economic contribution of domestic work  – work performed in or for a household or households – as valuable work, and acknowledge the effect that the current pandemic has had on these vulnerable workers,” said Hassan Yussuff, President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Many have lost work because employers are following public health guidelines on physical distancing or because their employers have lost income and can no longer afford these services.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has meant loss or reduction of income for many domestic workers, leaving them unable to support themselves and their families.

According to UN Women, 83 per cent of domestic workers worldwide are women, and a majority of those are racialized women. Wages are low and working conditions can be challenging – even abusive. The pandemic’s impacts are not gender neutral. There are increased demands on workloads with children at home from school, child care centres closed and more demands on household responsibilities in general.

Internationally, many domestic workers are migrants or part of the informal economy. In Canada, the pandemic has exacerbated the precarity of their situation, making them ineligible for government income supports. Moreover, migrant care workers should be granted fair and accessible pathways to citizenship in Canada.

“The pandemic has laid bare just how essential the labour of domestic workers is – cleaning, cooking, caring for children, the elderly and people with disabilities. All of this work is necessary to sustain our economy,” said Yussuff. “It is time we cared for those who care for us.”

Read more about Domestic Workers and COVID-19: https://idwfed.org/en/covid-19

Resources for Domestic Workers on COVID-19: https://idwfed.org/en/covid-19/the-idwf/educational-awareness/stay-safe-what-do-you-need-to-know-about-covid-19

Recommendations for employers, governments, and others: https://idwfed.org/en/covid-19/advocacy-to-the-target-groups

Read more on the campaign to Ratify C189: https://idwfed.org/en/campaigns/ratify-c189

Caregivers Action Centre: http://www.caregiversactioncentre.org/

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The fight against anti-Black racism and police brutality is based in the long, despicable history of slavery, oppression and colonization of Indigenous communities and Black people in North America. The impact of which continues to be felt today.

There is no reason that Black people in Canada should die at the hands of our police services. Yet the deaths of Black Canadians, Abdirahman Abdi, Bony Jean-Pierre, D’Andre Campbell and most recently under investigation, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, demonstrate that anti-Black racism continues to be a leading cause for the loss of Black lives.

“Anti-Black racism is a destructive force in our society afflicting families and communities,” said Hassan Yussuff, Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) president. “Canada’s unions are committed to fighting all forms of discrimination and are urgently calling for accountability and systemic change.”

It’s important to highlight the severe lack of mental health supports, the lack of access to prescription medication and poor working conditions facing many workers who are often Black and racialized. Research clearly shows that Black communities have diminished health outcomes compared to the broader population as a result of historic neglect on the part of our system. This is playing out in this current pandemic, with early indications of a disproportionate impact on Black, Indigenous and other racialized communities.

“It’s time to hold some very uncomfortable conversations and reflect on the policy decisions and choices that have led us here,” continued Yussuff. “The whole country is looking to our government for leadership and immediate action that will lead to real and meaningful changes in the way Black communities are treated.”

The CLC is committed to raising awareness on the role of Canada’s labour movement to combat anti-Black racism, including providing educational opportunities to union members, as well as to the broader public, and publicly advocating for accountability and systemic change at the policy level.

For further reading related to anti-Black racism in Canada:

Policing Black Lives by Robyn Maynard

White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole

BlackLife: Post-BLM and the Struggle for Freedom by Rinaldo Walcott and Idil Abdillahi

There’s Something In The Water by Ingrid R. G. Waldron

Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada edited by Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson, and Syrus Marcus Ware

Find more resources here.

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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 latest escalation in this long-fought struggle is the recent introduction of national security legislation by the Chinese government which will allow Chinese state security forces to operate in Hong Kong.

“Our Brothers and Sisters are in the fight of their lives to save the core freedoms and principles of democracy in Hong Kong,” said CLC president Hassan Yussuff. “Canadian workers condemn the new security legislation and all attempts to strip people of their freedoms.”

Hong Kong holds separate governance status from China as a Special Administrative Region. This legislation is in direct violation of the Basic Law that mandates local legislation on national security matters, with Hong Kong in formal control of the police and judiciary. The new security law will broaden Beijing’s power over Hong Kong.

