Activists out in force for International Women's Day
March 7, UFCW Canada gold was abundant at events across the country to mark the 99th anniversary of International Women’s Day (IWD), which takes place on March 8 every year. At one of Canada’s largest IWD events, Toronto’s annual International Women’s Day Rally (held on Saturday, March 6), UFCW Canada activists came out in full force to stand in solidarity with working women and their families and to make a very strong – and loud – statement for equality.
UFCW Canada members and activists were among more than 300 marchers on Feb. 14 in Calgary to honour the murdered and missing women of southern Alberta. The gathering marked the second anniversary of the Memorial March for Murdered and Missing Women in the city.
In both Haiti and Canada, Myriam Merlet was well-loved and known as a passionate author, political activist, and feminist who campaigned internationally to end violence against women and girls. Tragically, on Jan. 12, it was the cruelty of nature that killed her when her home in Port-au-Prince collapsed in the Haiti earthquake.
Former UFCW International Vice President Beth Shulman succumbed to her battle with brain cancer on February 5, in Washington, DC. She was 60.
UFCW Canada members who are new or expectant parents will have some new help this year in trying to figure out what their rights and entitlements are as workers and new parents. The UFCW Canada Guide to Maternity, Paternity & Parental Leaves from Work, initiated by UFCW Canada’s National Women’s Advisory Committee, was recently made available to help members make sense of an often-complicated benefits system.
Two decades after the Dec. 6 massacre at l’École Polytechnique in Montreal, a gathering organized by the Quebec Women’s Federation was held at Place Émilie-Gamelin in the city’s downtown to mark the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
