Oxfam Canada Board can’t claim to stand for feminism and justice while their workers strike

Two weeks into the CUPE 2722 strike, Oxfam leadership remains silent as employer ghosts their staff on fair wage increases, gender-affirming care leave and domestic violence leave

OTTAWA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Two weeks into the strike at Oxfam Canada, CUPE 2722 is calling out the hypocrisy of Oxfam Canada’s Board of Directors and Executive Director Lauren Ravon, who continue to wrap themselves in the language of feminism, equity and justice while workers at their own organization are forced to strike for compassionate and inclusive workplace protections.

Oxfam Canada workers have been on strike since June 11 after the employer failed to negotiate a fair agreement. Key issues remain on the table, including fair wage increases, honouring existing collective agreement rights that adjust wages to help offset the costs of inflation, fighting against employer proposed concessions, leave for gender-affirming care, and domestic violence leave.

“If Oxfam Canada’s board members want to call themselves feminists, allies, economic justice, equality advocates and champions of 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusion, then they should be concerned about what is happening at their own organization right now, and should be actively getting the employer back to the bargaining table to secure a fair deal to end the strike,” said Carla Caxaj, a member of the local 2722 bargaining committee. “Workers should not be standing on a picket line calling on a self-described feminist organization to take domestic violence leave seriously. They should not be fighting a board member celebrated for trans advocacy for leave related to gender-affirming care. And they should not be hearing lectures about justice and equity from leaders who go silent the moment their own workers demand the same.”

CUPE 2722 members are proud of the work they do to support Oxfam Canada’s mission. They are the workers who help build relationships with partners, support advocacy efforts, and help move resources to country offices and grassroots organizations around the world. They want to get back to that work. But they are not prepared to accept an organization preaching justice abroad while denying it at home.

“Oxfam Canada cannot keep calling itself a feminist organization while treating its own workers as an inconvenience,” said Caxaj. “You do not get to build a public profile on women’s rights, anti-violence work, queer and trans inclusion and economic justice, then disappear when workers ask you to live those values at your own bargaining table.”

CUPE 2722 is calling on Oxfam Canada’s Board of Directors and Executive Director Lauren Ravon to end the silence, return to bargaining, and negotiate a fair agreement that reflects the values that Oxfam Canada claims to champion.

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