Mobilizing political will – 60 years of recognizing March 21

USW directors’ statement for March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is observed annually on the day the police in Sharpeville, South Africa, opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid “pass laws” on March 21, 1960.

In December 1965, the United Nations (UN) adopted the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), and the following year, 1966, marked the first observance of March 21 as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – 60 years ago.

For 2026, the UN’s theme for March 21 is: Mobilizing political will: 60 years of commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

For Steelworkers, mobilizing political will means:

• Taking action on employment and wage gaps for Indigenous, Black and racialized members
• Enforcing anti-harassment, anti-violence and anti-discrimination policies
• Educating our membership on anti-racism and anti-oppression
• Adding an anti-racism lens to our work in health and safety, including combatting workplace racism 
• Fighting back against Canadian and international businesses and organizations that violate and undermine the rights of Indigenous people around the world
• Joining with like-minded labour and community allies to stop racial profiling in police practices.

The United Nations stresses that “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights and have the potential to contribute constructively to the development and well-being of their societies. … Any doctrine of racial superiority is scientifically false, morally condemnable, socially unjust and dangerous and must be rejected, together with theories that attempt to determine the existence of separate human races.”

Our belief in these same principles of equality has put the labour movement and the USW at the forefront of the fight for social and economic equality.   

Advances towards ending racial discrimination have happened and will only continue with sustained activism and political will. This includes within our union, as well as through lobbying for progress in government laws and policies.

In solidarity,

Marty Warren
USW National Director

Scott Lunny
USW District 3 Director (Western Canada and the Territories)

Nicolas Lapierre
USW District 5 Director (Quebec)

Kevon Stewart
USW District 6 Director (Ontario and Atlantic Provinces)

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