Why We’re Building a Workers-First Agenda!
When Hudson’s Bay recently announced that they were going bankrupt, they stated their executives will be paid $3 million in bonuses while their 9,000 workers will receive no severance pay. This is horribly unfair, but it is, unfortunately, legal under Canada’s laws.
Clearly, Canada’s labour laws do NOT put workers first.
As the tariffs hit, the situation is getting more dire. Our communities are bracing for layoffs, cuts in paid hours, and higher prices for essential goods.
That’s why last week, we had a pan-Canadian Justice for Workers organizing meeting to organize a workers-first agenda to protect workers and communities from the impact of tariffs.. (If you missed it, you can watch the meeting recording.)
Keep reading for a recap of what we did:
💸 Why Prime Minister Carney’s EI special measures do not go far enough
📈 Minimum wage: 2015-2025
🏥 Decent work organizing updates
🛠️ Tools to fight for emergency supports for the tariff crisis
🗓️ Next Organizing Meeting: Tuesday April 22
Prime Minister Carney’s EI measures do not go far enough
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced new Employment Insurance special measures to help workers ride out the trade war. However, we believe they fall short of fixing the core problems of the Employment Insurance program.
The new EI special measures:
- Expand EI work-sharing eligibility for 12 months.
- Waive the 1-week EI waiting period for EI for 6 months.
- Allow workers to receive separation payments while receiving EI for 6 months. (Separation payments include termination, severance and vacation pay.)
- Artificially raise the regional unemployment rate that’s used to calculate access to EI by 1% for 3 months with no region less than 7.1% and no more than %13.1 so more workers qualify for EI.
While important, these measures fall far short of fixing core problems with EI.
- All the above improvements are temporary and end in a matter of months.
- With no minimum EI benefit, workers may get as little as $200 a week on EI.
- EI is still inaccessible for most unemployed workers. Using a minimum unemployment rate of 7.1% to calculate access to EI means workers need 630 hours of insurable hours to qualify. But for a part-time worker working 20 hours a week, you’d need 8 months of steady work to qualify.
These small EI changes stand in contrast to the billions that are being allocated for investments, loans, and tax deferment to large corporations and businesses.
We don’t need more corporate handouts. What we need is a workers’ first agenda that includes $600 a week income support for all, rent control, a halt on evictions, a freeze on increases in the price of food, and meaningful investments in child care, social housing, transit, healthcare and more.
A big thank you to the Elementary Teachers of Toronto for formally endorsing the campaign. If you are a Federal candidate, union or community organization, we would love it if you would endorse the No One Left Behind agenda.
Minimum Wage: 2015 - 2025
On April 1 2025, the Federal minimum wage will be adjusted to $17.75. And on October 1, 2025, Ontario’s minimum wage will be $17.60.
Of course these adjustments are nowhere near what workers need to live decently. However, it’s important to realize that these improvements did not happen automatically. It’s only thanks to you and others like you, across Canada, who organized and pushed our governments to legislate annual cost of living adjustments (COLA), so that the minimum wage better holds its purchasing power.
Indeed, between 1995 and 2015, before we won COLA in Ontario, the minimum wage was frozen for 12 of those 20 years. By contrast, in the 10 years between 2015 to 2025, the Ontario minimum wage increased by 60%. That only happened because we fought for and won the COLA legislation as well as flat dollar increases. So in 2018 the minimum wage increased from $11.60 to $14.00 (an increase of $2.40) and in 2022 when the minimum wage was bumped from $14.35 to $15.00 and adjusted later that year through COLA to $15.50.
Through campaigning, we won a $15 federal minimum wage and COLA at the end of 2021.
These wins were crucial, because inflation took off in 2022 as a result of the COVID crisis and other external factors. Today, the federal minimum wage is $17.75 and Ontario’s minimum wage will be adjusted to $17.60 on October 1 of this year.
Decent Work Organizing Updates from the meeting
Lessons for winning Healthcare-for-All in the US
Decent Work and Health Network
Anwaar Baobeid shared lessons from a panel hosted with speakers who helped win healthcare for undocumented and migrant workers in the US.Key lessons learnt included:
- Building strong coalitions between union, non-union workers and the community
- Storytelling to reframe the narrative around migrants
- Identifying champions in both government and in the healthcare system.
These lessons from their victories can help guide the organizing for both healthcare for all and our worker first response to the tariffs.
Safe staffing ratios save lives
Ontario Nurses Association
Gloria Cardinal-Tan reported back on the 26 rallies that happened across Ontario demanding safe staffing ratios. At present, Ontario hospitals do not have a fixed nurse-to-patio staffing ratio. And because there’s a shortage of 25,000 registered nurses in Ontario, this understaffing has hurt patient care and led to nurses’ burn out. We expect nurses and the Ontario Hospital Association to go to arbitration in April, so stay tuned for more updates and actions.
Teaching assistants deserve decent work
PSAC Local 901 at Queens University
Jake Morrow made a call for solidarity as teaching assistants (TA’s) at Queen's University have been on strike since March 10. Jake said Queen’s graduate TA’s do not make enough to live in Kingston. For example, he makes only $23,000 a year, from which he has to pay $8,000 in tuition (despite not taking any classes). TA’s low wages are made worse by the high cost of housing. Queen’s University is also to blame for unaffordable rent, since it is the primary landlord and owns much of the rental housing and land in the City of Kingston.
Toronto City workers win a collective agreement
CUPE Local 79 in Toronto
Talla Ahmad celebrated with us that CUPE Local 79 won one of their best collective agreements in years. With the help of solidarity from unions, the community and the Justice for Workers campaign, CUPE 79 firmly stood their ground against the City. A big take-away is the importance of CUPE 79 centering the needs of the lowest paid workers and standing up for part-time union members. Because 13,000 of the 30,000 members of CUPE 79 earned only the minimum wage of $17.20, CUPE 79 members made the demand for a $20 minimum wage a strike issue in that round of bargaining. Talla was proud to announce they won a starting wage of $20.15 an hour! In addition, they won dollar value wage increases for all members, which helps to close the gap between the highest-paid members and the lowest-paid members.
Tools to fight for emergency supports for the tariff crisis
We can’t wait for a new Prime Minister to be elected to start organizing for a tariff response that puts workers first. Check out the tariff emergency webpage for tools to fight back. We’ve created tools such as posters, leaflets and petitions to talk to people about what’s at stake. If you haven’t done so yet, please send an email to federal election candidates, as well as provincial and territorial governments.
In addition, if you’re in a union or community organization, we have a sample resolution you modify to suit the needs of your organization. And if you are a Federal candidate, union or community organization, we would love it if you would endorse the No One Left Behind agenda.
Next Organizing Meeting: Tuesday April 22, 7:00 pm EDT
The tariff crisis and trade wars will hurt workers and their communities. But when workers organize, we can win. Whether it’s raising the minimum wage or winning healthcare for all, change is possible if we stay united.
Our next online decent work organizing meeting is scheduled on Tuesday April 22 at 7:00 pm EDT. RSVP for April’s online meeting and we’ll send you a Zoom link with the details.
