On October 1, Unifor celebrates the International Day of Older Persons. This year’s theme from the United Nations is Aging with Dignity: The Importance of Strengthening Care and Support Systems for Older Persons Worldwide.

The General Assembly of the United Nations first observed this day on Dec. 14, 1990, to draw attention to the important contribution of seniors and to changing demographics of the world, including the greying of the population, or the “age of aging.”  

Unifor marks this day as a way of providing education on public issues and concerns, to mobilize for change and action and to celebrate achievements.

It was 76 years ago when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. It is the first document articulating the fundamental human rights that are meant to be universally protected and a promise to ensure that all persons, including all older persons, fully enjoy their human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Population aging is reshaping societies worldwide. Life expectancy at birth now exceeds 75 years in half of the world’s countries, 25 years longer than in 1950. By 2030, older persons are projected to outnumber youth globally, with this increase most rapid in developing countries. 

This demographic shift has significantly transformed the caregiving landscape, encompassing a wide range of needs for both paid and unpaid support in formal and informal settings. As populations age, the demand for comprehensive healthcare, caregiving, housing, and social support services has grown substantially.

Unifor retirees continue to lobby governments to enhance healthcare and care giving services, as well as calls to stop privatization of these vital needs. Now more than ever, communities should look to a senior friendly focus, including housing, activities, care and services. 

It is important to recognize that development will only be achieved if it is inclusive of all ages. Governments at all levels must ensure that older persons receive the care, the opportunities and support to experience healthy aging.

Unifor retirees continue to fight for improved standards of living, whether it be through employer provided pensions, government pensions, fighting for better and more inclusive healthcare, dental care, national pharma care and housing programs.

The union’s Retired Workers Council last month adopted a resolution calling for a United Nations Convention on the Rights of Older Persons.

Retirement security for all has long been a core demand of our union and the labour movement. It is a demand that continues to be as important as ever today.

Seniors and retired workers will hold virtual events across the country in recognition of International Day of Older Persons. If you are not hosting an event, look for one in a community near you and help recognize the contributions of older persons.

Read this statement on our website.

In solidarity,

Lana Payne
Unifor National President 

September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, an observance that honours the survivors of residential schools and remembers those who did not return home. Known as Orange Shirt Day, this day draws its name from the story of Phyllis (Jack) Webstad, whose orange shirt—a gift from her grandmother—was confiscated on her first day at a residential school in 1973.

Orange Shirt Day is a time to reflect on the cruel legacy of residential schools, a system supported by governmental and ecclesiastical authorities that sought to assimilate Indigenous children and eradicate their cultures. The slogan “Every Child Matters” reaffirms our commitment to recognize the inherent value of every child and the resilience of Indigenous communities that continue to advocate for truth and justice.

The path to reconciliation is not easy and requires more than simply remembrance. It demands action, accountability, and a sustained commitment to repair the trust betrayed by centuries of colonial policies.

During Truth and Reconciliation week, all members are encouraged to engage in community-led events, educate themselves on the truths of our shared history, and wear orange to signal a collective commitment to ensuring such tragedies are never repeated.

The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is an excellent resource for free virtual programs, free virtual educational programming, and ongoing information about reconciliation events.

For Unifor members who will be participating in the 2024 Canadian Council in Montreal this month, orange t-shirts, with new artwork commission by Indigenous artist Dwayne Wabegijig, will be distributed for the campaign for residential school awareness.

Together, let us continue to support the calls for reconciliation and commit to social and political change to honour the spirit and intent of “Every Child Matters.”

TAKE ACTION

• Attend events in your community on September 30 that support National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
• Share these 24/7 helplines:
  • National Indian Residential School Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419
  • Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Support Line: 1-844-413-6649
  • Hope for Wellness Help Line and Chat: 1-855-242-3310
• Unifor’s Education Department has a relationship with San’yas Indigenous Cultural Safety Training. This training fosters a climate that recognizes and respects the unique history of Indigenous peoples to provide appropriate care and services in an equitable and safe way, without discrimination. To find out how your local can participate, please contact education@unifor.org.
• Donate to the Indian Residential School Survivors Society.
• Take the virtual tour at the Woodlands Cultural Center.
• If you create content (Orange tees, swag, digital graphics etc) support Indigenous artists.
• Register for Unifor Education’s Turtle Island course
• Encourage support for local and regional organizations, programs or initiatives to engage in active reconciliation with Indigenous people.
• With all your efforts, please amplify Indigenous voices in your community.

