Toronto – November 19, 2015 – UFCW Canada activists were recently on hand for the launch of Ontario's Gender Wage Gap Steering Committee, which is setting out on a province-wide consultation on how to eliminate wage inequity for women in the Ontario workforce.

Currently in Ontario, the average annual earnings of female workers is 31.5%, less than the average annual earnings of male workers. For women who are racialized, Aboriginal, have disabilities, LGBTQ, or immigrants, these gaps are much higher.

"We need to close the gender wage gap and eliminate inequity for women in the workforce. It is the right thing to do," said Kevin Flynn, Ontario’s labour minister.

"The gender wage gap is an issue of fairness," says Debora De Angelis, UFCW Canada’s co-ordinator for strategic campaigns, and one of the UFCW Canada activists participating in the consultations. “We also know that closing the gender wage gap between men and women also benefits the economy and the community as a whole. How to close the gender wage gap is complex, but a leading way is by having a union and a collective agreement.”

As Canada’s most progressive private-sector union, UFCW Canada will be participating at both stakeholder and public consultation meetings, which are scheduled to run until January 2016.

UFCW Canada looks forward to working with Ontario to explore every means to end the gender wage gap,” says UFCW Canada President Paul Meinema, “from labour law reform, to card check certification, to changes in social policy.”

For more information  on the Gender Wage Gap Steering Committee consultations, please contact Debora De Angelis at [email protected].