June 1st is Ontario Injured Workers Day

On June 1, 1983, over three thousand protesters gathered at Queen’s Park and on the steps of the legislature. It was a time of civic activism.

Unions were protesting unregulated workplace health hazards and lack of worker rights over their own safety. Many were organizing to protest the way they and their claims were being handled by a hostile and often discriminatory WSIB board and the medical consultants. They demanded to be treated with respect and dignity.

They successfully opposed the government proposal to eliminate disability insurance for workers permanently disabled on the job. They were able to force the government to look at major changes to Ontario workers compensation system. Pressure by injured workers groups eventually had them agree to set aside a day of hearings for injured workers to voice their concerns. It was the start they needed.

Our work is far from done. WSIB statistics show that in Ontario claims for lost time injuries affect thousands of workers on the job every year.

Sadly, the Ontario government continues to cut back WSIB and health benefits for injured workers.

Injured Workers groups and supporters in Ontario have raised the issue of the annual indexing of injured workers benefits with the WSIB and government. While the consumer price index was 4.7%, WSIB only gave 2.7%.

On November 2, 2021, the Ontario government announced that the minimum wage will increase to $15.00/hr on January 1, 2022. There are unintended consequences that arise for injured workers as a result of the hikes to the minimum wage. Fairness requires that minimum wage increases should not be used to reduce the benefits of unemployed injured workers who are deemed/determined to have earnings from jobs they do not have and are not available to them.

Age 65 is the cut off age for injured worker benefits. This puts a large number of seniors at risk of financial instability. The skyrocketing cost of living is on top of the minds of many Ontarians heading into June’s provincial election. The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board’s (WSIB) arbitrary and discriminatory age 65 cut off for wage loss benefits must be changed to support a growing number of senior workers.

No one is immune to injuries but through increased awareness and better safety measures that have been fought for by Unions, fewer workers need medical treatment for avoidable mishaps.

The movement by generations of workers as well as injured workers groups across the province has transformed the lives of all workers and we thank them for their dedication.

June 1^st of every year we the workers rally and stand together to acknowledge and support workers that may be seriously injured or lost their lives.

It is important that all workers in Ontario continue the work that was started 39 years ago. We have come along way in 39 years, but we are not finished. We must continue the fight for workers rights to a safe work environment and access to a safety net if the unthinkable happens and we are severity injured.

Please this June 1^st attend and support the Injured Workers Day rally in your area. Each one of us can make a difference.

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Statement from COPE President Annette Toth on Alberta government’s strike busting

October 29, 2025

Annette Toth, President of the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union (COPE), has released this statement in response to the Government of Alberta’s use of the notwithstanding clause to attack the rights of teachers and to end the teachers’ strike. COPE represents tens of thousands of union workers in both the public and private sector across Canada:

COPE strongly condemns the Government of Alberta and Premier Danielle Smith’s assault on the rights of the striking teachers in Alberta by invoking the notwithstanding clause to force teachers back to work.

No matter how the Government of Alberta attempts to frame it, this is nothing but an attack on the fundamental rights of teachers who are exercising their rights as workers and doing their part to defend public education and students in Alberta by asking the government to address critical issues that are affecting the educational experience, including class sizes and the need for student support.

By taking this action, the Government of Alberta is also showing they have little regard for workers’ rights in general and would be willing to use this method to attack workers and union members in any sector as they see ﬁt.

Our union, and our tens of thousands of members across the country, stands in solidarity with the teachers in Alberta, and with the Alberta Teachers’ Association, in their continued efforts to defend public education and workers’ rights in the face of a government that has shown little regard for either.

:kc

See original statement

TRUTH, RECONCILIATION AND UNIONS

Next week, Canadians observe National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, or Orange Shirt Day, an important step on the road to remaking colonial relationships with Indigenous peoples.

There's always the risk that putting the date in the calendar will be taken as a sign of mission accomplished, but nothing could be farther from the truth.

In fact, recent moves by the federal and Ontario governments seem to be moving us backward, not forward. Bill C-5 in the House of Commons and Bill 5 in Ontario undermine the constitutional obligation to consult First Nations on natural resource development proposals. Mark Carney, Doug Ford and their governments have disrespected Indigenous peoples and not treated them as equal partners.

The rush to cut, dig and mine wilderness areas — many of which are Treaty territory or subject to land claims — put unions in a difficult position. On the one hand, high-paying jobs for our members would be welcome at this economically uncertain time.

But what of our obligations to support truth and reconciliation? Unions have worked hard on internal equity and being allies of Indigenous peoples. But the words of our land acknowledgements will ring allow if we desert first peoples to sit with governments and corporations to advance their interests rather than those of Indigenous peoples.

On September 30, let us all — individuals and unions — be mindful of the crimes of the past, recommit ourselves to the hard work of reconciliation, and work with and not against the aspirations of Indigenous peoples.

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS' FIGHT OUR FIGHT

The federal labour board says the Air Canada flight attendants' strike is illegal, that once ordered back to work they have to go. Or else.

But which party is actually defying the law here?

The Supreme Court of Canada has consistently ruled that the ability to bargain a collective agreement and to strike to get one are constitutionally protected.

Great news for Toronto transit and COPE members

Finally, the news for which we've been waiting for so long.

The governments of Canada, Ontario and Toronto jointly announced today that the contract for new TTC subway trains will go to Alstom Transport Canada Inc. in Thunder Bay.

That is good news for members of COPE Local 81 who work at Alstom.

It is also a welcome development for Toronto transit — 55 of the six-car trains will replace aging Line 2 equipment. The other 15 are for the Yonge North and Scarborough subway extensions.

More good unions jobs, fewer transit delays because of equipment breakdowns.