The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, in Canada is a community based organization rooted in the labour movement formed to give voice to Black trade unionists within our workplaces, Unions and communities. Members of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists will not remain silent or be censored in the face of the horrors that we are witnessing:
In just a matter of days, thousands of innocent Palestinian and Israeli civilians have been killed following Hamas’ October 7th attack and the Israeli government’s subsequent declaration of war;
On Tuesday, the bombing of the Anglican Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza killed hundreds of people, most of them children. Over 5,000 people had been sheltering inside. This is a war crime;
The Gaza strip is facing a complete siege as food, water, electricity, and fuel have been cut off. The last functioning seawater desalination plant shut down on Sunday after running out of fuel;
UN shelters have also run out of water and hospital workers are warning that thousands more civilians could die if access to water, fuel and medicine is not restored;
Israel continues to prepare for a catastrophic ground war and intensified bombing;
As hostilities escalate, they are fueling forced displacements of Palestinians coupled with a rise of Anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian racism, Islamophobia, and antisemitism world-wide;
To prevent the further loss of life, a greater humanitarian disaster than what we have already witnessed and an escalation of war to the entire region, CBTU demands that Canada:
Palestinians have the right to be free along with all peoples in the region to live in peace and security based upon the fundamental principles of freedom and self-determination.
For more information
This CBTU statement is based upon a joint statement from 50 other labour, faith, Arab, Palestinian, Jewish, and civil society organizations to raise a united call for an immediate ceasefire and humanitarian aid to Gaza. If you would like to endorse the united call, please visit: https://ceasefirenow.ca.
It is with pain and deep dejection that the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) in Canada reviews the Federal Court's decision to dismiss the Black Class Action Lawsuit. The Black Class Action Lawsuit was founded by current and former Black employees of 99 federal government departments representing hundreds if not thousands of Black workers in Canada. These workers alleged that they were discriminated against and kept from promotions because of their race going as far back as the 1970s. They described being qualified enough to replace their non-Black colleagues in higher job functions when those colleagues were off on leave but not being qualified enough to fill the positions permanently when the positions became vacant. In Madam Justice Gagné’s decision which was rendered just over one week before the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The court acknowledged the discrimination that these Black workers were experiencing while simultaneously choosing to deny these workers the justice that the federal court should provide.
Throughout our history in Canada, African-Canadians have faced barriers to full
political participation at all levels of our electoral processes.
In this context, this “Let my people vote” workshop is being offered to identify and
break down barriers to political participation for the Black community. Collectively we will give voice to our ancestors on March 20th.
Our goal goes beyond representation to substantive policy change to support our
community.