This is the latest in a series of actions aimed at broadening Beijing’s power over Hong Kong including last year’s extradition law. These moves have sparked fierce dissent from pro-democracy activists, which has been met with excessive use of force by authorities.

The annual Hong Kong vigil, held every June 4, marking the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, has been banned for the first time in 30 years. Concerns about the deterioration of rights are growing with dissent and protest in Hong Kong now routinely being labelled as terrorism and accounts of Chinese authorities imposing limitations on movement and assembly under the guise of preventing the spread of COVID-19.

When the Hong Kong administration passes the new law, the free exercise of fundamental rights, including the trade union right to freely associate and liaise with international organisations, will be suppressed in the name of national security. A frightening prospect ahead of elections planned in September.

The international community must keep watch and call attention to what is happening in Hong Kong.

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Israel’s new coalition government has announced it will move forward with the process of annexing West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley as early as July.

The unilateral annexation of territory has been strictly prohibited under international law since 1945 when the Charter of the United Nations was adopted. Israel’s control of the Palestinian territories has been denounced as illegal under international law and in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and the Geneva Convention.

Under Israeli occupation, Palestinians have been forced to live under heavy restrictions that limit their access to work, health, housing and social affairs. As Israel has expanded its settlements and built a separation wall around Palestinian lands – illegal acts under international law – Palestinians have been subject to evictions and displacement, confiscation of land, settler violence and loss of access to natural resources.

This annexation will have devastating social and economic implications. It is expected that this would disconnect around 200,000 Palestinians from their communities and livelihoods. It will also advance the annexation of Jerusalem and destroy the establishment of a Palestinian capital in the city, breaking the territorial contiguity between East Jerusalem and the West Bank. This contiguity is essential for the fabric of life for Palestinians.

The government of Canada must send a strong message in opposition to the illegal and unilateral annexation of Palestinian lands and officially recognize the State of Palestine, based on the pre-1967 borders. Canada must consider a forceful response, including revisiting the Canada-Israel Free Trade Agreement and other bilateral agreements and the imposition of economic sanctions against Israel.

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As celebrations across the country are cancelled, rescheduled or shifted to digital platforms in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s unions stand with our 2SLGBTQI members, friends and family to celebrate and fight for those facing homophobic, transphobic and biphobic violence and harassment.

“For decades, Canada’s unions have joined Pride festivities across Canada in solidarity with 2SLGBTQI communities across the country,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). “This Pride season will be no different – unions will be there to show our support, no matter how we celebrate. It reminds us that we are a community, even when physical distancing requirements keep us apart.”

With the theme Exist-Persist-Resist, Global Pride 2020 is a political celebration of visibility and civil rights for Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex communities. Even as lockdowns remain in place across the country and around the world, Pride festivities can offer much needed spaces for community gatherings, healing, and political engagement.

“The Pride movement arose out of the Stonewall riots, as well as protests against police raids of gay establishments, most notably the Bathhouse Raids in Toronto,” said Rousseau. “This year’s Pride takes place in the context of significant pushback against anti-Black racism and police violence in the US and Canada. Pride has always been political, and this year especially we remember the role that Black and Latinx trans women played in Stonewall. Pride events and calls for change must highlight the interconnectedness of movements struggling against oppression.

“We know that Pride season is an important time to connect, to celebrate and to organize for so many,” said Rousseau. “Yes, this Pride will be different, but it will still be ours. It can still bring us together. And it can still be political. Together we can emerge stronger, more united, and more Proud than ever.”

The CLC encourages labour councils and local unions to get involved in regional Pride events, to show solidarity with the 2SLGBTQI community and the Pride movement in this pandemic.

Show your pride and solidarity by downloading the CLC’s new pride zoom backgrounds.

Stay up to date with COVID-19 Pride festival updates across Canada with Fierté Canada Pride’s tracking tool.

Learn more about Global Pride 2020 here.

Learn more about the demands of nearly 100 2SLGBTQI organizations in Canada in the context of the COVID-19 crisis here.

