10Paid Days
Trans-Affirming Care
Ten paid days for gender-affirming care plus additional surgical leave. Oxfam refused this basic dignity.
● LIVE · STRIKE DAY 4
CUPE 2722 ON STRIKE ✦PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH ✦FAIR WAGES · GENDER JUSTICE · DV LEAVE ✦WE ARE NOT “AWAY” - WE ARE ON STRIKE ✦STAND WITH OXFAM WORKERS ✦OTTAWA · TORONTO ✦STRIKE DAY 4 ✦CUPE 2722 ON STRIKE ✦PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH ✦FAIR WAGES · GENDER JUSTICE · DV LEAVE ✦WE ARE NOT “AWAY” - WE ARE ON STRIKE ✦STAND WITH OXFAM WORKERS ✦OTTAWA · TORONTO ✦STRIKE DAY 4 ✦
oxfam.wtfWhere’s The Fairness?
Oxfam CanadaPractice What You Preach.
Oxfam Canada Workers Are on Strike for Equity & Fair Wages.
Oxfam champions equality globally but denies it to its own staff. We are on strike for gender justice, fair wages, and an end to the hypocrisy.
Send Message to Oxfam LeadershipSays vs. Does.
What Oxfam Says
The Pitch.
- "Fighting gender inequality"
- "Economic justice for all"
- "Protecting vulnerable communities"
- "Worker rights & dignity"
What Oxfam Does
The Reality.
- Refusing gender-affirming care leave
- Denying fair wage increases
- Ignoring domestic violence protections
- Stripping collective agreement rights
The scale isn't balanced. It's broken - by the very people who promised to fix it.
How We Got Here.
Nov 20, 2025
Union proposes expanded Domestic Violence Leave
CUPE 2722 brings forward concrete protections for workers experiencing violence - modelled on Oxfam's own global advocacy.
Feb 2026
Ontario Ministry of Labour appoints conciliator
A conciliator is appointed and offers dates in March, April, and May to meet with the union and the employer.
May 7, 2026
Employer presents its "Final Offer"
Oxfam's offer rejects key protections, refuses gender-affirming care leave, and walks back hard-won cost-of-living provisions.
May 12, 2026
Union presents a comprehensive Offer to Settle
Workers come to the table with a full package addressing wages, equity leaves, and respect at work. Oxfam refuses to engage substantively.
June 11, 2026
STRIKE BEGINS
After every other option is exhausted, CUPE 2722 members walk off the job in Ottawa and Toronto.
June 12, 2026
THE SILENCE TACTIC
On day two, Oxfam management unilaterally changes every striking worker's email out-of-office message to "I am away from work." It speaks for us without our consent, hides the strike from the public, and erases our collective action. It is a shaming move and a betrayal.
We are not "away." We are ON STRIKE.
What We're Fighting For.
Four asks. Every one of them already lives inside Oxfam's own global advocacy.
5Paid Days
Domestic Violence Protections
Five paid days of leave plus supports for workers experiencing violence. Oxfam said no.
40Years of COLA
Fair Wages & Cost-of-Living
Wages that keep pace with inflation. Oxfam sought to remove cost-of-living protections fought for over four decades.
1Principle
Respect & Dignity
A workplace that practices what it preaches. Apply your global principles to your own staff.
They Got a Raise.
We Got a Picket Line.
SLT and non-unionized staff make 58% more than unionized members. SLT salaries are 82% higher than their unionized staff. In April, Oxfam Canada's non-union staff — including senior leadership — quietly received a salary increase well above the modest cost-of-living adjustment unionized workers are asking for. Then management came to the table and said "no."
Executive Director
~$200,000
Annual compensation
Other Directors
~$160,000
Each, per year
Frontline Workers
Fair COLA
Cost-of-living ask refused
Compensation figures sourced from Charity Intelligence Canada.
"This is not what Oxfam believes."
It is a bad-faith decision by Oxfam Canada's senior leadership - people drawing six-figure salaries while telling workers asking for a cost-of-living adjustment that the money simply isn't there. The global Oxfam movement stands for equity. This local leadership is failing that legacy.
