Across the federal public service, women make up the majority of the workforce. Women deliver essential services to Canadians every day, often while also carrying most caregiving, emotional labour, and household responsibilities in their personal lives.

Yet the realities facing workers today remind us that progress toward equity is never guaranteed.

Federal public service workers are currently navigating a difficult moment. Bargaining remains at an impasse. Workers continue to face the consequences of rigid return-to-office mandates that disregard the realities of modern work and disproportionately impact women, particularly those balancing caregiving responsibilities.

At the same time, workforce adjustment measures across departments have created uncertainty for thousands of workers. This disproportionately affects women, particularly equity-deserving women who are more likely to be concentrated in entry-level and frontline public service roles.

These decisions are not gender neutral.

When jobs are cut and flexibility is removed, women are often the ones who bear the greatest impact. Women are overrepresented in low-wage frontline and administrative roles that are particularly vulnerable during cuts. 

The impacts of workplace decisions are generally felt most strongly by those living at the intersections of multiple forms of inequality including Indigenous women, racialized women, women with disabilities, and 2SLGBTQIA+ women and gender-diverse people. Intersectionality reminds us that equity work must centre those experiences and ensure that the voices most affected are included in shaping solutions.

This is why unions matter.

Within CEIU, women have been leading efforts to increase awareness, strength solidarity, and improve support for members through initiatives like Canadian Labour Congress Domestic Violence training to better support members experiencing gender-based violence.

We have also worked to create spaces for connection and community. Recently, the National Women’s Committee hosted a virtual International Women’s Day Indigenous paint event, bringing members together from across the country to reflect, create, and celebrate women’s leadership through art and collective expression.

International Women’s Day reminds us that women have always been at the forefront of the labour movement, organizing, challenging injustice, and pushing our unions and workplaces to be more equitable, inclusive, and responsive to the realities workers face.

As we mark this day, we recommit ourselves to pushing that work forward.

We will continue advocating for safe workplaces, fair collective agreements, equitable policies, and a public service that respects the realities of workers’ lives.

When women are supported, when women lead, and when women are heard, our union and our workplaces are stronger for everyone.