British Columbia Federation of Labour

Vancouver—It’s more important than ever to keep up the fight for women’s rights says B.C. Federation of Labour Secretary Treasurer, Angela Schira.

"Pay equity, quality childcare, the rights of working women, and women’s economic equality are still a long way from being a reality," Schira said today, as the B.C. Federation of Labour hosted its annual International Women’s Day breakfast.

"On top of provincial cuts to childcare and women’s centres, this year Canadian women also saw deep cuts by the federal Conservative government to Status of Women Canada," Schira said.

Schira also noted that women are still a long way away from achieving pay equity. Last year in BC, non-union women workers earned 29 percent less than men; however, the gap was smaller, 10 percent, for women belonging to a union.

"It’s amazing that despite all the talk of a labour shortage our provincial government is cutting funding to childcare. They simply don’t understand that we can’t solve the labour shortage if we don’t solve the childcare shortage," said Schira.

"Senior women are also facing significant challenges," Schira added. "While the provincial government has embraced a recommendation to eliminate mandatory retirement, the government has not committed to implementing any of the other recommendations in a report from the Premier’s Advisory Council on Seniors and aging."

According to Statistics Canada, BC now shares in Canada’s highest rate of poverty amongst seniors, and in particular, senior women are more likely to be living in poverty than senior men.

"We celebrate today and are very proud of the gains made by women. But we also know that progress is stalled and we need to restore women’s voices at every level of government for progress to continue," Schira concluded.

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