Each year on the third Monday of January, we collectively honour the achievements and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was a trailblazer in the fight to end racial segregation and who promoted non-violent means to end the era of inequality in the United States and abroad. This year’s celebration will be on…
Katherine Massey, 72 years old. Roberta Drury, 32 years old. Ruth Whitfield, 86 years old. Celestine Chaney, 65 years old. Pearly Young, 77 years old. Andre Mackniel, 53 years old. Margus D Morrison, 52 years old. Aaron Salter Jr., 55 years old. Gerri Chapman Talley, 62 years old. And Heyward Patterson, 67 years old. A…
TORONTO, ON – The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) needs to maintain the right of unionized employees to access the tribunal, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario. “Workers whose lives are impacted by systemic racism, ableism, homophobia, and all forms of oppression have always had the option of either filing a…
On 21 March 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa, police opened fire on a crowd of Black demonstrators who had taken to the streets to protest racial segregation in apartheid South Africa. The police murdered 69 peaceful demonstrators and injured 180 others, including some 50 women and children. This atrocity became widely known…
February 1 marks the beginning of Black History Month, a month in which we celebrate Black excellence while also reflecting upon the difficult and often violent conditions that surround this excellence. We celebrate the contributions that people of African and Caribbean heritage have made to Canada and the labour movement in spite of tremendous obstacles.…
Today, CUPE Ontario joins people around the world in celebrating International Human Rights Day. Seventy-three years ago today, on December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), a document that set the foundation for universal basic human rights. From its inception, the UDHR was a…
For about an hour during the afternoon of November 24 at Hamilton’s J.C. Beemer Park, police officers violently attacked allies of its unhoused residents who were encamped there. Two Black youth were punched in the face, another dragged through the grass; officers planted their knees on necks, and employed chokeholds. “Don’t let them say it…
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…
TORONTO, ON – What seems like a deliberate workforce policy of exploiting racialized women as cheap labour by the University Health Network (UHN) is being roundly criticized by many Toronto/GTA labour and community groups advocating for economic justice for new immigrants. UHN is avoiding the direct employment of patient rehabilitation care staff at its Hillcrest…
TORONTO, ON – Entering Step 3 early is a testament to the contributions of front-line workers but the Ford Conservatives are still failing to ensure safety and a recovery for all, says the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario. “Front-line workers kept us as safe as possible during this pandemic, with members of CUPE…
