Social Justice Solidarity Fund

Throughout its history, the National Union has played an important role in the international community by promoting solidarity with, and social justice for, working people and their unions around the world.

Globalization has brought sweeping changes to the economic and social life of most countries. This has a major impact on our members and in the way the Union and our Components represent them. Now, more than ever, contact with other countries and with workers in those countries is critical to building international solidarity amongst workers. As corporations and governments continue to expand international trading relationships, it is more important than ever to forge global solidarity with trade unionists and activists from social justice groups.

In 2004 the National Union created a Social Justice Solidarity Fund (SJSF) to support our international solidarity work as well as domestic projects undertaken by the National Union in support of anti-poverty initiatives and disaster relief.

The Fund provides support for:
• Domestic and international emergency humanitarian relief;
• Economic and social development projects in developing countries; and
• Training, education and capacity building with worker, community and women’s organizations in developing countries.

It is funded through annual grants from NUPGE and each of its Components.

Some of the most recent projects the SJSF has supported are:

NOMADESC (Colombia)
• This is funded through CoDevelopment (CoDev), a non-profit agency that works for social change in Latin America and global education here in Canada. NOMADESC is a social research and action association which works with Colombian trade unionists to defend human rights. It helps members to understand and defend their human rights and those of their communities and encourages the training of new leaders, which in turn strengthens the union and the broader community.

Casa de la Mujer (House of the Woman)
• This is a not-for-profit association created to develop space where women can receive aid and assistance. Its mission is to initiate and support activities and programs to assist women to have a better quality of life and to reach equality of opportunities in all scopes of society.

Masai for Africa Campaign
• This project provides support to the Tsepong Clinic in the southern African country of Lesotho. Currently, over 4,000 patients are registered at the clinic and 1,300 people have been enrolled on antiretroviral drug (ARV) treatment.

TWCAA Micro Lending Program for Women
• This program in the Philippines helps women escape poverty by establishing their own small businesses, assisting with job training and placement, and developing cooperatives.

Sisters in Spirit Campaign
• Launched in March 2004 in response to alarmingly high levels of violence against Aboriginal women in Canada, the main objective of this project is to address violence against indigenous women (First Nations, Inuit and Métis), particularly racialized, sexualized violence, that is, violence perpetrated against indigenous women because of their gender and indigenous identity.

Claire Foundation
• The focus of the Claire Foundation is to help impoverished and orphaned children in developing countries. In 2006, the Claire Foundation built two homes for orphaned children through Watoto Child Care Ministries, Uganda. Claire House and Robyn House are home to 16 children and two house mothers. Currently the goal of the Claire Foundation is to raise the funds we need to ensure the children of Claire House and Robyn House are sponsored and supported in perpetuity.

“Bracelets of Hope” campaign
• The Bracelets of Hope Campaign is a national initiative launched by the Masai Centre in Guelph to raise enough funds to eradicate HIV/AIDS in Lesotho, Africa (see Masai for Africa Campaign above).

For more information on these projects and our Social Justice solidarity Fund in general, contact national@nupge.ca