MEDIA AVAILABILITY: OFL President Sid Ryan to Announce Labour's Support for the March for Jobs, Justice and the Climate

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - July 3, 2015) - On Sunday, July 5, Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) President Sid Ryan will join thousands of Indigenous, environmental, labour and community activists in demanding a justice-based transition to a clean-energy economy in Canada. The mass rally for "Jobs, Justice and the Climate" will take place on the eve of the Climate Summit of the Americas and Pan American Economic Summit.

This alliance between labour unions, environmentalists and Indigenous activists is unprecedented in Canada and represents a growing consensus that Canada's national agenda must shift away from the corporatized attack on the environment, good jobs and Canada's Indigenous peoples, towards a new kind of economy that promotes fairness, equality, justice, opportunity and a sustainable planet.

This emerging alliance will, no doubt, play an important role in the upcoming federal election this fall.

"This is the fight of our era," said OFL President Sid Ryan. "Labour unions are joining forces with Aboriginal, environmental and civil society activists to protect our communities, our livelihoods and our collective future. No one can escape the devastating effects of climate destruction, but those effects will certainly have an unequal impact on the most vulnerable people, jobs and habitats around the world. It is time to decide what kind of world we want and define it in the interest of people and the planet, not corporate profit."

The Ontario Federation of Labour (OFL) represents 54 unions and one million workers in Ontario. For information, visit www.OFL.ca and follow the OFL on Facebook and Twitter: @OFLabour.