Whichever action you take, please share your work with the national office (communications@unifor.org) and on social media (hashtag #NDTR) so others can follow our example to do their part to demonstrate support for reconciliation.

In solidarity,

Lana Payne
Unifor National President

Dear Members,

Mental Health Awareness Week is next week, May 6 to 12, 2024.

Earlier this year, we invited members to purchase a Mental Health Matters t-shirt to help raise awareness and break stigmas about mental illness and addiction.

Show your support!

We encourage you to wear your Mental Health Matters t-shirt, and send us a photo so we can show the hundreds of Unifor members committed to improving mental health supports and driving change in our workplaces.

The union will collect and share images on social media next week.

Didn’t order a shirt? No problem.

If you do not have a Unifor Mental Health Matters t-shirt, you can participate by wearing a black shirt, or by displaying the Mental Health Matters image available here.

Together, we will demonstrate our commitment to building better working conditions, learning how to support those struggling with mental health and addiction issues, and recommit ourselves to taking action and asking for help when we need it.

Please send photos to communications@unifor.org by May 6, 2024, or upload them directly to the Dropbox linked here.

Greetings,

Unifor members employed by GreenShield Canada (GSC) are on strike and need your support!

Our GSC members at Local 240 in Windsor and Local 673 in Toronto began strike action on March 1 and are active on picket lines in both cities.

The Local 673 Toronto unit is a small one with fewer than 25 members and they need your solidarity to help maintain a strong presence on the picket line.

Please make every effort to join them during these shifts.

What: Support on Local 673 Toronto picket line
When: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: 5140 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M2N 6L7

Please contact Unifor National Representative Kat Leonard for more information.

Thank you for your help in this fight. 

In solidarity,

Lana Payne                                        Samia Hashi
National President                           Ontario Regional Director

Order your T-shirt by Wednesday, March 13, 2024 Noon:

https://www.unifor112.ca/2024-mha-tshirt/

Mental health impacts all of us. In any given year, 1 in 5 Canadians experiences a mental illness. By the time Canadians reach 40 years of age, 1 in 2 have – or have had – a mental illness.
Mental health should not be talked about just on campaign awareness days. We need to continue the conversations, continue to challenge stigma, educate our members and support members that may be struggling.
The Ontario Regional Council (ORC) Employee & Family Assistance Program (EFAP) Standing Committee is working to raise awareness of the importance of mental health, both on the job and in our personal lives, and to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health.
Show your support by purchasing and wearing an “End the Stigma, Mental Health Matters” t-shirt.

Hand-in-hand with awareness is access to information on prevention.

No workplace is immune from mental injury hazard. That is why our definition of occupational health and safety cannot be limited to the physical well-being only – it must include mental well-being as well.

With most adults spending more of their waking hours at workplace than anywhere else, addressing issues of mental health on the job is crucially important.

Together, we must keep this responsibility to ourselves and our co-workers in mind during any work activity.

Ensuring a psychologically healthy workplace (a workplace that promotes workers’ psychological well-being and actively works to prevent harm to worker psychological health) is a key function of Occupational Health and Safety Committees (OHSC).

Just like any other hazard at workplace, OHS Committees need to recognize, assess, control, evaluate, review, adjust, monitor and maintain the program.

OHSC’s need to use the National Standard of Canada for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace (the Standard) which identifies psychosocial risk factors (workplace factors).

No Unifor member is alone. You can access information on mental health or addiction and substance abuse here.

