CLC reaches out to help Canadians with disabilities

Manual prepared for unions to use on the job and at the bargaining table

Ottawa - The Canadian Labour Congress has a new tool for unions to use on the job as well as at the bargaining table to ensure that Canadians with disabilities gain greater opportunities to participate in the workforce.

The More We Get Together is a manual with a double purpose. It helps workers, unions and employers develop a better understanding of issues that impact the lives of people with disabilities. It also lays out, in plain language, what the duty to accommodate is all about.

“People with disabilities are too often pre-judged and denied the right to work, to make a contribution in their areas of interest of expertise or to be a productive part of society. They face discrimination, both social and institutional. Many endure extreme economic and social hardship as a result. It doesn’t have to be that way,” says Marie Clarke Walker, Executive Vice-President of the Canadian Labour Congress.

The manual builds upon the long record unions have of fighting for people with disabilities. Workers and unions have won better workers’ compensation, disability benefits and other supports related to on-the-job injury as well as disabilities that are not work-related. Unions have also taken the struggle for equality and accommodation out of the workplace and into the community. This activism has resulted in greater access to housing, transportation, education and vital community health support services.

“Equality in community life relates to employment equity. To fully address this issue, the broader issues of human rights must also be considered. That’s what this important new resource provides – a broader understanding of what needs to be done and what today’s laws require of us,” says Clarke Walker.

Produced with help from the Office for Disability Issues of Social Development Canada and advice from a wide group of labour and community organizations, The More We Get Together is available from the Canadian Labour Congress’ web site: www.clc-ctc.ca.

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national voice of the labour movement, represents 2.5 million Canadian workers. The CLC brings together Canada's national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 137 district labour councils.

More information:
• Manual: The More We Get Together pdf

Web posted by NUPGE: 11 June 2004

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