Read about the specific impacts of COVID-19 on 2SLGBTQI communities in Canada here.

Commit to being a better trans ally in the workplace this Pride season with the CLC’s newest handbook Workers in Transition: A Practical Guide for Union Representatives and Trans Union Members.

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Persons with disabilities – especially those living at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities – face high unemployment rates and high levels of poverty and need additional support during the COVID-19 crisis and after.

“The current health crisis has intensified the discrimination and stigma workers with disabilities were already facing,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Hard-won workplace accommodations are at risk when the office becomes virtual, and workers with disabilities are at a greater risk of being laid off or having their jobs furloughed.”

The Canadian Labour Congress is marking National AccessAbility Week to shine a light on the challenges faced by persons with disabilities, and those whose experiences are amplified by multiple marginalized identities, including being a woman, Indigenous, racialized and 2SLGBTQI, et al.

Canada’s unions have joined with disability rights organizations in the Include Me coalition, calling for a number of priorities to protect the health and safety and provide care and support to persons with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The federal government has yet to announce specific targeted income supports for persons with disabilities to navigate their unique financial impact of this crisis.

Unemployment rates are between 35 per cent for people with ‘mild’ disabilities and 74 per cent for people with ‘severe’ disabilities. High levels of poverty and unemployment means more reliance on affordable housing, income and health care supports – programs whose funding and availability vary greatly across the country.

“We are working together to ensure that Canada’s response to this crisis leaves no one behind,” said Rousseau. “We need to see targeted income supports for persons with disabilities to address the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis, and, in the longer-term, recovery planning must make accessibility and inclusion a core priority.”

For more information on on-going advocacy efforts from disability related organizations in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, check out the Include Me coalition’s COVID-19 resource centre.

National AccessAbility Week was first introduced in 2019 after the implementation of the Accessible Canada Act, learn more about the history of the week here.

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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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2SLGBTQI peoples are more vulnerable to discrimination, violence, harassment and stigma on the basis of sexuality and gender identity right now. The lockdown makes it more difficult to find support and to escape a less than accepting situation at home.

“COVID-19 has amplified the inequities in our society, including the discrimination faced by 2SLGBTQI peoples,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “We may all be practicing social distancing, but that doesn’t mean marginalized communities are less impacted by the reality of homophobic, transphobic and biphobic intolerance and violence.”

As the first waves of lockdown hit communities across Canada, over 100 2SLGBTQI organizations sounded the alarm in a letter addressed to Canada’s federal government.

According to data collected by Egale, 53 per cent of Canada’s 2SLGBTQI households have been impacted by job losses since mid-March, compared to 39 per cent of the general population. Further, 42 per cent of 2SLGBTQI respondents to Egale’s recent survey said they have experienced negative mental health impacts due to the added stress, compared to 30 per cent of the general public.

“We need action from the federal government to support 2SLGBTQI organizations dealing with an increase in demand from community members struggling with a lack of resources due to the pandemic,” continued Rousseau. “We also need federal and provincial governments to mandate collection of disaggregated data across Canada to give health officials and policy makers a greater understanding of the disproportionate impact of this pandemic on marginalized communities, including 2SLGBTQI people.”

Learn more about the specific impacts of COVID-19 on 2SLGBTQI communities in Canada here, and learn more about the history of IDAHOBIT here.

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The impacts of the coronavirus are being felt differently across communities, hitting certain groups particularly hard. For instance, people working in precarious jobs are often racialized and many are women. As essential workers, they are at greater risk of contracting the virus, or infecting others in their communities.

“Anytime governments rush to address a crisis like the one we are facing, they must take adequate time to ensure that human rights are protected and upheld,” said Hassan Yussuff, president of the Canadian Labour Congress. “They must ensure that systemic barriers and discrimination aren’t getting in the way of supporting the most vulnerable. This requires a deliberate effort to consult with experts and with communities themselves.”

The Canadian Labour Congress joins other human rights advocates and organizations in calling for the establishment of independent oversight committees to ensure human rights obligations are met during this unprecedented time.

