Labour calls for stronger equity measures after Emancipation Day

With Emancipation Day now past, Canada’s labour movement is turning attention from reflection on the country’s history of slavery to what it says remains an urgent issue: racial inequality in Canadian workplaces.

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is renewing its call for the federal government to strengthen the Employment Equity Act, arguing that the legacy of slavery and systemic racism continues to affect Black Canadians through unequal access to employment, education, housing and health care.

Emancipation Day, observed on August 1, commemorates the abolition of slavery in Canada and other British colonies in 1834. The day also recognizes the resistance and struggles of enslaved people and their descendants against the transatlantic slave trade.

For the labour movement, however, the commemoration is also an opportunity to examine inequalities that persist today.

“While we are reflecting on the past, it is also important to recognize the present-day impacts of Canada’s history of slavery on Black communities,” said Marc-Édouard Joubert, executive vice-president of the CLC. He pointed to continuing racial inequities in employment, education, housing and health, as well as what he described as the over-policing and over-surveillance of Black communities.

Employment remains a particular concern.

Statistics Canada data has shown that Black workers experience significant earnings gaps and are more likely to be concentrated in lower-wage occupations, even when they have comparable levels of education. Black workers are also less likely to have full-time, year-round employment than non-racialized workers who are third-generation or more in Canada.

Research has also documented widespread perceptions of racism in Canadian workplaces. The 2023 Black Canadian National Survey, conducted by York University’s Institute for Social Research in partnership with the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, found that 96 per cent of Black respondents identified racism as a workplace problem, with 78 per cent describing it as serious or very serious.

Nearly half — 48 per cent — of Black workers surveyed said they had experienced workplace discrimination or unfair treatment. That compared with 39 per cent of workers from other racialized groups and 41 per cent of non-racialized workers.

The CLC argues that these findings demonstrate the need to modernize the federal Employment Equity Act.

It has been three years since the federal Employment Equity Task Force released its recommendations for reforming the legislation. The labour movement is urging the government to implement those recommendations, including stronger measures to address systemic discrimination and greater recognition of Black workers within the federal equity framework.

Unions are also calling for adequate funding to help employers implement the changes and additional resources for the Canadian Human Rights Commission to enforce compliance and evaluate progress.

For the CLC, the message following Emancipation Day is straightforward: remembering the history of slavery must be accompanied by action to address the inequalities that remain.