On March 21, Unifor marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a day rooted in the tragic events of the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960, when South African police opened fire on peaceful anti-apartheid demonstrators, killing 69 people.

This internationally-recognized day serves as a solemn reminder of the ongoing fight against racism all over the world and the need for collective action to build a more just and equitable society.

Unity in uncertain times

As we reflect on this day, Canada faces growing economic uncertainty driven by economic and political decisions by the government of the United States. With a trade war escalating and unjust policies threatening Canadian industries, workers across the country are feeling the strain. In times like these, racial division and discrimination only weaken workers’ ability to stand together and fight for fundamental workplace rights and economic security.

Racism is not just a social injustice—it is a tool used to divide workers, suppress wages, and erode union and worker power.

Now more than ever, Canadians must reject division and stand united to protect our jobs, industries, and communities. Unifor remains steadfast in our commitment to racial and economic justice, ensuring that no worker is left behind.

Unifor’s commitment to racial justice

Unifor is taking on-going and meaningful action to combat racial discrimination in workplaces and communities. The union reaffirms its ongoing comitment to ending racial discrimination through the following initiatives:

• Local and regional BIWOC committees—Supporting Black, Indigenous, and Workers of Colour by fostering community,  democratic engagement and advocacy within Unifor locals, their communities, and regions.
• Racial Justice Advocates—Unifor negotiates with employers to have dedicated workplace union leaders who offer support to racialized workers, address racial discrimination, and promote equity.
• Unifor education programs—Providing training and workshops on anti-racism, allyship, inclusive leadership, and more.
• Social Justice Fund initiatives—Unifor’s Social Justice Fund supports grassroots organizations and initiatives that fight racism, defend human rights, and promote equity in Canada and globally.
• Unifor Local Union Equity Fund—Provides financial support to Unifor locals for initiatives that promote equity, inclusion, and anti-racism in workplaces and communities.

Unifor’s call to action

The fight against racism is inseparable from the fight for economic and social justice.

On this day, Unifor calls on all members to challenge racism in their workplaces, their communities, and within the union. Members are also encouraged to participate in March 21 events in their communities.

Let us stand together—not just on March 21, but every day—in pursuit of a more just and equitable Canada for all.

A monthly review of labour market insights.

Mr. Bibic,
The threat of U.S.-imposed tariffs on Canadian goods is cause for great concern, as you will no doubt agree. Unjustified tariffs, of the magnitude the U.S. President is proposing, will upend the North American economy – hurting workers, businesses, and consumers on both sides of the border. The waging of “economic warfare” on Canada, emboldened by a stated desire (whether serious or not) to annex Canada, presents an existential crisis for this country. Canadians, across all civil society, are standing up to the threat, as they must. As the country collectively copes with this economic crisis and open threat to our sovereignty the work of Canadians in telecommunications, media and journalism has never been so important.
Bell Canada, and its 20,000 Unifor-represented employees working in telecommunications and media divisions, are not immune from this threat or the consequences of a trade war. The real possibility of an economic downturn caused by tariffs will hurt the entire Canadian economy, as well as raise concerns for firms – like Bell – with investments in significant U.S. assets (e.g. Ziply). Further, U.S. officials have, for many years, issued complaints over Canadian telecommunications and media policies and regulations, deeming them (albeit incorrectly) non-tariff barriers. This includes Canada’s existing foreign ownership rules (meant to preserve domestic ownership over strategic telecommunications resources) and the digital services tax (meant to rebalance tax treatment of large, multinational digital service providers), among others.
The U.S. has also raised complaints with Canadian-content rules, and Canadian television market protections –which, along with French language and Quebec content, are vital to keeping Canadian control of our national broadcast and telecommunications landscape.  We anticipate these, and other important policies and regulations, will be unfairly targeted by proposed “reciprocity” measures announced by the U.S. President just days ago.
Mr. Bibic, these U.S. tariffs and U.S. trade actions pose real danger to Canada, its communications industry, and the workers who build, service and maintain it. As such I am requesting a meeting with you, and all relevant Bell Canada officials, to provide our union a comprehensive assessment of this threat across company operations that affect our members.
Further, and as a part of this dialogue, I would ask that you share with us Bell Canada’s plans to mitigate the economic threat and protect jobs in Canada, as well any contingency plans to cope with tariff threats. I would also like to know what possibilities Bell Canada sees to potentially grow its business, including through rural and remote broadband infrastructure expansion.
It is important that our union understand these plans and have an opportunity to raise questions, so that we can ensure Unifor members are supported in this time of crisis.
I appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to speaking with you as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
Lana Payne
National President