“As governments are quickly realizing, there cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to addressing a public health and economic crisis of this magnitude,” said Yussuff. “Governments have a duty to take into consideration the consequences of actions taken, or of inaction.”

In order to be effective, independent committees must have broad representation from stakeholder communities and hold official advisory status to government bodies established to coordinate and implement COVID-19 response.

The committees must be mandated to identify any measures needed to strengthen human rights protection in COVID-19 response strategies; monitor for violations; provide information and recommendations to governments; and provide public updates.

“In times of crisis, governments have a responsibility to protect the most marginalized,” said Yussuff. “Human rights must not be an afterthought.”

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Although there is still much we do not know about this tragedy, now the deadliest massacre in Canadian history, it has come to light that the killer began his shooting spree by assaulting his intimate partner.

Women’s shelters in Nova Scotia and across the country have called on the media and police to call the recent massacre what it is: an act of gender-based violence.

“We must acknowledge that these murders were rooted in misogyny,” said Marie Clarke Walker, Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress. “They are not ‘senseless,’ ‘random’ or ‘isolated’. They are part of the nationwide crisis of violence against women. It is the same crisis that sees a woman or girl killed every three days in this country.”

Research shows that in the majority of mass shootings there is a history of domestic violence. Misogyny was also at the root of Canada’s other deadliest killings: the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal and the 2018 Toronto van attack.

While misogynist violence can touch any woman, some groups of women are impacted disproportionately: Indigenous women, young women, women with disabilities, and trans women and non-binary folk all experience higher rates of domestic violence.

Other groups of women face barriers to support and to accessing justice. Black and Indigenous women, refugees and migrant women, and trans women may be reluctant to seek the support of police or social services because these systems may expose them to other forms of structural violence and discrimination. Accessible services are difficult to find for deaf women and women with disabilities. Few such services exist in rural and remote communities.

“This pandemic, along with the public health recommendation to stay at home has put women further at risk,” said Clarke Walker. “Canada’s unions applaud governments’ efforts to ensure that shelters and other support providers have the resources they need to manage an increase in demand and to assist women whose homes are not safe.”

Over the last five years, the Canadian labour movement successfully fought for and won paid domestic violence leave both federally and in the vast majority of provinces and territories. Now, we must go further.

Canada needs a National Action Plan on Violence Against Women and Girls. A Plan would help plug the gaps in anti-violence services while establishing clear targets for progress and ensuring consistency across and within jurisdictions. Although the federal government has signaled its intent to develop a Plan, it needs to establish the funding and the process to see it through.

The federal government needs to step up and accelerate these efforts. Women and non-binary people – especially those who are marginalized – are literally dying while we wait.

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Canada’s unions and civil society organizations are calling for immediate relief for workers and protection of rights in global supply chains.

The coalition says that concerns for workers cannot stop at Canada’s borders and the millions of women and men who make clothes in other countries cannot be abandoned. In particular, efforts to address and rectify dangerous working conditions following the Rana Plaza disaster must not be undone now in the midst of this global crisis.

On April 24, 2013, the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Dhaka, Bangladesh killed at least 1,132 people and injured more than 2,500.

The tragedy put a spotlight on substandard working conditions and low wages in the industry. In response to public outrage at the disaster, more than 200 global brands and retailers signed a legally binding agreement with Bangladesh and Global unions that achieved important improvements in workplace safety.

The current pandemic has created new threats to the lives and livelihoods of garment workers.

Brands and companies have cancelled orders down their supply chains leaving factories unable to pay workers’ wages, even for work already completed. This is leaving millions of people without income and job security. Women are particularly hard hit by this crisis.

Eighty per cent of Bangladesh’s four million garment workers are women. These workers have received poverty wages for years, barely making ends meet and have no financial savings to draw on. Without work, without income, with little access to health care and without any social safety net, they can easily slip into abject poverty and struggle to feed themselves and their families.

