Aboriginal and Workers of Colour

Representation matters.

Unifor celebrates Asian Heritage Month in May by joining with our members to celebrate accomplishments and honour people's complex and diverse experiences from all across Asia including, eastern, northern, southeast, central and western Asia – from language and culture to stories of immigration.

Unifor members attended the inaugural International Black Health Conference in Halifax, N.S. to discuss strategies for improving access to health care in Black communities across Canada. 

The conference – from Oct. 6 to 8, 2022 – is the first in Canada. Its main goal is to create better health outcomes across Black communities, inform clinical practice, initiate policy change, and showcase achievements and promising practices, which will be documented in a report available to the public in early 2023.

Orange Shirt Day is a reminder of the colonial violence that still haunts survivors and their families today. The Songhees Nation hosted the South Island powwow on September 30 as a show of unity and perseverance. Watch Unifor activists participate in the day's activities.

October 4 is a day to honour murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited persons (MMIWG2S) while showing love and support for their families.

Unifor stands united with the families of MMIWG2S and calls on the Trudeau government to place the implementation of the Calls for Justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls at the top of the legislative agenda.

Racial Justice has always been a priority at Unifor.

After two long years of racism exacerbated by the pandemic, Black, Indigenous and Workers of Colour (BIWOC) gathered in Port Elgin to share their trauma.

The three-day BIWOC conference – which took place in-person June 17 to 19, 2022 – had a poignant theme this year: “Practicing radical self-care is an act of activism.”

More than 70 members, staff, and union leadership joined an Education Department webinar about the gender fluid traditions of First Nations. It was coordinated as one of the ways Unifor is celebrating both National Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Pride month.

The session was the fourteenth in the Turtle Island series led by Unifor Indigenous Communities Liaison Gina Smoke.

National Indigenous Peoples’ Day (NIPD) is an important moment to reflect on the varied cultural and artistic heritage of First Nations, Inuit and Metis peoples and to celebrate these contributions. This year Unifor has partnered with the Aboriginal Peoples’ Television Network to sponsor Indigenous Day Live on June 18, a cultural and artistic show with the theme “Celebrating Our Lands.” The event celebrates gender diversity and the important connection Indigenous women have to the land.