LABOUR RIGHTS

Fighting climate change means expanding the public sector, and unionizing and organizing millions of workers.

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LABOUR RIGHTS

Fighting climate change means expanding the public sector, and unionizing and organizing millions of workers.

Watch Video

THE VIDEO

BACKGROUND

Fighting climate change means investing in public services and infrastructure that bring down emissions and help us prepare for climate disruption to come — from energy to transport, to housing and care work..

Since the beginning of our work we have advocated for the idea that confronting climate change must create millions of well-paying, unionized jobs — and that workers themselves should determine how their industries will be transformed in the transition.

We were proud that some of Canada’s top unions and labour alliances endorsed The Leap Manifesto in 2015, when it was considered politically risky to do so. Our first major project was a collaboration with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers and their allies on Delivering Community Power, a visionary plan for every post office in the country to become a hub for green transition—a place where you can recharge electric vehicles, access postal banking services; and where the entire delivery fleet is not only electric but made in Canada.

Since then, The Leap has worked with unions across North America to help expand what’s considered “politically possible” at the intersection of labour rights and climate justice. Working with farmers, autoworkers, cleaners, bus drivers, health care workers and more, we’ve explored questions about how to rebuild the labour movement, and what a just transition led by workers actually looks like.

Some of our key projects with labour partners and allies include The People’s Bailout, exploring key demands to rebuild and reimagine Work, Transit, and Healthcare after the pandemic, webinars and trainings on topics like “Putting Climate Justice on the Bargaining Table”, and the Continuing Care Collective campaign to bring long-term care corporation Revera into public ownership.  

Our last film, Message from the Future II, is a paean to the role of essential workers in the pandemic, and imagines a future where a global essential workers’ strike begins the “years of repair” of rebuilding a better society. 

In 2020, The Leap’s staff voted to unionize with CUPE local 2722, in the words of our Senior Manager of Programs James Hutt, because “every worker deserves a union and that there is no way to tackle the climate crisis without organizing among the majority of working people.”


Delivering Community Power 2-min video

Multi-partner campaign


“Putting Climate Justice on the Bargaining Table” webinar

The Leap


Billy Bragg Celebrates The Leap’s Unionization!

The Leap

PODCASTS & VIDEOS

DELIVERING COMMUNITY POWER

2-minute video that shows how Canada’s postal network could become a hub for climate and economic transformation.
Multi-partner campaign

“PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE CAN HELP BUILD A SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY.”

CUPE Ontario’s President Paul Moist speaks at the launch of The Leap Manifesto.
The Leap

DOUG FORD’S REAL FRIENDS

Comedic video about Doug Ford’s faux populism & love of corporate welfare.
The Leap

BILLY BRAGG CELEBRATES THE LEAP’S UNIONIZATION!

A message from a legendary labour ally celebrating The Leap workers’ vote to unionize.
The Leap

#MAKEREVERAPUBLIC​

A 2-minute video about eliminating for-profit elder care in Canada.
The Continuing Care Collective

WEBINARS & EVENTS

PUTTING CLIMATE JUSTICE ON THE BARGAINING TABLE

Webinar on how unions are building massive public support and winning unprecedented contract gains by putting climate demands on the bargaining table.
The Leap

HOW STRIKES & COMMUNITY COALITIONS CAN ADDRESS THE CRISES WE ARE FACING

A webinar on how SEIU Local 26 partnered with climate justice organizations in Minnesota to win a groundbreaking policy for workers and the planet.
Bargaining for the Common Good, The Leap & SEIU Local 26

COVID-19 & THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC TRANSIT

Online panel with labour and community activists about how a public transit bailout can contribute to the climate action and public services we need post-pandemic.
The Leap

WINNING THE FIGHT FOR EDUCATION IN ONTARIO

A training on cross-union solidarity, high participation actions, and building collective power, with lessons drawn from successful teacher strikes in the United States.
The Leap & Ontario Education Workers United (OEWU)

GREEN JOBS OSHAWA VIRTUAL PRESS CONFERENCE

Press conference with autoworkers and allies calling for public ownership and re-tooling of the local GM plant to respond to the pandemic and climate crisis.
Green Jobs Oshawa & The Leap

BOOKS & RESOURCES

WHY UNIONS NEED TO JOIN THE CLIMATE FIGHT

Naomi Klein’s call to action to UNIFOR’s founding convention in 2013 (video & text).
Naomi Klein & UNIFOR

THE PEOPLE’S BAILOUT: WORK

This COVID-19 response project includes ideas to rebuild and reimagine the role of work and workers in the response to the pandemic.
The Leap

DELIVERING COMMUNITY POWER: PAMPHLET

The original, detailed proposal for how Canada’s postal network could become the hub of our next economy.
Delivering Community Power

ON FIRE: THE BURNING CASE FOR A GREEN NEW DEAL

Naomi Klein’s 2019 book explores the role of work and workers in a Green New Deal, among other themes.
Naomi Klein

MEDIA COVERAGE

2020: THE YEAR OF (FARE) FREE TRANSIT

The Leap’s James Hutt builds the case for fare-free transit
Our Times Magazine