OTTAWA – When Francophone women in the Ottawa area are looking for safety from domestic violence, there’s only one shelter for them: Maison d’amitié. Those doors may soon be closed to women in need as management chose International Women’s Day to request a “no board” report and set the clock ticking towards a lock-out in…
CUPE Ontario is pleased to mark International Women’s Day (IWD) 2024 on March 8 and honour the achievements, experience, and activism of the women in our union. This year’s theme, “No one is free until we are all free,” is an echo of the words of Black American civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer, and…
Today CUPE Ontario marks December 6, the National Day of Remembrance and Action to End Violence against Women. We recall that terrible evening in 1989, when 14 women were murdered at École Polytechnique de Montréal; they were targets of misogyny, hatred, and violence. In their memory, we reaffirm our commitment to ending gender-based violence wherever…
International Women’s Day has its roots in the labour and socialist movements of the early 1900s. Women’s demands for better pay and conditions, voting rights, and recognition resonated with women workers across borders, classes, and around the world. In 1977, the United Nations proclaimed March 8 as International Women’s Day – a day CUPE Ontario…
On December 6, CUPE Ontario observes the National Day of Remembrance and Action to End Violence against Women. The unspeakable tragedy that sparked this day was the murder in 1989 of 14 women, targeted because of their gender at l’École Polytechnique de Montréal. But when we look around us today, it’s plain to see we…
Global estimates show that more than 5 women or girls are killed every hour by someone in their own family. This is unacceptable. Being the most common human rights violation worldwide, violence against women and girls affects more than 1 in 3 women, a statistic that has changed very little over the last ten years.…
Toronto, ON – Frontline workers are deeply concerned for children’s safety because Canada’s largest school board plans to cut hundreds of lunchroom supervisors in the 2022-2023 school year. “At a time when the Toronto District School Board should be hiring more lunchroom supervisors, these bosses who are up for re-election this fall are talking about…
In the face of news out of the United States that Roe v. Wade could be overturned, CUPE Ontario sends a message of solidarity to outraged and frightened allies south of the border. We know that such a decision will unnecessarily endanger the lives of so many, with one recent analysis warning that a total…
On March 8, CUPE Ontario’s 280,000 members mark International Women’s Day. We do so in the recognition of its roots in working class activism, having emerged when 15,000 women marched in New York in 1908 for better wages and shorter working hours. Since then, women have won remarkable gains. But the work is not nearly…
LONDON, ON – In an overwhelming vote yesterday, workers at Anova: A Future Without Violence, in London, Ontario, chose to join the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). Anova is the largest gender-based violence shelter and sexual assault centre in Ontario. The agency serves and supports thousands of survivors every year through shelter, support, advocacy…