In response to the crisis, the Bangladesh government instituted a nationwide public holiday for an extended period. Millions of workers have returned to their villages with empty pockets, unable to collect unpaid wages or severance pay from closed factories. Government relief packages are being channeled through factories, but are proving difficult for workers to access. Some factories have remained open where workers continue to work in cramped conditions, without personal protections.

Canadian unions and civil society organizations stand in solidarity with Bangladesh garment sector workers and with garment sector workers in all countries, and urgently recommend the following:

Payment of orders and wages & worker health and safety
Canadian brands and retailers must honour their obligations to suppliers and workers by paying for orders that are completed or in production. They should ensure the payment of wages or severance to all workers who were employed at the onset of the crisis and ensure that workers who work during the pandemic can follow World Health Organization protection guidelines and reserve the right to refuse unsafe work.

Emergency relief for workers
Governments, including Canada, should support global emergency relief programs for garment sector workers set up with contributions from international financial institutions, donor governments as well as brands and retailers. These programs must maintain workers’ employment and wages.

Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence
The Government of Canada should legislate companies to respect human rights in their operations and supply chains. Such legislation should require companies to conduct due diligence on their human rights and environmental risks, take appropriate steps to prevent and mitigate such risks, and hold companies accountable in the courts if they abuse human rights.

Rebuilding a just economy after the pandemic
The industry as a whole must change the current pricing and business model moving forward. Canadian brands must commit to establish more sustainable and resilient supply chains that respect workers’ rights and ensure suppliers pay workers living wages and social benefits.

Endorsed by:

Amnesty International Canada (English-speaking branch)
Association québécoise des organismes de coopération internationale
Canadian Council for International Co-operation
Canadian Jesuits International
Canadian Labour Congress
Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability
Canadian Union of Public Employees
Centre international de solidarité ouvrière (CISO)
Fairtrade Canada
Inter Pares
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
Maquila Solidarity Network
MiningWatch Canada
Nobel Women’s Initiative
Ontario Catholic No Sweat Network
Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation
Oxfam Canada
Public Service Alliance of Canada
Social Justice Connection
The Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association
The United Church of Canada
United Food and Commercial Workers Canada
United Steelworkers
Workers United Canada Council
World March of Women Coordinating Committee

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While many us are making sure that we #stayathome, we still need to be aware of the threat of homophobic and transphobic violence that persists online, at home, and for those on the front lines.

“This year, we are taking action online to take a stand, joining people around the world for a #VirtualDayofPink,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. “Solidarity is a key strength of our union movement. The #VirtualDayofPink is an opportunity for leaders in the trade union movement, in business and government, as well as everyday people, to stand together against homophobia and transphobia everywhere and in all of its forms.”

Canada’s unions have a role to play in educating and empowering our members so that all workplaces are welcoming and inclusive for all. In the context of COVID-19, our federal government needs to step up to ensure that 2SLGBTQI people are not left behind during and after this pandemic.

Around the world, 2SLGBTQI communities face disproportionately high levels of harassment and violence.

According to research from EGALE Canada, “Approximately 47 per cent of LGB workers (in Canada) have experienced workplace harassment and/or violence based on their sexual attraction (orientation), while approximately 90 per cent of transgender and gender variant employees report experiencing workplace harassment and/or violence stemming from their gender identity and expression.”

“Everyone has a role to play to better protect the rights of 2SLGBTQI people and ensure that they have the support they need in our workplaces, in our unions and in our communities,” said Rousseau “Our federal government must lead efforts with a dedicated gender-based plus analysis of the pandemic’s impacts, and by ensuring that additional emergency funds are available to support 2SLGBTQI organizations and communities to survive this crisis.”

You can mark the International Day of Pink right by:

1. Tagging your union and snapping a photo of you in pink to share online with the hashtag #VirtualDayofPink.
2. Downloading the CLC’s newest resource: Workers in Transition and learn how to be a Trans ally in your workplace today.
3. Read, share and support the demands of over 100 2SLGBTQI organizations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learning more about International Day of Pink and how you can join #VirtualDayofPink here.

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Health care workers are working overtime, playing a critical role for their patients across the country and around the world, often without access to adequate personal protective equipment.