Additional Resources:

Mental Health Commission of Canada

• An Action Guide for Employers
• Mental Health First Aid

Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW)

• Mental Injury Prevention Tools – Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ)
• StressAssess.ca – Workplace and Personal Editions (COPSOQ III, Canadian data)

In solidarity,

Samia Hashi
Ontario Regional Director

November 29, 2023

Unifor marks December 6, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. On this day, we solemnly remember the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre when 14 women were killed on their Montreal campus, and all lives tragically lost to gender-based violence, and we recommit to the ongoing battle against this pervasive and deeply unjust violence.

Violence against women is not an issue that affects women alone; it is a deeply entrenched societal problem that demands collective action and staunch commitment. We understand the fight for gender equality and the eradication of violence against women are interconnected struggles, and they are at the heart of the work within our union.

Unifor is recognized internationally for its Women’s Advocate program that educates members to be a source of support for colleagues facing harassment or violence. Having a Women’s Advocate in the workplace can be lifesaving for members who are seeking help and protection. If you do not have a Women’s Advocate in your workplace, consider making it a priority at the bargaining table and discuss this with your fellow members.

We must never relent in our efforts to challenge the systems that perpetuate gender-based violence. It is crucial that we call for and actively work towards the implementation of policies and practices that ensure the safety, respect, and equitable treatment of all individuals, irrespective of their gender.

We urge all members of Unifor to join us in the critical endeavor to end violence against women. Together, we have the power to create a world where no woman lives in fear, where every woman’s dignity is respected, and where gender-based violence becomes a dark chapter in history rather than a lived reality.

It is only through collective action that we can create a just and equitable society where violence against women is an unthinkable act.

As you mark the day with vigils and events with your local, or by wearing your December 6 button, we ask that you share your photos with women@unifor.org. We will share submitted photos of members marking December 6 on our social channels to highlight your work in fighting for equality and respect.

Find printable posters and social media graphics here.

Women. Life. Freedom.

Around the world, including in Iran, women continue to fight for their freedom, and for fair and equitable treatment. Toronto is the city that brings the world’s struggles together, side by side, so we can support each other in solidarity and sisterhood.

Join Unifor activists on March 4 at the IWD Toronto Rally and March at 11:00 a.m. ET, 252 Bloor St. W.

Bring your flags, signs, and noisemakers as we show that we won’t stop fighting until every sister around the world can lead the life she chooses freely and without discrimination.

WHEN:         Saturday, March 4, 2023

Rally starts at 11:00 a.m. ET, march begins at 1:00 p.m. ET

WHERE:       OISE/UT, 252 Bloor St. W – look for the Unifor flags

Everyone is welcome.

This event is organized by the IWD Toronto committee and for more than 40 years has been the largest event in North America recognizing International Women’s Day.

For updates, please visit iwdtoronto.ca.

We invite you to capture your experiences at the IWD Toronto Rally and March and send photos or videos to women@unifor.org and tag @UniforWomen on Facebook and Twitter.

In solidarity and sisterhood,

Naureen Rizvi                              Tracey Ramsey
Ontario Regional Director           Women’s Department Director

As Unifor recognizes Black History Month, in 2023, our focus is empowering the next generation of Black youth.

As we reflect on Black history, Black accomplishments and the contributions of the many Black communities here in Canada and globally, we also reaffirm the collective work and collective responsibility we all have to continue to advocate to end Anti-Black racism in all institutions and society. We owe it to future generations.

This year, our message is “Black History, Black Futures.” Our focus will be featuring Black youth and all they offer in our workplaces and to broader society through skills, talents, intelligence, innovation, creativity, determination and leadership.

Black youth have made it clear – we need to listen. Young people are leading the way into the future, making demands to address climate change, exposing environmental racism, calling for reform within governments, advocating for health care, lobbying for job security, highlighting the inequalities within workplaces, combating Anti-Black racism, and offering real solutions to world issues. They are the future of activism, informed by history and ready to voice their demands for equity and justice for themselves and other workers, for all people and for the planet.

The Canadian government first recognized Black History Month in December 1995 in the House of Commons, following a motion introduced by the Hon. Dr. Jean Augustine.

