OFL STATEMENT
January 31, 2014
Good jobs and fair wages are the building blocks of equity:
OFL Statement in Support of Black History Month – February, 2013
Only days after the Ontario government responded to public pressure for an increased minimum wage, a million Ontario workers will celebrate February as Black History Month, but many are left asking when Ontario will make a concrete commitment to equity.
“Workers of colour in Ontario are more likely to work for minimum wage and, on average, earn only eighty-one cents on the dollar. For racialized women, the situation is dramatically more unfair,” said OFL President Sid Ryan. “An $11 minimum wage will essentially freeze marginalized workers at wages that are 16 percent below the poverty line. When business viability is premised on poverty wages, it isn’t a business plan, it is exploitation.”
According to the most recent census data, 2.5 percent of the Canadian population – nearly 800,000 people – identify themselves as black and 60 percent of those have made Ontario their home. They came from all over the world and at different times. Blacks who entered Canada via the Underground Railroad settled in Ontario where they worked as farmers, teachers, preachers, household servants, business owners and sawmill workers. A few became doctors, lawyers, politicians and inventors. From 1830 to 1865, early Black settlements in Ontario included communities in Windsor, Chatham, Sudbury, Amhertsburg, Dresden, Wallaceburg, Guelph, London, Hamilton, Waterloo, Collingwood, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Fort Erie, Welland, Owen Sound and Toronto. As of 2006, Blacks comprised 3.9 percent of Ontario’s population and was the third largest visible minority community.
Although slavery is long over, its legacy of systemic discrimination and economic exclusion continue to reverberate in contemporary society. Labour market studies confirm that Black Canadians continue to experience an earning gap of $9,101 a year and an unemployment rate that is 73 percent higher than for Whites. As a result, racialized families continue to be two to four times as likely to live on incomes below the low income cut-off and, in some communities, one out of every two racialized children are living in poverty.
“The wage gains that many feel are long overdue are being jeopardized by government cuts to jobs and social programs. There is no question that austerity measures are hitting racialized people the hardest,” said OFL Executive Vice-President Irwin Nanda. “It is time for Ontario to put forward a People’s Agenda that expands opportunities, creates good jobs and reshapes the economy around equity and empowerment.”
February has been celebrated as Black History Month for a century, but didn’t gain formal recognition in Canada until a motion passed in the House of Commons in 1995. While it is commonly seen as an opportunity to recognize the valuable contributions that Canadians of African and Caribbean descent have made to our society, economy and culture, Ontario’s workers also mark the occasion by calling for justice and equity for Canada’s Black and racialized populations. Among the many Black community activists who will be celebrated and remembered by the labour movement this month are Ontario’s Zanana Akande, June Veecock, Fred Upshaw, Rosemary Brown, Dudley Laws and Charles Roach.
“We have an incredible heritage of Black activism in Ontario that has challenged racism, prejudice and discrimination and people of all races have an obligation to honour that history by celebrating it and continuing the fight for justice,” said Nanda. “As Ontario gears up for a provincial election this year and a Federal election next year, workers will be challenging Tory proposals that would gut workers’ rights, dismantle public services and drive down wages for everyone. After all, good jobs and fair wages are the building blocks of equity and prosperity.”
The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) will be joining Black History Month celebrations by co-hosting events with labour unions and community partners across the province. The OFL represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.OFL.ca and follow the OFL on Facebook and Twitter: @OFLabour.
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For further information:
Joel Duff, OFL Communications Director: 416-707-0349 (cell) or jduff@ofl-org.flywheelsites.com *ENG/FRENCH*