“These essential health care workers are making unimaginable sacrifices, losing time with their loved ones, and risking their own health,” said Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff. “At a time when these workers are being asked to go above and beyond – sometimes acting as the only support for patients because of quarantine – we need to make sure they have every piece of equipment they need to reduce their own risk and any risk to their families.”

Canada’s unions stand in solidarity with all health care workers. These jobs are always challenging – with a lack of funding, threat of violence in the workplace, the trauma and stress faced by many, and an ongoing shortage of professionals ­– but more challenging now than perhaps ever before.

“We need to pay tribute to these workers, and demonstrate our thanks by following the best advice of public health officials – washing our hands, not touching our faces, and staying home whenever possible,” said Yussuff. “We owe it to all essential workers to do everything we can to stop the spread of COVID-19.”

At the end of this crisis, when the recovery starts, Canada’s unions will continue to press for adequate funding to ensure health care workers always have what they need to provide Canadians with the best possible care. This includes funding for national, public pharmacare, which would reduce hospital visits from those who can’t afford to take their medications as prescribed.

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While we are all struggling to make sense of the current crisis, we have to consider the most marginalized among us, who are always facing threats to their safety and security that the rest of us are now experiencing.

Trans folks are among our health care workers, they are re-stocking the shelves in our grocery stores, they are helping to deliver municipal services, all while facing uncertainty about their own access to much needed medications and gender-affirming surgeries. 

Being an ally means ensuring that trans people are not forgotten in our priorities as we look to rebuild after this crisis. 

“Trans people are part of our movement. We all have a role to play to better protect the rights of our trans members and ensure they have the support they need in our workplaces, in our unions and in our communities,” said Larry Rousseau, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress. 

Canada’s Unions are proud to mark the International Transgender Day of Visibility 2020 with the launch of a newly updated resource: Workers in Transition: A Practical Guide for Union Representatives and Trans Union Members. This revised version of the popular handbook includes a refreshed glossary of terms related to trans, Two Spirit and non-binary peoples’ experiences, as well as tools and strategies for workers, union representatives and activists to implement trans-inclusive policies and advocacy in all workplaces in Canada.

The labour movement will be a major part of Canada’s economic recovery, and we have the opportunity now to build awareness of the many barriers facing trans workers, and help trade union leaders, union staff representatives, local executives, committee members and shop stewards become better allies.

You can take action today by downloading your copy of the new Workers in Transition handbook now and becoming a trans ally in your workplace and in your community. 

To learn more about the International Transgender Day of Visibility, click here.

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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 across the country are doing their best to remain open for those fleeing domestic violence, despite the current challenges. Federal and provincial governments have announced some new spending to support these necessary services during this critical time.

We all have a role to play.

How to help someone you know or those suffering in your community

What should you do if you are concerned about a co-worker, friend or family member that you believe is experiencing abuse?

• Remind them that you care about their health and well-being.
• Encourage them to reach out to their local shelter to get support and to develop a safety plan.
• Keep the lines of communication open to reduce isolation.
• Union representatives who have been assisting members with workplace safety planning can work with them and a shelter worker to adapt it to the new context.

How can you help in your community?

• Consider donating to local shelters so they can continue to offer services during this crisis. Contact your local organization to find out how you can help.

What to do if you need help

• Reach out to any women’s shelter or helpline, which will provide information, support and referrals to other services. You do not need to seek shelter to get help.
• Even if leaving does not feel like an option, shelter workers can provide assistance with developing a safety plan, offer a listening ear and help you better understand your situation.
• If you belong to a union, create or adapt a workplace safety plan with your union representative. If you don’t belong to one, work with your employer and a shelter worker.
• If you are in immediate danger, call 911. You do not need to tell the 911 operator why you are calling if you are afraid of your partner’s reaction. Even if you just say “I would like to order a pizza”, police will come to your home.

Useful links

Sheltersafe provides information and can help identify a shelter in your community. Crisis and distress lines are available in most provinces and territories, and 211 can identify local sources of support in many communities.

Remember, employers must ensure that Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) remain accessible during the pandemic. These may be useful for those experiencing violence right now.

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