As a progressive union Unifor is committed to more than statements and a month of solidarity. We must ensure physical and emotional health for all Black Canadians and continue to celebrate, appreciate and acknowledge Black communities across the country.

Unifor membership, leadership and communities will celebrate Black History meaningfully.

Below are tips to help celebrate Black History Month in a meaningful way

1. Celebrate and acknowledge Black history throughout the year
2. Celebrate Black history with everyone
3. Center Black History celebrations around diversity, inclusion and equity commitments and practices
4. If you don’t have diversity, inclusion and equity commitments and practices, create them
5. Eliminating anti-Black ideology and methods in organizations
6. Provide resources for Black businesses, culture centers, and community groups for everyone
7. Celebrate the present, not just the past
8. Do your learning at your own pace

We also ask them to recognize Black Unifor members, not only in February, but each day of the year, support Black members in roles in all levels of the union, respect and value the contributions and views of Black members in order to combat anti-Black racism and to continue to remove barriers in institutions that prevent Black members from fully participating.

We need to ensure physical and emotional health for all Black Canadians and continue to celebrate, appreciate and acknowledge Black communities across the country.

This year we mark Women’s History Month in Canada with the knowledge that gains toward equality are fragile and need vigilance to continually protect and enshrine them into the fabric of our union and country.

As we reach back into our past to share the stories of women who have been trailblazers, we learn important lessons from their struggles and triumphs that we need to continually remind ourselves of today.

On October 18, Canada commemorates Persons’ Day. This day in 1929 was when Canada’s highest court of appeal handed down the decision to include women in the legal definition of “persons”, and permitted some women to be appointed to the Senate of Canada and to more fully participate in public life. Persons’ Day was both the culmination of years of activism, and the start of many more years of work to ensure it was expanded and strengthened to include the rights of all women. Women of Indigenous or Asian heritage and descent remained excluded from this legal personhood for many more years.

Our history is full of obvious discrimination toward women of colour and Indigenous women. Canadian women were granted the right to vote in federal elections in 1918 but First Nations women could only vote at that time if they gave up their status and treaty rights. Their full right to vote federally wouldn’t happen until July 1960. These 40-plus years of exclusion must remind us that our work as trade unionists and feminists must be intersectional and focus on eliminating the additional barriers faced by Indigenous, women of colour, LGBTQ, and women with disabilities.

At the 2022 Unifor Women’s Conference we were reminded that until all women cross the line, none of us can truly celebrate without full inclusion of all women. As we make strides toward equality in the courts, in public policy and in workplaces, we must not simply extend the ladder to other women, but reach back to help each other climb.

Unifor has a proud history of advancing women’s rights and fighting for workplace improvements and then pushing provincial and federal governments to grant those same rights for all women. Our union’s ground-breaking and internationally-acclaimed Women’s Advocate Program plays a key role in changing workplace dynamics, educating workers about the challenges women face, and providing resources to support women through unfair treatment in the workplace, discrimination or harassment.

We must pay attention to the rollback of abortion rights and attacks on bodily autonomy in the United States and push to secure our rights in Canada. It was more than 50 years ago when a group of determined women from Vancouver formed the Abortion Caravan and travelled to Ottawa to land on then-Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s doorstep to demand abortion be removed from the criminal code. Let us draw inspiration from this, and other brave moments in history, to give us renewed energy for the fight.

Unifor represents 118,000 women, representing a third of our membership. This year we made our own mark on Canadian labour history for women by electing Lana Payne as our first woman president. We are still pushing to break through barriers and make our own working class history. More women are sitting at bargaining tables, are elected to their Local Executive Boards, and taking leadership roles. But, more can be done.

We must ask more women to run, invite more women to participate, and support more women to lead.

Together, we can make history and create a brighter, more equal future.

For Unifor, Black History Month isn’t an event we only acknowledge in February.

This year, Canada recognizes Black History Month as February and Forever: Celebrating Black History Today and Every Day.

The Canadian government first recognized Black History Month in December 1995 in the House of Commons, following a motion introduced by the Honourable Dr. Jean Augustine.

Unifor has long been advocating that it is vital to acknowledge and recognize Black members everyday.

