Canada’s unions mark Injured Workers Day by calling on governments to improve working conditions and supports
June 1, 2020
On this Injured Workers Day, in the midst of COVID-19, Canada’s unions are calling on all levels of government to do more to prevent workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths, and to strengthen the workers’ compensation system. The current pandemic presents a monumental challenge in the fight to prevent workplace injury, illness and death. As Canadian jurisdictions begin to open up…
By Hassan Yussuff as published in National Newswatch. 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…
Canada’s unions call for urgent focus on human rights during pandemic
May 7, 2020
Canada’s unions are calling on all levels of government to ensure human rights are integrated into the COVID-19 response. 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…
Canada’s unions mark May Day by launching campaign to advocate for frontline heroes
May 1, 2020
Canada’s unions are marking International Workers’ Day this year by launching a new campaign to bring attention to the vital contributions of essential workers and to advocate for better treatment. “There are 4.9 million workers across the country who have been deemed essential, and many of them have been struggling to make a decent living for years,” said CLC President…
Canada’s unions say further efforts are required to support unemployed workers and to preserve existing jobs as the number of Canadians who have lost their jobs due to the pandemic continues to rise. According to Statistics Canada, employment fell by one million in March and the ranks of the unemployed grew by 413,000. Canada’s unemployment rate rose by 2.2 percentage…
Canada’s unions are calling on Canada’s banks and credit card companies to step up and take action to support families through the COVID-19 crisis by reducing sky-high credit card interest rates. “The Bank of Canada has reduced its lending rate to historically low levels and that means it’s cheaper for financial institutions to borrow money,” said Canadian Labour Congress President,…
Equal Pay Day: Recognizing the Value of Women’s Work
April 2, 2020
April 4, 2020 marks the day women’s median earnings in Canada finally catch up to men’s median earnings from last year. This year, Equal Pay Day takes place with the backdrop of an unprecedented test for workers, their families and the economy: the COVID-19 pandemic. “It takes 16 months for women’s median earnings to catch up to what men make…
Canada’s unions are calling for urgent fiscal measures to respond to COVID-19
March 16, 2020
Canada’s unions are calling on all levels of government to provide adequate supports for workers and their families as the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic reverberate in communities and throughout the economy. “We continue to share our recommendations with the federal government as this situation progresses. While there has been an important move in easing measures around Employment Insurance (EI)…
Today, on the twelfth annual World Day for Decent Work, Canada’s unions are calling for a federal task force on care work and care jobs in Canada. The World Day for Decent Work is a global day of action for trade unions around the world. The theme for 2019, Investing in care for gender equality, recognizes that work in the…
Working families have a lot at stake this election
September 2, 2019
By Hassan Yussuff You can be forgiven if you’ve avoided thinking about the upcoming federal election all summer, but Labour Day is here. That means it’s time to return to the fall routine and start thinking about how you are going to cast your ballot. You may have seen politicians working the barbecue circuit, vying for the support of workers…