March 20, 2017
Unifor invites local unions to reflect on the challenges of working in French, and maintaining the French language on this important day. It is estimated that there are over 274 million French-speakers in the world, several million of whom live and work in Canada. International Francophonie Day is an occasion for French-speaking communities to celebrate both their language and the diversity of the cultures in which it is spoken.
As a pan-Canadian union, Unifor is proudly bilingual. Unifor’s Francophone members add diversity and strength to our calls for progressive changes for all workers in Canada. Today, we recognize their contributions to our labour movement and reaffirm our commitment to their rights as Francophone workers.
You can help support Francophone workers. For people who are concerned about the use of French in the workplace, languedutravail.org offers resources for organizations and individuals to help ensure a clear future for the French language. It is designed to provide information and promote tools that can help French-speakers work in the common language in the workplace. You can also use this tool to foster new ties of solidarity between workers to ensure that the French language remains strong.
The date of March 20 was chosen to commemorate the creation of the Agence de Coopération Culturelle et Technique (ACCT), the precursor to the International Organization of La Francophonie, in Niamey, Niger, on March 20, 1970.