Violence against women remains a powerful barrier to women’s equality. Women experience violence in many different ways – it can be physical or sexual abuse, emotional or verbal abuse, financial manipulation or control, spiritual abuse, criminal harassment or stalking. It can occur at work, in the home, or in the community. How can we make real progress to end violence against women? Lobby the…
More women in Canada are working than ever before: 70% of working women have children under five. Child care gives women the opportunity to pursue our dreams – to get a decent job, support our families and build a career, to further our education or skills training, and beyond. Child care is recognized internationally as fundamental to women’s equality, as good for child development, as…
Fair pay means that the work women and men do is equally respected and valued. Unfortunately, this is not the reality for many workers in Canada, where there is still a big gap between what women and men earn. Thanks to the labour movement, this pay gap is already much less for women with unions, but income equality for all working women is the…
International Women’s Day: Women in Canada Need Child Care
March 5, 2015
On International Women’s Day we celebrate women’s achievements and also reflect on the barriers to equality that still remain in place. With a federal election on its way, this year the Canadian Labour Congress is focusing on the struggle to access quality child care for all families across Canada. Together with child care advocates, the CLC will participate in a…
Did you know senior women are twice as likely to live in poverty as men?
March 3, 2015
For too many women in Canada, retirement means only financial struggle. Senior women are twice as likely to live in poverty as men. 30% of elderly women on their own live below the poverty line. Women are far more reliant on OAS and GIS than men. In 2011, 30% of senior women's total income was from OAS and GIS, compared to only 18%…
Canadian employers lose $77.9 million annually due to the direct and indirect impacts of domestic violence, and the costs, to individuals, families and society, go far beyond that. However, we know very little about the scope and impacts of this problem in Canada. The Canadian Labour Congress partnered with researchers at the University of Western Ontario and conducted the first…
Memorial for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
February 8, 2015
On February 14th, communities across Canada will hold Women’s Memorial Marches to remember Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The Canadian Labour Congress has already called for a National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and reiterates its demand for justice. The very first march happened in 1991 out of a sense of anger and hopelessness following…
It’s time to act: National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
January 12, 2015
The Canadian Labour Congress is today reiterating its call for a National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has issued the report of its two-year study on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women in British Columbia. The report clearly links the disproportionate amount of violence experienced by Indigenous women in Canada to the “past…
December 6, 2014: National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women
December 6, 2014
It has been twenty five years since 14 women were murdered at Montreal’s École Polytechnique. And yet, women and girls in Canada still face violence in their homes, schools, workplaces, and communities every single day. Sexist images and attitudes are rampant in our media and online. Women who speak out are targeted and harassed. We cannot let this continue. Canada’s…
Supreme Court backs teachers and reaffirms pregnancy leave rights
November 14, 2014
The Canadian Labour Congress is applauding a Supreme Court of Canada decision reaffirming that employment benefits for women who give birth are separate and distinct from parental leave benefits. The unanimous decision, delivered Wednesday immediately following closing arguments, agreed with the BC Teachers Federation (BCTF) that denying parental benefits to birth mothers, because they received pregnancy benefits, was discriminatory. “This…