Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector union and a close UE ally, joined 27 other Canadian unions and faith and civil-society organizations in calling for peace, sovereignty and solidarity with the people of Cuba. The joint statement, released on Monday [1], calls on the Canadian government to oppose threats of military intervention by the U.S. and to speak out against unlawful measures harming Cuban people.

In addition to Unifor, unions that signed the statement include the Canadian Labour Congress, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (Canada’s largest union), the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and the Canadian section of the United Steelworkers. Several major churches also joined the statement, including the Anglican Church of Canada, the Presbyterian Church of Canada, and the United Church of Canada.

The signatories “urgently call on Prime Minister Mark Carney to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Cuba, cornerstone rights of all states under international law,” and insist that their country must:

• publicly oppose and work to stop a U.S. military intervention in Cuba;
• speak out forcefully against unlawful U.S. coercive measures to withhold fuel and starve the Cuban people;
• work more determinedly with the United Nations and other countries to get fuel and other life-sustaining supplies to Cuba without delay.

For decades, UE has demanded that our own government normalize relations with Cuba, and end the “inhumane” blockade on trade with the island nation. As UE policy [2] notes:

Cuba poses no economic or military threat to the U.S. Our government has no justification for the economic blockade of Cuba, which, as members of UE Local 150 who visited the island this past year learned first-hand, makes it more difficult for Cubans to access medicine, food, and essential life-giving supplies. The blockade hurts workers in both countries. Jobs are lost, while U.S. manufacturers are denied a major market just 90 miles offshore. Instead of restoring diplomatic relationships and lifting the economic embargo, the U.S. prefers to portray an island nation of fewer than 10 million people as a threat.

In March, delegates to UE’s Eastern Region council meeting passed a resolution [3] denouncing President Trump’s escalating threats against Cuba and endorsing the “Let Cuba Live” petition [4].