n a time marked by uncertainty, turbulence and growing feelings of insecurity, Human Rights Day, marked every December 10, serves as a powerful reminder that human rights are not abstract principles—they are our everyday essentials.

They shape our routines, our workplaces, our relationships and the possibilities available to us. They are the quiet protections and freedoms that allow people to live with dignity, safety and hope.

This year’s theme, Human Rights: Our Everyday Essentials, underscores three simple truths—human rights are positive, human rights are essential, and human rights are attainable.

These values guide Unifor’s ongoing commitment to workers and communities across Canada and around the world.

Human rights don’t only protect us from harm, they create the conditions for joy, security and opportunity.

Unifor recognizes that human rights are lived realities. When workers feel safe to organize, when families can rely on fair wages, when individuals can speak up without fear—these are expressions of human rights in action. They bring stability, happiness and possibility into daily life.

Human rights are the common ground shared across differences of race, gender, belief, identity or background. These rights anchor us in times of instability, whether it’s economic, political, or both. When everything feels uncertain, your right to safety, freedom of expression, decent work and fair treatment becomes the bedrock on which life is built.

Across Canada and globally, these essential rights continue to be threatened. Violence, discrimination, exploitation and systemic inequality undermine the safety and wellbeing of working people, particularly women, racialized communities, Indigenous peoples, 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, and migrants.

Unifor stands firmly with all who defend these essential rights and demand lasting change.

Whether we are advocating for anti-scab legislation and stronger labour protections in trade agreements or supporting workers in their struggles for justice around the world, Unifor’s work is rooted in the understanding that workers’ rights are human rights—and these rights are essential.

We remain committed to elevating the voices of equity-deserving workers and ensuring that their rights are fully represented through collective bargaining and union advocacy.

Human rights begin with everyday actions. They start with how we treat one another—speaking up against unfairness, supporting coworkers, listening to those whose voices have been ignored. These small choices build a culture of dignity and fairness.

But human rights also depend on our collective actions. Unions like Unifor play a critical role in this collective work.

The right to organize and bargain collectively is one of the most powerful tools workers have to make human rights attainable. It ensures fair wages, safe workplaces and dignity on the job. The erosion of these rights, through legislation, underfunding or corporate pressure, has profound consequences for working people across Canada and globally.

As we mark Human Rights Day, we honour the courage of those, past and present, who have led the fight for equality, fairness and justice. Their resilience teaches us that human rights are not merely ideals; they are attainable realities built through generations of collective effort.

Unifor commits to carrying this legacy forward by continuing to fight for social justice, economic equality, and a world where every person can live with respect and dignity.

A Call to Action

The Resolution No. 7—Temporary Foreign Worker Programs and Regularization of Immigration Status passed at Unifor’s Constitutional Convention in Vancouver in August, and further campaign work will continue to advance its goals and build on the newly released resource guide on Strengthening Worker Unity and Inclusion.

On this Human Rights Day, Unifor calls on governments, employers and institutions to take concrete, measurable steps to protect and strengthen human rights.

We urge all workers to stand in solidarity and demand a world built on equality, freedom and justice.

We also call on governments at every level to protect the right to organize and ensure strong, fair collective bargaining—because these rights are not optional. They are positive. They are essential. And they are attainable.

Together, through solidarity and collective action, we can build a more just, united and peaceful world where human rights truly are everyday essentials.

To the Standing Committee on Heritage, Infrastructure and Cultural Policy,

My name is Samia Hashi, and I am the Ontario Regional Director of Unifor. I am writing share some concerns regarding Bill 46, Protect Ontario by Cutting Red Tape Act, 2025, specifically regarding proposed amendments to the Crown Forest Sustainability Act, 1994.

Unifor is Canada’s largest private sector union, with more than 320,000 members across the country, working in every major sector of the Canadian economy. Unifor’s 24,000 forestry sector members – including more than 4,000 in Ontario – work in a variety of forestry, logging, and firefighting occupations as well as wood product, bioenergy and pulp and paper manufacturing facilities.

Ontario’s forestry sector continues to experience a perfect storm of repeated and intersecting crises, and a combination of economic, environmental, and global challenges continues to destabilize the broader sector.

The ongoing softwood lumber dispute and the threat of further tariffs have intensified a trade war that are causing disastrous repercussions across the forestry sector. Earlier this year, the United States Department of Commerce raised combined preliminary softwood duties on Canadian softwood lumber to 34.45%.

The U.S. government has subsequently imposed new Section 232 tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber, effective as of October 14, 2025, adding a 10% tariff on top of the existing softwood duties, resulting in total duties/tariffs exceeding 45%.

In addition, every season, wildfires pose a serious threat to our forests, forestry operations, and communities that depend on forestry. Important conservation measures, including species and habitat protection efforts, continue to complicate long-term planning for the sector.

These financial challenges and other pressures have frozen investments in Ontario’s forestry sector and threatened the economic viability of many of our workplaces. Forestry workers and their families are struggling with layoffs, curtailments and closures, and Ontario’s forestry-dependent communities face an uncertain future.

Defending and rebuilding Canada’s proud forestry sector requires a comprehensive industrial strategy, spearheaded by the federal and provincial governments and informed by all relevant stakeholders, especially workers.

It is in this context that I wish to provide some comments on Bill 46, Protect Ontario by Cutting Red Tape Act, 2025, especially regarding related amendments to the Crown Forest Sustainability Act, 1994 (CFSA).

Bill 46 would amend the CFSA to allow the removal of forest resources (e.g., trees) for non-forestry purposes (e.g., roads, mining, utility corridors) under a streamlined regulatory process. This could create a regulatory disparity between the forestry sector and other sectors, since forestry operators would remain bound to the full CFSA licensing regime. We are concerned about the possible unintended consequences that could arrive from this arrangement, especially regarding operational fairness, compliance expectations, or sector competitiveness.

To be clear, Unifor supports effective, science-based regulations that promote responsible, sustainable business operations, economic development, Reconciliation, and conservation.

Sincerely,

Samia Hashi
Ontario Regional Director, Unifor

Nearly 70 Unifor members working across the food and retail warehouse sector met for a strategy session November 28–30 in Toronto.

The meeting was called to assemble key local activists to discuss building capacity in the sector with the goal of improving standards for all. Priority issues included wages, benefits, workload, and the growing threat of unchecked automation in the workplace.

Unifor National President Lana Payne joined remotely, offering solidarity and inspiration during a time when employers are consolidating and flexing their own power: “We are fighting global giants and we are winning. But we must continue to fight because warehouse workers everywhere are watching this moment. They are counting on all of us.”

Participants heard a presentation on the Organizing Department’s recent work in the sector and a discussion was held about strategies for increasing union density within the sector. Presentations were also delivered by representatives from Unifor’s research, pensions & benefits, and legal departments as well as newly elected Retail Council Chairperson Doug Gray and the Council executive committee. Participants were also supported by the attendance of Unifor National Executive Board members Gord Currie and Guy Desforges.

Members spent significant time during the weekend discussing tactics for coordinating upcoming bargaining and fighting back against a growing list of challenges presented by unregulated technologies and greed driven by corporate headquarters.

“Warehousing is essential, but the pressures are real: automation and AI, safety concerns, unpredictable scheduling, intense corporate consolidation, and now the added strain of U.S. trade disruptions,” said Unifor Ontario Regional Director Samia Hashi. “If we don’t define the future of these jobs, corporations will. And we all know what that looks like.”