Canada’s forestry sector is directly in the crosshairs of U.S. President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff strategy. Trump’s recent comment that he is considering additional tariffs on imported Canadian lumber – which would be on top the existing U.S. countervailing duties (CVDs) and anti-dumping duties (ADDs), and the threatened 25% border tariff – clearly demonstrates that Canada’s forestry sector will be a critical flashpoint in the U.S.-instigated trade war.

Even before the current threat of tariffs by the United States on Canada, our country’s forestry sector has been experiencing a perfect storm of repeated and intersecting crises. A combination of economic, environmental, and global challenges continues to destabilize the broader forestry sector, including:

• Lack of access to fibre continues to hamper operations in many regions,
• The impacts of insect kill are still being felt,
• Forest fires were less destructive in 2024 than the previous year, but still bad, and remain a significant annual risk,
• Important conservation efforts continue to complicate long-term planning,
• Generally flat prices are still making companies think twice about investments,
• And new EU regulations could negatively impact the ability of Canadian forest products to be sold in that market and around the world.

At the same time, the softwood lumber crisis continues, with U.S. countervailing duties (CVDs) and anti-dumping duties (ADDs) increasing last year, up to an average of around 15%. Later this year, we expect another review that could again double these softwood duties to around 30%.

Despite these challenges, Canada’s forestry sector is still an important economic and employment engine, especially in smaller, rural communities from coast to coast. In 2022, the forestry sector contributed approximately $33.7 billion to Canada’s economy, which is about 1.2% of the national GDP. The sector generates annual revenues in excess of $87.2 billion and provides 200,000 direct jobs in hundreds of communities across the country.

In 2023, Canada’s forestry exports (including lumber, raw logs, wood chips, manufactured wood products, and pulp and paper) totalled almost $38 billion. Of that, $29.3 billion, or roughly 77%, is exported to the United States.

The U.S. domestic production of softwood lumber is not sufficient to meet the demand from the home-building industry, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Association of Home Builders. The U.S. imports about 25% of its total softwood lumber consumption from Canada. 

In other words, along with providing essential wood-based products such as packaging, diapers, hygiene products, paper towels, toilet paper, magazines, and specialty paper, Canadian softwood lumber and engineered wood products are helping the U.S. address its housing crisis. Canadian forestry workers are proud to know their products are helping ordinary Americans rebuild their communities in places like North Carolina, which was hit hard by Hurricane Helen, and around Los Angeles, which was recently devastated by wildfires.

The U.S. tariff threat poses an existential threat to Canada’s forestry sector. But at the same time, this threat is also a wake-up call for governments and forestry companies in this country. We must work together through this current tariff storm, but we must also look ahead to the transformation of our sector, building a more sustainable, inclusive and innovative forestry industry for future generations.

Unifor’s Forestry Council and its 22,100 members spread across 10 Canadian provinces – who work in a variety of forestry and logging occupations as well as wood product and pulp and paper manufacturing facilities – are committed to defending the Canadian forestry industry to protect jobs, investments and industrial capacity through whatever means necessary.

We will fight to defend and preserve our forests, mills and factories, our tools and machinery, and our forestry-dependent communities. We will work to sustain operations, and ensure they serve Canada’s productive, industrial objectives and ambitions.

We will continue working with federal, provincial and municipal governments to develop economic protection and financial assistance plans, trade diversification strategies, mitigate job losses and enhance income security provisions for all workers. We will lean on our strong collective agreement provisions to ensure Unifor members – and all Canadian forestry workers – can navigate this challenge.

Above all, we will work to end this economic threat that imperils our industry and our broader economy. We will coordinate with like-minded allies, and those willing to stand up for a brighter, more prosperous future of fair trade, good forestry jobs, global solidarity, and mutual respect.