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June 29, 2018
FREDERICTON – Unifor commends the New Brunswick government’s decision to provide five days of paid leave for victims of domestic and sexual violence.
“Unifor has proudly led a campaign to get this paid leave for victims of violence and the New Brunswick government has now set the standard for Atlantic Canada,” said Lana Payne, Atlantic Regional Director.
The union will continue to push the governments of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador to do the right thing and also introduce paid leave. Unifor billboards promoting this important measure to prevent violence can be seen in both provinces.
“Paid domestic violence leave makes escaping violence possible. Unifor has made this a priority at many collective bargaining tables and in our political activism across the country,” said Payne.
Paid domestic violence leave removes a major barrier for women seeking to escape domestic and intimate partner violence by giving them job protection and financial support to make a safety plan.
According to a study done by Western University researchers, 80 per cent of domestic violence victims report that their work performance was negatively affected. Absenteeism and poor work performance can leave victims vulnerable to discipline and even job loss.
New Brunswick now joins Ontario, Manitoba, and Quebec in legislating paid domestic violence leave. In P.E.I. a bill has passed second reading but has not been proclaimed yet. Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Alberta provide protected unpaid leave, while British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nunavut, Yukon and Northwest Territories have no protected leave for workers who need time off to flee violence.
Unifor is committed to addressing violence against women at the bargaining table and has negotiated to have more than 350 women’s advocates in workplaces across Canada as well as paid domestic violence leave.
For more information, please contact Unifor Atlantic Communications representative Natalie Clancy: @email or (902) 478-9283 (cell).
