March 21 is International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
March 21, 2018 at 2:23 AM
On March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa, white South African police fired more than 700 shots on peaceful black demonstrators, protesting the Country’s pass laws. These discriminatory laws imposed restrictions on black South Africans to freely move around the country. They were controlled by passports, forbidden to organize unions, and black mine workers were forced to live in the countryside. Sixty-nine people were killed and 180 were wounded. Almost all of them were shot in the back.
In 1966, the United Nations General Assembly formally recognized the date of the massacre as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The assembly called on the international community not only to commemorate that tragedy, but also to work together to combat racism and racial discrimination wherever they exist.
For CUPE members across the country, March 21 is a reminder of the struggles and challenges that racialized workers have endured. It is also a time to recognize and applaud the fact that members of these communities have made the anti-racism struggle a significant part of labour’s agenda. Their active participation has strengthened our movement by bringing new ideas, perspective and energy to the struggles of working people.
CUPE has a proud and successful track record of using the collective agreement to promote human rights in the workplace before they were achieved through legislation. March 21 is the ideal time to renew our commitment to the goal of ending racism. By joining hand in hand with our racialized workers and our allies working within the union and our communities, we can make a difference in the fight to eliminate racial discrimination!.
