“We Must Reach Beyond Partial Liberation”: CUPE Ontario celebrates Emancipation Day 2021

One hundred and eighty-seven years ago today, on 1 August 1834, the Slavery Abolition Act took effect marking the legal end slavery across the British Empire. The Act emancipated over 800,000 enslaved Africans across the Caribbean and South America. As educator and historian Natasha L. Henry notes, many enslaved Africans in British North America received…

Ford Conservatives‘ ‘hands off, head in sand’ approach to campus reopenings put Safe September, university students and workers at risk

Statement from OUWCC Chair David Simao and CUPE Ontario President Fred Hahn regarding Ministry of Colleges and Universities directives on re-opening post-secondary institutions in September. No amount of magical thinking on Doug Ford’s or Minister Jill Dunlop’s part will make the risk of transmission fall to a level that allows universities to simply throw open…

Toronto community housing workers trigger countdown to legal job action to enhance services for residents

Toronto, ON — Workers at the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC), represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 79, are bargaining to enhance safety, improve quality, and ensure affordability for Torontonians who rely on social housing. The union has requested a “no-board” report from the Ministry of Labour, following TCHC’s targeting of…