Union News November 2020
Sisters and Brothers,
We have all witnessed in the news and on social media the horrific reports emanating from the United States, and even in Canada, of police brutality, racial profiling, discrimination and violence perpetrated against Black people and Black communities and we cannot help but be shocked and appalled by these events. In addition, we have noted the polarization of society over these events and reports, culminating in the creation of the movement named All Lives Matter which served only to undermine and attempt to dismiss the matter of prolonged systemic racial discrimination of Black people.
The killing of African-American, Trayvon Martin, started as a protest against his brutal murder and ignited the Black Lives Matter movement with support coming from countries and people of all colours across the world. This incident was rightly labelled as a hate crime against Black people. What should have been a time for careful reflection and immediate action, with consultation with Black communities, actually resulted in the escalation of these hate crimes, emanating in the murder of George Floyd.
The issue of systemic racial discrimination against Black people is not unique to the United States, and is evident in many other countries, including Canada. We have witnessed our own Black citizens die at the hands of our police services and we have seen acts of violence, racial profiling and systemic discrimination being directed at Black Canadians. The deaths of Black Canadians, Abdirahman Abdi, Bony Jean-Pierre, D’Andre Campbell and Regis Korchinski-Paquet demonstrate that anti-Black racism continues to be a cause of the loss of Black lives in Canada.
The fight against anti-Black racism and violence against our Black sisters and brothers is grounded in the long and deplorable history of slavery, oppression and colonization of Indigenous communities and Black people in North America. It is difficult, if not impossible, to comprehend how, as a society and a proud people living in such a diverse and multi-ethnic and cultural society, we can allow these injustices to continue and thrive in this, the 21st century. It is critical that all Canadians join forces and ally with our Black sisters and brothers to combat and vigorously address the horrific treatment of Black people. Critical to addressing these issues is the need to actively listen to our Black citizens to understand the gravity and expanse of the issues and to seek from them, their views on how these matters need to be addressed.
Canadian Unions must also play an important role in bringing these issues to the forefront on behalf of our Black members as their advocate and ally. The Union of Taxation Employees (UTE) commits itself to this purpose. We have already negotiated language in our collective agreement with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) prohibiting discrimination in the course of employment. Moreover, we have created internal policies governing our Union which govern anti-discrimination in our Union and a system of recourse for addressing incidents of discrimination. But that is not enough!
UTE must continue to fight all forms of discrimination and must lead the charge for systemic change, governance and accountability. We must advance real and concrete solutions through the collective agreement, within the policies of the CRA, through legislative and regulatory changes affecting terms and conditions of employment, including staffing and other such matters. We must insist on greater accountability and immediate action by the employer to address the injustices and pave the way for equality and respect. We must advocate for greater support and opportunities for our Black members. We must ensure that mechanisms are in place through the CRA’s Employee Assistance Program and their wellness initiative to assist our Black members.
UTE must ally with our partners in the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the Federations of Labour and the Canadian Labour Congress to engage all levels of Government to raise awareness of this systemic discrimination and to lead and take immediate actions to address these matters that have been allowed to exist for over 150 years. We will endeavour to lobby the Government to create greater positive public awareness to the matter by including systemic discrimination in school curriculum and through the influence of media capabilities, at a minimum.
As importantly, we need to carefully examine how we, as a Union, may have contributed negatively to these issues over the years by reviewing our own internal policies, practices and traditions. Again, critical to this review, lies the need to engage our Black members to identify the specific issues and the concrete, tangible measures to effectively address and remedy systemic discrimination. To this purpose, we are currently exploring alternatives to determine the most efficient approach to engaging our Black members.
As you are aware, the issues surrounding the systemic discrimination and ill-treatment of Black people has evolved over many years and there is no quick fix to the problem. Instead, it will require careful and through deliberation and a well-charted and planned course of action by UTE.
To date, I have engaged the UTE Equal Opportunities (EO) Committee, the UTE Executive Council and the expertise of the PSAC for assistance in this very complicated matter and we will be seeking direction and assistance from other sources, including our Black members as we go down the road of change. With respect to my discussions with the EO Committee, I have reviewed and approved the distribution of a survey concerning racism, discrimination and harassment. The link to the survey may be found at https://www.ute-sei.org/en/news-events/news/ute-survey-racism-discrimination-and-harassment and I encourage you to complete it and to submit it no later than November 30, 2020. While this survey is not specific to Anti-Black racism, it will include this important issue, as well as other forms of racism, discrimination and harassment.
Through the years, we have seen many issues that have served to divide our great Union. It is my hope that all UTE members will support this worthy and long-awaited call for change and speak with one unified voice!
In true Solidarity,
Marc Brière
UTE National President