As a union, we featured Black members from locals for the past few years and allowed the different regions to see the remarkable leadership within our union.

We are committed to more than statements and more than a month of solidarity. We know that Black Canadians have made tremendous contributions and possess the skills, talents, intelligence, innovation and determination to have meaningful impacts within Unifor, across Canada and throughout the world.

It is our daily choices and actions that matter.

This month, we ask our local unions and workplace union representatives to celebrate Black Unifor members and safely support community events.

We also ask them to recognize Black Unifor members, not only in February, but each day of the year, in order to combat anti-Black racism and to continue to remove barriers in institutions that prevent Black members from fully participating.

We need to ensure physical and emotional health for all Black Canadians and continue to celebrate, appreciate and acknowledge Black communities across the country.

Information about Black History Month events can be found here.
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More than 230 Unifor members in Pictou, Nova Scotia lost their jobs in January 2020 after the Northern Pulp mill was forced to close.

Their pensions, their jobs and as many as 11,000 forestry and related jobs across the province hang in the balance as the company prepares plans for a modernized mill.

Support Nova Scotia forestry workers

We have demanded Northern Pulp and parent company Paper Excellence honour Unifor Local 440 members’ pensions and submit plans to government and to community stakeholders that meet government standards.

What remains a challenge is identifying the standards Nova Scotia’s Department of Environment (NSE) will accept.

Unifor supported the previous Environmental Assessment document submitted by the company to the government, because the stated impacts were well within federal Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations (PPER) and existing Canadian Ambient Air Quality Standards (CAAQS). Indeed, it would have been a solid improvement on the previous mill, which also met those federal standards.

In December 2021, Nova Scotia Environment released its revised Draft Terms of Reference (DTOR), which is supposed to serve as a framework to guide Northern Pulp’s creation of an Environmental Assessment for the updated mill project. (The Draft Terms of Reference can be found here on the Nova Scotia government website).

Unifor continues to believe in a solution that will maintain thousands of good, rural forestry jobs, protect the environment, and respect Pictou Landing First Nation.

Read the letter below and submit to Nova Scotia Environment to support Unifor members and workers in the broader forestry sector.

Support Nova Scotia forestry workers

Every year, Unifor marks the World Day for Decent Work on October 7.

As a trade union, we believe that good jobs, fair wages, and improving the many conditions in which people go to work each day is the way to achieve a better world for everyone.

Amidst the challenges and difficulties of working and living through the ongoing pandemic, Unifor’s young workers take this opportunity to remind all Unifor members that our collective future is worth the fight!

Even before the pandemic, the climate crisis was looming and income inequality had reached critical levels. The pandemic exposed our world’s biggest inequalities, and made everything so much more challenging for everyone, including young workers’ and their prospects for the future.

This time last year, our union was calling to support essential rights for essential workers. Throughout the pandemic, many young workers got laid-off. Some did not get their jobs back. Many young workers were looking after their young children while schools were closed. Today, some are still worried about the risks of exposure to the virus in schools across the country. Young workers did their best – just like all workers – to navigate a crisis and to come out of it safely. Some did not.

Young workers today are seriously worried that the world they are inheriting from previous generations is in far worse shape than the one their parents lived through.

Through this pandemic, young workers have come to better understand that safe workplaces, barrier-free access to good, green jobs, and well-funded public services are essential to a better and brighter future.

Today, on the World Day for Decent Work, we face a choice: we can live to see the devastating impacts that will inevitably result from today’s crises, or we can pick up the fight and build a better future.

This week, Unifor’s young workers held a series of online events to gather, strategize, and commit to the long-term fight for a better world. Through virtual events and an email conference, they shared stories of activism, exchanged tools and best practices and were intentional about creating space in our union to foster hope.

They invited young artist Hana Shafi to design three images that represent the commitment of young workers to our collective future. Unifor members can download, print and share these images today.

Let’s not let our young workers hope and fight on their own. Today, and every day, let’s remember that our future is worth the fight.

Read this statement online

Download the shareables

In solidarity,
Jerry Dias

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