Pink Shirt Day 2026
In 2007, in Berwick, Nova Scotia, after a new student at their school was bullied for wearing a pink polo shirt, two grade 12 students bought 50 pink shirts and encouraged their classmates to wear pink. The next day they went to distribute the shirts and to their surprise, the majority of the students arrived wearing pink! With that act kindness, Pink Shirt Day was born. In recognition of the Berwick event, Nova Scotia proclaimed the second Thursday of September “Stand Up Against Bullying Day”. In 2008, British Columbia proclaimed February 27th to be the provincial anti-bullying day, and the movement has continued to grow. In 2012, the United Nations declared May 4th as Anti-Bullying Day, and now the last Wednesday each February is Canada’s national Pink Shirt / anti-bullying day. Our local union has 4,000 or so members; we all at some point in our lives have experienced bullying. Be it a sexist comment, a misogynistic statement, racism, transphobia, homophobia or others. The work to end this is ongoing, and Pink Shirt Day is a day to show that no, bullying is not ok and that by wearing the shirt yes, you are a safe person for someone suffering from it to talk to. Stand up. Speak out. Stop bullying.
