“Everyone deserves the health care they need”: CUPE Ontario demands access to gender-affirming and transition-related procedures

TORONTO, ON – The new bill, the Gender Affirming Health Care Advisory Committee Act, is an essential piece of legislation that will save lives and ensure that make access to health care more equitable for all. And now that it’s passed second reading, it’s time to push it over the finish line, refuse to delay…

“Draw on the skill, expertise, and passion of front-line workers”: CUPE Ontario condemns Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee for excluding workers and their unions

TORONTO, ON – Ontario’s Ministry of Labour is leaving front-line workers out of the new Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee and it must immediately stop its work until it’s fully inclusive, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario in a written letter to Minister Monte McNaughton. “The committee is comprised solely of business owners,…

Day of Pink – CUPE Ontario Statement

Statement by CUPE Ontario’s Pink Triangle committee on the Day of Pink: Today is the Day of Pink – an international commemoration reminding us about the need for solidarity with LGBTQ2+ people. This year it’s a particularly important issue, as COVID-19 has disproportionately impacted equity-seeking seeking people, including the LGBTQ2+ community. For instance, recent research shows that…

Pink Triangle Day 2021

On Pink Triangle Day 2021 we embrace love’s diversity by celebrating LGBTQI2S+ people, families, and communities. We also reaffirm our solidarity with struggle against the oppression of the Ford Conservative government and wider homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia in our society. In Nazi Germany, thousands of LGBTQI2S+ people were sent to concentration camps where they were…

“When we mourn together, we are not alone”: CUPE Ontario’s statement on Transgender Remembrance Day

On November 20, CUPE Ontario’s 280,000 members join our communities in observing Transgender Remembrance Day and in celebrating our collective victories while recommitting to addressing the many challenges that still exist. The challenges are long-standing and speak to virulent transphobia which has taken root everywhere, even in otherwise progressive and inclusive institutions and communities. Today, we’re seeing…

“Your job is to keep Ontarians safe – not to keep your friends happy”: CUPE Ontario’s Pink Triangle Committee and University Sector oppose Ford’s disastrous special favour for the Canada Christian College

Over the course of this pandemic, we’ve seen that people who were already facing systemic barriers are the ones facing the greatest impacts now. Racialized communities, the LGBTQ2S+ community, and others marginalized by a foundationally unequal system have faced the brunt of COVID-19. And so it’s deeply concerning that, rather than extending more robust supports for all Ontarians, the Ford…

“Standing Together, Leaving No One Behind”: CUPE Ontario’s Pride Month Statement

Pride Month is a time to celebrate our victories and recommit to sustained solidarity with the LGBTQ2S+ community. CUPE Ontario is proud to do so – and we’re grateful that our 280,000 public sector workers have been enriched by the voices and efforts of LGBTQ2S+ Ontarians in our union. This year, Pride Month is situated during an unprecedented health and political crisis that has…