Workers at the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) want fair wages that keep them up with the rising cost of living. Wages at CBA have not kept pace with inflation for several years. In some years wage increases were below the rate of inflation, and in other years, there were no increases at all. In a proposed two-year agreement, the CBA thinks it’s fair to demand that our members accept a 1% lump sum payment for year one and a 1% increase in year two. This is far below what’s fair, and CBA workers demand better. Go to cope225cba.ca for more information.

COPE Ontario celebrates Black History Month and recognizes the contributions and achievements of Black Canadians in and outside of the Labour Movement.

Black Trade Union members have fought, achieved and are playing key roles in shaping our labour movement across Canada. COPE Ontario stands up against racism and discrimination, demonstrating this commitment by striving for strong collective agreements language that empowers workers to confront and end racism and promote workplace diversity and equality. This year’s theme for Black History Month is “Canadians of African Descent: Going forward, guided by the past”; inspired by the United Nations’ International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2025).

During Anti-Bullying Week, union leaders representing education workers in both the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board and Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board came together to share and discuss mutual concerns regarding the impact, and increase, of violence and violent incidents within our classrooms and community. Click to read press release.

COPE Ontario joined nine other unions, together representing more than 250,000 thousand affected broader public sector employees, and announced their intention to launch a coordinated Charter challenge against Bill 124. As well, the Ontario Labour movement, with the Power of Many, will be initiating an aggressive campaign to repeal Bill 124, legislation introduced by the Ford government that allows the government to impose compensation caps, including for pension and health care improvements, on a variety of unionized and non-unionized public sector workplaces. Click to read the press release - Bill124 charter challenge. 

Early July, Bombardier announced they would be cutting their 1,100-member Thunder Bay workforce by nearly 50%. This is beyond partisan politics; the federal and provincial politicians MUST commit in policy and action to putting Canadian local content first for ALL taxpayer funded projects and hold Bombardier accountable to keeping jobs in Canada. This is the time for decisive action – of courage to put Canadian jobs first, our families and communities first over profit. Click to read full statement.