They Are Trying to Silence Us.
On June 12, Oxfam management changed all striking workers' out-of-office messages to "I am away from work." This is a deliberate attempt to:
- 01Hide the strike from our partners and the public
- 02Frame our collective action as individual absence
- 03Speak for us without our consent
We are not "away." We are on strike for justice.
Auto-Reply · Oxfam Canada
From: striking.worker@oxfam.ca
Subject: Out of Office
"I am away from work."
- message set by management, without consent, on day two of the strike.
In Our Own Words.
I've dedicated my career to Oxfam's mission. I never thought I'd have to strike for the same rights we fight for globally.
Oxfam talks about ending poverty, but they're keeping their own workers in poverty with sub-par wages.
Changing my out-of-office message without my consent is not just management. It's manipulation. They're trying to erase our struggle.
Send Your
Message Now.
Tell Oxfam Canada's leadership: end the hypocrisy, return to the table, and negotiate a fair contract.
Trouble loading? Open the letter on Action Network →
Join the Picket
Ottawa
39 McArthur Avenue
Mon-Fri · 10-2
Toronto
110 Wellesley Street West
Mon-Fri · 10-2
Follow & Amplify
Follow CUPE 2722 on LinkedIn for picket updates, bargaining news, and ways to show up for striking workers.
Follow on LinkedIn →Questions & Answers.
Everything you need to know about the Oxfam Canada strike.
Why are Oxfam Canada workers on strike?
Oxfam Canada workers, represented by CUPE 2722, are on strike because the employer refused fair wages, gender-affirming care leave, and domestic violence protections at the bargaining table. Oxfam champions equality and gender justice globally but declined to extend those same protections to its own staff, so workers walked off the job to demand that Oxfam Canada practice what it preaches.
Who are the striking Oxfam Canada workers?
They are members of CUPE 2722, the union local representing front-line and program staff at Oxfam Canada in Ottawa and Toronto. CUPE 2722 also represents workers at Action Canada.
When did the Oxfam Canada strike start?
The strike began on June 11, 2026, in Ottawa and Toronto, after the employer's May 7 'final offer' rejected key protections and the union's May 12 comprehensive offer to settle went unanswered. On June 12, 2026 — day two — management changed striking workers' email out-of-office replies to 'I am away from work.'
What are CUPE 2722's demands?
Four asks, each already part of Oxfam's own global advocacy: 10 paid days of gender-affirming (trans-affirming) care plus surgical leave; 5 paid days of domestic violence leave with supports; fair wages that keep pace with the cost of living (protecting four decades of cost-of-living adjustments); and basic respect and dignity at work.
How big is the pay gap at Oxfam Canada?
Non-unionized and senior leadership team (SLT) staff make about 58% more than unionized members, and SLT salaries are roughly 82% higher. The Executive Director earns about $200,000 a year and other directors about $160,000 each, while front-line workers' request for a modest cost-of-living raise was refused. In April, non-union staff quietly received raises well above what unionized workers asked for. Compensation figures are sourced from Charity Intelligence Canada.
What is the 'silence tactic' Oxfam used?
On June 12, 2026, Oxfam Canada management unilaterally changed every striking worker's email out-of-office message to 'I am away from work,' without consent. The union says this hides the strike from partners and the public, reframes collective action as individual absence, and speaks for workers without their permission. Workers' response: 'We are not away. We are on strike.'
How can I support the Oxfam Canada workers?
Send a message to Oxfam Canada's leadership through the CUPE 2722 letter on Action Network, join the picket lines in Ottawa (39 McArthur Avenue) or Toronto (110 Wellesley Street West) Monday to Friday from 10am to 2pm, and follow CUPE 2722 on LinkedIn to amplify bargaining and picket updates.
Where are the Oxfam Canada picket lines?
Pickets run Monday to Friday, 10am to 2pm, at Oxfam Canada's Ottawa office (39 McArthur Avenue) and Toronto office (110 Wellesley Street West).