February is Black History Month, and the Agriculture Union honours the leadership, resilience and organizing power of Black workers who have shaped Canada’s labour movement and continue to lead the fight for justice today.
We also celebrate the contributions of Black farmers across the country. February offers an opportunity to learn about the history of Black agricultural workers in Canada, as well as the current struggles of migrant farm workers. The Agriculture Union is proud to support the Association for the Rights of Household and Farm Workers. Our two-year funding partnership with the group has enabled the advancement of their “End Migrant Worker Unfreedom” campaign, which seeks to challenge the structural conditions that keep migrant workers in cycles of dependency and vulnerability.
We salute the work of organizations such as the Canadian Black Farmers Association and the Mouvement pour la souveraineté alimentaire des Afro-Québécois.es that are doing excellent work in education, mobilization, and cultivating culturally-inclusive crops for afro-descendant communities.
The United Nations has launched a new International Decade for People of African Descent (2025–2034), focused on supporting Black communities, breaking down systemic barriers and lifting Black voices in Canada and around the world. Canada has pledged to continue this work until 2028 and is participating in this this second decade of action.
Black members lead allyship and equity work
Black members are showing what allyship looks like in practice, including at PSAC’s 2025 National Women’s Conference where delegates championed and supported key resolutions to expand domestic violence training, improve access to health care for Indigenous women. Members at the conference unanimously voted in favour of a resolution to formally recognize the contributions of Black women workers.
Together, with other equity groups, Black members are helping to shape union policy and bargaining priorities, offering a model for the broader labour movement on how to uphold commitments to equity through both words and concrete action.
While advances in the fight against anti-Black racism have been made in recent years, our work as a public service union is far from over. The Agriculture Union and PSAC are calling on the federal government to settle the human rights complaint to make Black federal workers whole, implement the recommendations of the Taskforce on the Employment Equity Act Review including making Black workers a separate employment equity group, and work with unions and equity groups before making any policy changes that put workers and their communities at risk.
This is how you can help:
- Learn the history of Black people in Canada, including the struggles and victories that have shaped our workplaces and unions.
- Challenge anti-Black racism and all forms of discrimination in your workplace, local and community.
- If you’re looking for support or resources to combat anti-Black racism in your workplace, you can reach out to the Agriculture Union’s National Human Rights Committee.