Each day we benefit from the labour of millions of workers who give large proportions of their lives to provide us with everything that makes up modern life, from providing power and fuel to making finished goods and moving and taking care of people. Sadly, every year, thousands suffer injury or illness because of their working conditions and horrifyingly, workers continue to die on the job or as a result of it.

Since our last Day of Mourning, we remember Unifor members:

Yan Ni, Local 252

Camil Pouliot, Local 299

Adam Love, Local 4268

Michael Daye, Local 506

Brad Poupard, Local 2009AP

Jean-Xavier Proulx, Local 299

Terry Roberts, FFAW-Unifor

Michael Gravelle, Local 6008

Paul Totten, Local 45

They are not forgotten.

“Mourn the Dead, Fight for the Living”

The slogan for the Day of Mourning reflects the need to remember those who have lost their lives but also contains a strong reminder of the need to press for improvements in health and safety in our workplaces, ensuring workers are protected from the workplace hazards that lead to preventable, needless death, serious injury or illness.

On April 28, too many Canadians can name a victim of a workplace fatality, disease or injury. The years may have passed but the work-related death statistics have not improved. Multiple fatality incidents every year across the country still shock us. On average, three Canadians die every day from their work. As a society, we must do more to protect working people.

The lives of the families of those killed and injured in these and other workplace tragedies change immeasurably; they often feel let down by a justice system that takes far too long to establish exactly how their loved ones died, or in the case of those injured or ill, the circumstances that led to them to suffer life-changing injuries or illnesses.

Occupational health and safety laws across Canada require employers to take every precaution reasonable to safeguard workers. When this duty of care is not met, employers can be subject to compliance orders and prosecution. But when this breach amounts to a wanton or reckless disregard for the lives and safety of workers resulting in death or bodily harm, justice demands more. The Canadian labour movement  lobbied for 12 years to amend the Criminal Code which is embodied in Bill C-45, also known as the ‘Westray Law’, which was enacted in 2004.

Although there is a need for new or improved health and safety regulations in a number of areas, even more urgently, Unifor demands that all Canadian regulators enforce existing laws vigorously and effectively, including the Criminal Code Amendments.

On April 28, please take time to reflect on the service rendered to each of us by thousands of unseen workers who make up the workforce in our communities and who support the lives we lead. This is also an important time to revisit your workplace’s health and safety measures and review the resources available through your union.

Let us collectively ensure that this year’s Day of Mourning observances send a strong message to all governments and law enforcement agencies. At every opportunity, we need to tell our elected politicians that we want action and we intend to support only those who will give us this commitment.

Download Unifor’s Day of Mourning poster and social media sharables here. Post messages on social media, tag your representatives, and tell them we demand strong protection for workers.

We ask all Unifor Locals to share stories and photos of activities and events related to participation in this year’s Day of Mourning activities at healthandsafety@unifor.org.

Representation matters.

Unifor celebrates Asian Heritage Month in May by joining with our members to celebrate accomplishments and honour people’s complex and diverse experiences from all across Asia including, eastern, northern, southeast, central and western Asia – from language and culture to stories of immigration.

Asian Heritage Month has been celebrated since the 1990s, but it wasn’t until 2001, that the Canadian Senate adopted a motion proposed by Senator Vivienne Poy to officially designate May as Asian Heritage Month. The following year, the Canadian government officially declared May as Asian Heritage Month.

2023 is significant as it marks the 100th anniversary of the revocation of the head tax, a large fee charged to discourage Chinese people from entering Canada. Shamefully, it was replaced with the Chinese Immigration Act – also known as the “Chinese Exclusion Act” – which virtually halted all immigration from China.

It took until 1947 for the government to repeal the Act, but Chinese immigrants were still treated inequitably. In 2006, the Canadian government formally acknowledged, and apologized for this discriminatory treatment.

Discrimination and racism are not things of the past. During the pandemic, there was a 300% increase in police-reported hate crimes, according to StatsCan.

Most recently, some members of the Chinese-Canadian community have expressed concern about racist backlash relating to geopolitical incidents involving China.

With anti-Asian sentiment and racially motivated crimes against people of Asian descent still prevalent, we must also see Asian Heritage Month as a time to act, to come together to combat all forms of anti-Asian racism and discrimination.

Our union is committed to anti-racism and has expressed clear calls of action to demand government support of Asian community organizations and for measures to help end racism and discrimination.

We believe it is the role of our union to create safer workplaces and dedicated spaces to celebrate the invaluable contributions and accomplishments of Asian people and our diverse membership, by bargaining for workplace protections. This includes initiatives such as bargaining float days that could be used for culturally significant days.

We encourage all locals, unions and Unifor activists to not only encourage workplaces to create opportunities for our Asian, and Black, Indigenous and Workers of Colour members in leadership roles, but to heed the same call.

By being in leadership roles, Asian voices can be properly heard and represented, with the ability to make real change.

We call on our members to be allies. Examine your thoughts and closely held views of Asian people for unconscious biases. Recognize and understand the challenges and barriers faced by Asian and South Asian members of our communities and of our union. Do not stand by silently. Speak against xenophobia, challenge stereotypes and support those experiencing racism and discrimination.

Let’s embrace our workers’ successes. We encourage members of the diverse Asian communities to spread their messages of calls to action and positive achievements on social media and for all members to post our new shareable, using the hashtag, #Unifor4RacialJustice.

For more information on Asian Heritage Month, visit this page.