This Black History Month, Unifor proudly honours the theme Black Resistance: Honouring contributions, advancing justice. Black history is not only about the past, but also about the courage, leadership, and resilience that continue to shape our workplaces, our communities, and our movement today.

Black resistance has always been an incredible force for progress. From the fight against enslavement and segregation, to the struggle for human rights, safer workplaces, good jobs and fair wages. Black people have consistently stood at the front lines of change. These struggles laid the groundwork for many of the rights all working people rely on and enjoy today.

Across Canada, honouring contributions means recognizing how Black workers have built industries, strengthened unions, and enriched every sector of our economy. Their labour, creativity, and leadership have helped define this country and this union and will continue to help all of us persevere through the great challenges facing working people today.

Yet Black workers continue to face systemic racism, economic inequality, and barriers to opportunity. Discrimination in hiring and promotion, wage gaps, racial profiling, and inequitable access to housing and healthcare remain realities of many working people in Canada today. These injustices are not accidental. They are the result of systems that must be challenged and changed.

Advancing justice is not optional. It is core to who we are as a union and something we prioritize in every part of our work. We will continue to confront racism in our workplaces and in society. We will organize, bargain, educate, and mobilize to ensure Black workers are protected, respected, and empowered. We will amplify Black voices in our union and stand in solidarity with Black communities in the fight for equity and dignity.

Black History Month is a time to reflect, but it is also a call to action. Honouring contributions means more than remembering, it means building a future where all workers can thrive without barriers, where resistance leads to real change, and where justice is not promised, but delivered.

Together, we will continue this important work to foster solidarity among all working people by confronting racism wherever it exists, uplifting Black voices, and building workplaces and a society, rooted in justice for all.