Aboriginal Legal Services employees in Toronto unionize

Join Society of United Professionals amid campaign to stop provincial cuts

Aboriginal Legal Services employees in Toronto unionize
Aboriginal Legal Services employees join more than 8,000 Society of United Professionals members. Google Street View

Employees of Aboriginal Legal Services (ALS) joined Society of United Professionals, IFPTE Local 160, on Sept. 11.

“The Ford government’s funding cuts has caused undue stress to Ontario’s legal aid system. We commend our newest members for organizing and resisting in this climate,” says Scott Travers, Society of United Professionals president.

The Society of United Professionals is actively campaigning to reverse the cuts to legal aid. The union’s leadership and members are working with allies and community groups to speak out and defend access to justice in Ontario, says the union.

Aboriginal Legal Services has a provincial mandate and employees work on the frontlines navigating the justice system to protect the interests of Indigenous people and their rights. The organization has grown significantly over the years due to the demand for Gladue reports. Gladue is a sentencing principle which recognizes that indigenous peoples face systemic discrimination in the criminal law system. This principle attempts to deal with the crisis of overrepresentation of indigenous peoples in custody through changing how judges sentence, says the union. 

Aboriginal Legal Services employees join more than 8,000 Society of United Professionals members.

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