Secretary-Treasurer's Message Checkout Fall 2023

Marking the 31st anniversary of Women's History Month

This is the 31st anniversary of Women’s History Month in Canada. And while there is progress to celebrate, gender-based inequities and discrimination remain major issues around the world.

Important changes to the Canada Labour Code, which take effect on December 15, 2023, will make it mandatory for federally regulated employers to make menstrual products available to employees at no charge. This change recognizes that menstrual products are a basic need, and these products will be available to all employees who menstruate "including cisgender women, transgender men, non-binary individuals, and intersex individuals."1

Period Poverty is when someone’s income is too low to afford or access menstrual products. While this legislation is a good step toward creating more inclusive, equitable workplaces, Canada lags behind other countries in the fight to end Period Poverty. In Scotland, for example, period products were made free to all students in 2018. And in 2022, period products became free for all.

Your Union believes that this is an important step in building

a more equitable world. Going forward, it is our goal to try and bargain this type of language into your collective agreements. With a cost of living that is out of step with the income of many people, providing these products at no charge is a significant step toward alleviating worry about being able to afford these basic necessities. An added burden to the rising cost of living is the ongoing gender pay gap in this country and around the world. It is a major barrier to equality.

The average pay gap for women in Ontario is 29.3%, but all women don’t experience the same gap. For racialized women, that gap is 38%. For immigrant women, 34%. And for women with disabilities, the gap is a staggering 56%.2 In a 2020 study by the Canadian Women's Foundation, only 25% of respondents who identified as 2SLGBTQIA+ reported being paid equally to their peers.3

Being a Union member goes a long way to helping bridge inequality, and your Pay Equity department continues its hard work ensuring employers are abiding by Ontario’s Pay Equity laws.

But we must all continue to be vigilant and informed. And we must always make sure that our advocacy is conscious of and driven by how identities can overlap and connect.

Thank you to all of the members for your continued support over the years. And I congratulate our new and returning Executive Board members as we look toward another term of serving the members of this Local Union. Your Executive Board is a dedicated group of members who I know will continue to provide their experience-driven insight to us as we face whatever challenges may lie ahead.

It is an honour to work on your behalf as Secretary-Treasurer. As Officers of this Union, I, President Haggerty, Karen Vaughan, and Jim McLean, all take our responsibilities to heart. Rest assured that we will continue to put the well-being of our members at the forefront of our decisions. In Solidarity, Kelly Tosato treasurer@ufcw175.com