Human Rights

On 2023 World Toilet Day, Unifor stands in solidarity with the global movement to address the critical issue of sanitation, emphasizing the importance of safe and inclusive washroom facilities for all, particularly for women and 2SLGBTQI+ members. 

REGINA—The safety of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth is under threat after Sask Party Education Minister Dustin Duncan announced sudden, sweeping changes to education policy that will make some queer and trans students unsafe in the classroom. 

On August 1, 1834, the Slavery Abolition Act took effect laying a pathway to freedom for enslaved people in British colonies across the globe, including here in Canada. The ongoing impact of slavery on Black and Indigenous peoples spans generations. If we are to uproot and dismantle racism, we must confront our history and the terrible legacy of exclusion, segregation, displacement, and violence.

Unifor supports the calls by families of missing women Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran for police and municipal professionals to thoroughly search the Brady Road landfill for their remains. Police believe the bodies of the two women were deposited there by their killer last year.

Unifor also supports extending the search at the landfill to include Tanya Nepinak, whose remains were suspected to have been taken there in 2011.

On June 20, we observe World Refugee Day, a crucial opportunity to raise awareness and advocate for the rights and well-being of refugees worldwide.

According to the UNHCR, the number of refugees surpassed 35 million by the end of 2022, with an additional 108.4 million people forcibly displaced from their home countries due to various reasons such as war, conflict, famine, human rights abuses, and climate change. Shockingly, the global displacement crisis now exceeds the scale seen during World War II.

On March 21, we recognize the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to mark the infamous day in 1960, when Sharpeville, South Africa, police drew their guns and murdered peaceful demonstrators, who were protesting against apartheid “pass laws.”

They huddled in sleeping bags in the back of their cars and set up tents in parking lots in locations across Canada in a show of solidarity to tackle homelessness.

Unifor locals, members and staff participated in Raising the Roof’s “One Night” event on Feb. 7, 2023 to raise awareness and money for the organization’s homelessness prevention programs. Unifor's fundraising efforts reached over $70,000, contributing approximately half of the $142,261 total raised nation-wide at One Night events.