Unions have to keep defending workers’ rights and elect political leaders who will do the same, CLC executive vice-president Barb Byers told delegates this morning.

As job losses continue to mount, and private sector workers struggle with unemployment and lost pensions, corporate leaders “are setting their sights” on the public sector.

“If they can silence us, they will have removed the first and the last lines of defense that many of our members and our community allies have,” said Byers.

She talked about the need to change the employment insurance program and pensions. Workers and communities across the country are suffering, and things are getting tougher for equity groups.

“The gains of women, workers of colour, Aboriginal workers, and workers with disabilities over the past 20 years are being wiped out by the effects of corporate greed,” she said.

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