This past November, the Canadian Peace Congress had a literature table at the 17th biennial convention of the Ontario Federation of Labour, held in Toronto from Nov. 20-24, 2023. The CPCon also distributed a mass leaflet to the over 1,100 delegates in attendance. The text of that statement follows:

Labour – the Crucial Link in the Struggle for Peace!

Dear Sisters and Brothers

The Canadian Peace Congress salutes the OFL’s 2023 “Enough is Enough” Convention. We trust you will make important steps forward in the struggle for better life for all workers and their families across Ontario.

Your Convention is taking place at a particularly crucial time. Not only are workers in Ontario facing direct attacks from employers and the Ford administration but, internationally, the world is experiencing war, death, and destruction on a massive scale. The NATO war against Russia in Ukraine has claimed more than 500,000 dead and hundreds of thousands more injured. The current Israeli war against Palestine has killed more than 11,000 civilians, 40% of them children. Tensions in this region could easily escalate into a broader regional war. Not to be overlooked is the growing tensions in East Asia where the USA, with Canadian government support, is attempting to provoke a war with China over the island province of Taiwan.

On January 24, 2023, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists set the doomsday clock at 90 seconds to midnight, the closest to global catastrophe it has ever been. If the clock were to be updated today it would be even closer. If there ever was a time for labour to engage actively in the crucial struggle for peace, it is now.

Canada is facing its most severe crisis in virtually all aspects of life including health care, education, housing, homelessness, affordability, and environmental catastrophe. Yet Canada’s war budget is set to increase from $26.5 billion today to $39.7 billion by 2026-2027, largely due to Canada being locked into the aggressive NATO military alliance. Clearly such wasteful spending does nothing to meet the priorities of workers in Ontario and Canada.

Around the world, workers and their unions have historically mobilized for peace and justice. Port workers in numerous countries have refused to load weapons going to fuel wars of aggression, dating back to the U.S. war in Vietnam. Today, in response to calls from Palestinian trade unions, port blockades are happening in relation to Israeli aggression in Palestine.

Workers in Ontario and across Canada have a long history of actively engaging in the struggles for a better life for their families. This includes the struggle for peace. Recently CUPE National and Ontario have called for the Canadian government to support an immediate ceasefire in Palestine. CUPW has added its voice, calling for an end to the genocide taking place in Gaza and the West Bank.

As workers we know the power of collective efforts to improve our lives and those of our families. Labour’s voice is absolutely crucial for building a better world. Now more than ever, the voice of labour must be heard in the struggle for peace. Only organized labour has the power to mobilize hundreds of thousands of people to win a world of peace, justice and solidarity.

Contact us. Let’s work together for a better, more peaceful and socially just world!

Never again! No more war!