Each year in February we mark Black History Month. This is a time to reflect on the important role that Black people and their communities have played in shaping our society, our workplaces, and the labour movement.
Recognizing Black history in Canada also must include acknowledging and understanding the painful history and ongoing barriers that Black Canadians face in the form of systemic racism and discrimination.
Learning more about Black history
Black people have largely been erased from Canada’s history books. Many Canadians are not aware of the fact that slavery is a part of Canada’s past, that Black communities have existed in what we now call Canada since before Confederation, and that people of African descent contributed to the formation of Canada and its culture. This is why it is especially important that we take the time to learn about this history.
CEIU encourages all our members to learn more about Black history in Canada.
Learning resources:
- A Black People’s History of Canada
- Organizations and educational resources on the history of Black communities in Canada
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PSAC Report on the impact of slavery in Atlantic Canada
Taking action to address racism
Together, we must also commit to working towards an end to racism within our workplaces and within our union. Recognizing that we must take action, the delegates at CEIU’s 2023 Triennial Convention passed a number of resolutions aimed at addressing inequality within our union. CEIU is working towards implementing these resolutions before the next convention in 2026. These include:
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Creating a Black Recognition statement to be read at all CEIU events. The statement will recognize both the contributions of Black communities and the inequities they face to reinforce our collective commitment to dismantling systemic barriers and ensuring equity for Black communities
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Establishing an Anti-Racism Plan to address barriers and improve engagement and representation of Black and racialized members in our union and which will build on the work that has started already by PSAC’s Anti-Racism Action Plan
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Performing an audit of union structures with an equity lens to remove barriers to the participation of equity-deserving groups
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Developing training to engage and educate CEIU members on how to be an effective ally to equity-deserving groups
- Providing additional human rights training in all regions and ensuring that all regional training budgets allocate specific funds for human rights training