The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists Canada (CBTU) is calling upon the community and the labour movement as a whole to pay close attention to two test cases currently before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. The cases follow a recent Supreme Court of Canada decision that could result in Black unionized employees’ losing the right to file human rights complaints in Ontario.
On the eve of the June 2 provincial election, the CBTU is urging community and labour allies to ensure that human rights protections for all workers become a campaign issue, and that the Doug Ford Conservatives’ be held to account for the erosion of these rights in Ontario. For nearly 20 years, unionized employees in Ontario have enjoyed the right to choose how to raise a complaint when faced with human rights violations in the workplace: by filing a grievance through a collective agreement procedure or by filing an application at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO). Over this period of time, the HRTO has developed specialized expertise in cases involving anti-Black racism, ranging from acts of hate, racial profiling, and more subtle microaggressions–all of which have been documented in every sector of employment. Indeed, significant portions of Ontario’s human rights legislation are the outcome of generations of anti-racist struggle in a “long road to justice” led by Black Ontarians, such as trade unionists Bromley Armstrong, June Veecock, Janice Gairey, and numerous other activists. In October 2021, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that effectively ended the right of the vast majority of unionized employees in Manitoba to bring complaints to the province’s human rights commission. The decision noted that in most cases collective agreements provided sufficient protection for union members’ human rights, but failed to acknowledge systemic barriers that Black workers and other Equity-seeking groups face in grievance and arbitration processes. For example, only a small percentage of grievances reach arbitration, and decisions to proceed to arbitration are frequently based on considerations such as arbitration costs. While discrimnation is prohibited by every collective agreement, the extent to which employees are able to enforce their human rights is subject to the power dynamics between employers and the bargaining unit, and the commitment of unions’ leadership to addressing discrimination. Recourse in instances where legitimate cases are not pursued is extremely limited. The experience of Black workers to pursue a case all the way to arbitration is often as difficult– and as traumatizing–as the initial experience of discrimination in the workplace, and almost always takes a severe emotional and psychological toll. Concurrent jurisdiction, which allows unionized employees to file complaints at the HRTO, increases access to justice in the workplace, by affording Black and other Equity-seeking workers a choice on the most appropriate forum to hear their cases. “For decades, Black trade unionists have been at the forefront of making our unions more alert and responsive to the realities of anti-Black racism at work,” said Yolanda McClean, President of CBTU Canada. “But we also understand that Black workers sometimes feel safer and more confident having their complaints heard at the Tribunal on human rights grounds. It would be a major step backwards if Black unionized employees in Ontario lost that right.” In response to the decision, the HRTO has recently launched a process to consider whether unionized employees in Ontario should continue to have access to the Tribunal, but CBTU leaders worry that Black trade unionists may be excluded due to the lack of formal notice about the process and extremely short deadlines that the CBTU only became aware of by chance. “The wider labour movement in Ontario is still not fully aware that their members’ human rights are now at risk,” said Christopher Wilson, 1st Vice-President of CBTU Canada. “The HRTO must ensure that Black workers, and all other unionized employees facing an erosion of their rights, be able to participate meaningfully in this process and bring to bear our lived experiences of discrimination in the workplace.” CBTU Canada submitted an extension request to intervene in the proceeding in advance of the deadline on March 3, 2022 in order to give voice to the experiences of Black unionized employees in Ontario. The CBTU represents Black workers from every sector of the economy and from every trade union in the wider labour movement. “Black workers matter, and we will not be excluded from any discussion about our rights,” added McClean. “This really is a moment of reckoning for the HRTO, and we expect it to be accountable to all Ontarians, including Black unionized employees.” Labour and community organizations are invited to help CBTU Canada cover the legal costs of preparing its submission to the HRTO. Please donate here.
For more information, please contact:
Yolanda McClean
President, CBTU Canada
[email protected] and 416-885-6395
Christopher Wilson
1st Vice-President,
CBTU Canada
[email protected] and 416-986-9341
Greetings, CBTU Family:
November 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of our organization becoming a Chapter of the CBTU, and the beginning of our year of celebration! Please take a moment to read our Special 30th Anniversary Edition Chapter Newsletter, where we have highlighted to accomplishments of several of our dear chapter members.
On behalf of the Chapter's Executive Board, we wish you all safe, happy, and healthy season's greetings and look forward to seeing and celebrating with you at our General Membership Meeting December 16 at 6pm.
Dear CBTU chapter members,
We are 30! This year marks 30 years of being a chapter of the International CBTU. To celebrate our history and the contributions of our members towards the Canadian Labour Movement, past and present, we invite you all to a special CBTU General Membership Meeting on Tuesday, December 16 in the evening. Location TBD and will be included in our newsletter coming out within a week. Yes, of course there will be food, it wouldn't be a proper celebration without it☺️
We look forward to seeing you there!
Dear members and friends of CBTU,
The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) is holding its 18th Biennial Convention from November 17 – 21, 2025. We are proud to see so many members of the CBTU have, an continue to, step forward to announce their candidacy for elections for various roles at the convention. It has always been part of our Mission Statement to: “Challenge systemic forms of racism within the Labour Movement itself by: (a) promoting access and opening doors for Black workers and workers of colour within the Labour Movement; (b) promoting the rights of equality seeking groups to the benefit of all workers within Unions; (c) organizing and maximizing our political influence within the Labour Movement; (d) encouraging and supporting the full participation of Black workers and workers of colour in their Unions.”
The CBTU Ontario Canada Chapter was founded in 1995, but its origins began long before, in the 1980’s, when the organization was called the Ontario Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (OCBTU). In 1987, the activism of OCBTU members was instrumental to the attainment of affirmative action seats for racialized workers of the OFL. As a result of the advocacy, the OFL elected its first racialized vice-president to its executive board, Herman Stewart. Since then, several other prominent labour leaders and members of the CBTU have been successfully elected to the OFL.
While the CBTU does not endorse any individual candidates regardless of their membership status, we certainly applaud the increased number of candidates that are also members. The CBTU is not a union. We do not hold any delegated seats at the convention. Our membership’s actions are individual and do not represent the CBTU as an organization. We are, however, extremely proud to see our Chapter’s members flourishing in leadership positions across Canada. The CBTU Ontario Canada Chapter’s Executive Board agreed to provide this letter to reaffirm, for all members and friends of our organization, that a lack of endorsement from CBTU for any of our individual members should not be viewed by any delegates to the convention as a lack of support: it is our policy.
The CBTU aims to: “Increase union involvement in voter registration, voter education and voter turnout projects to advance policies that are in working-class interests and the interests of the African-Canadian community as a whole such as Black youth unemployment; publicly-funded education; universal health care; employment equity and fair employment practices; consumer protection especially against inflation
on basic necessities; social programs at federal, provincial and municipal levels; a strong social safety-net; community development initiatives and programs along with all other policies adopted by CBTU members through our demographic processes.” We show no favour to any one individual member, and
our organization has made quite clear that we do not provide endorsement of any kind. Rather, we
applaud each and every candidate that comes forward and can successfully push forward the agenda of the CBTU to create a vehicle for advancing the inclusion of workers of African-descent in all spheres ofour society. Thank you, and best wishes to all candidates.
In Solidarity,
The Executive Board, CBTU Ontario Canada Chapter
