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Sanitation in a Changing World
On World Toilet Day, Unifor joins the global call to ensure everyone, everywhere has access to safe, clean, and inclusive sanitation.
The 2025 theme, “Sanitation in a Changing World,” highlights how climate change, urbanization, migration, and inequality are reshaping how people access something so basic — yet so essential — as a toilet.
According to the United Nations, over 3.5 billion people still live without safely managed sanitation. Climate impacts like droughts, flooding, and extreme weather threaten to make this crisis worse.
Sanitation is not just about infrastructure; it’s about dignity, health, and environmental protection. When sanitation systems fail, entire communities suffer.
Behind these systems are sanitation workers whose labour keeps our communities healthy. Their work, often invisible, deserves recognition, fair pay, and safe working conditions.
From maintaining wastewater systems to cleaning public facilities, these workers form an essential part of public health protection — in Canada and around the world.
Through the Unifor Social Justice Fund, members have supported a range of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) projects, helping communities in places such as Eritrea, Somalia, Malawi, and Pakistan.
These projects have provided clean water and safe sanitation to people affected by poverty, disasters, and conflict. They reflect Unifor’s broader commitment to global solidarity and social justice.
At home, access to safe and clean washroom facilities remains a core workplace right.
In the 2023–2026 Unifor collective bargaining program, members identified this issue as a fundamental health and safety concern — one that must be protected through negotiation and enforcement.
Unifor also stands behind the ITF Transport Workers’ Sanitation Charter and supports the International Transport Workers’ Federation’s Safe Rates campaign, which calls for decent work conditions for road transport workers, including reliable access to clean and safe bathroom facilities.
As the world continues to change, our commitment remains steady. Everyone deserves dignity, respect, and the simple assurance that a clean, safe toilet will be there when needed.
Sanitation isn’t optional — it’s a human right that underpins health, equality, and justice for all.
