International Women’s Day is a global day of celebration of women and women’s achievements.  It was started by working women to call attention to poor pay and working conditions. It grew to include a call for women’s right to vote and stand for office. Today it is a day to celebrate equality gains and recommit to action and persistence towards full equality for all equity-seeking groups.

Unifor marks International Women’s Day with an intersectional approach to gender equality and a particular recognition of the barriers facing Indigenous women, women with disAbilities, non-binary people, racialized and trans women.

Women’s inequality is glaringly evident in the gender pay gap, low numbers of women in leadership, high rates of gender-based violence and the frustrating lack of action on structures of equality such as universal child care.

Government leaders at the municipal, provincial and especially federal levels play an integral role in advancing gender equity. Member mobilization will ramp up in the months and weeks preceding the federal election, as we set up efforts to ensure that public policy, legislation and government action prioritizes gender equality.

Our struggles, recent and historic, for the advancement of workers’ rights reminds us that change happens through collective action. Join the International Women’s Day march in your community, post this shareable to your social media, and be active in the push for true gender equality.

Please tag us on Twitter @UnifortheUnion, and on Facebook and Instagram at @UniforCanada so we can share your pictures.

For a complete list of marches across Canada, please click here.

Unifor’s ground breaking Women’s Advocate program

A Women’s Advocate is a specially trained workplace representative who assists women with concerns such as workplace harassment, intimate violence and abuse. The Women’s Advocate is not a counsellor but rather provides support for women accessing community and workplace resources.

These specially-trained, easy to contact workplace representatives have been instrumental in creating healthier workplaces and safer communities. We work closely with management ensuring strong cooperation to achieve this goal.

One of the best tools the union has to prevent violence against women and workplace harassment is the Women’s Advocate program.

To learn more about the program and how you can negotiate Women's Advocate language, click here.

To learn more about bargaining a Domestic Violence Policy & Program click here

In Solidarity,

Lisa Kelly
Director, Women's Deparment