I see you out there. I know there are many stressed and angry women reading this right now, trying to hold it all together.
We’re the ones who always pick up the slack – to provide care, to carry the mental load, to know what’s needed and to get it done.
Here are some things we knew were true before the pandemic started:
- Women make 32 percent less than men;
- Racialized women make 40 percent less than white men born in Canada;
- For Indigenous women, the gap is 45 percent;
- For immigrant women, it’s 55 percent; and
- For women with a disability, it’s 56 percent.
But unfair wages are just one of the problems.
Most of the workers taking care of the elderly, children, and people with disabilities are women. A higher proportion of women also lost their jobs in the pandemic because they work in sectors and industries hardest hit by isolation measures.
More women have been diagnosed with COVID-19 than men and, tragically, more women have died as well. This pandemic is devastating a generation of working women and no one is lifting a finger to stop it.
As we approach International Women’s Day, let’s celebrate women by fighting to protect the ground that women have fought so hard to gain and to push us all forward together.
Keep an eye out for more emails − we’re just getting started.
Marie Clarke Walker
Secretary-Treasurer
Canadian Labour Congress
Standing up for workers and their families
