JOBS & JUSTICE:
STRATEGIES AND SOLUTIONS FOR ECONOMIC SECURITY CONFERENCE
March 29-31, 2007
(Maritime Labour Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia)
Hosted by the Economic Security Project
(a research alliance led by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Simon Fraser University)
Jobs & Justice was a labour-community-academic gathering to look at the current state of work and employment in BC, Canada and internationally. The conference included presentations and workshops on policy solutions, successful mobilizations, innovative organizing strategies and international experiences.
Conference Papers and Presentations
THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2007
KEYNOTE SPEECH - An International Agenda for Vulnerable Workers’ Rights
Chair: Marjorie Griffin Cohen (Political Science, Simon Fraser University)
Jim Sinclair, BC Federation of Labour
Guy Standing, former Director of Socio-Economic Security, International Labour Organization
FRIDAY, MARCH 30, 2007
PLENARY I: Successful Mobilizations
Chair: Judy Darcy (Hospital Employees’ Union)
Kent Wong, Center for Labor Research and Education, UCLA - Immigrant Workers Bring the Spirit of May Day Back to the U.S.
Rodney Bickerstaffe, National Pensioners’ Convention ( UK)
Redefining "Welfare to Work" in BC: Meaningful Training and Employment Programs for Long-Term Social Assistance Recipients - Shauna Butterwick (UBC); Whitney Borowko (SFU).
Building Equitable Access to Ontario's Labour Market: Engaging Community Organizations in Policy Dialogue - Deanna Yerichuk (A Commitment to Training and Employment for Women)
A.4 - Service Sector Workers and Precarious Work
The UNITE HERE! Hotel Workers Rising Campaign: Engaging and Organizing the Service Sector - Dan Zuberi (Sociology, University of British Columbia)
New Strategies, New Solutions: Unions and Community Working Together for Child Care - George Heyman (BC Government and Service Employees’ Union); Coalition of Child Care Advocates.
Working Alone: Young Workers in the Late Night Retail Sector - Dayna Sykes, BC Federation of Labour.
B.3 - Workers with Disabilities
Removing Barriers and Creating Opportunities to Partial or Episodic Engagement with the Labour Force for People with Disabilities - Nick Istvanffy (Social Planning Research Council of BC); Marcy Cohen (Hospital Employees’ Union)
Building Grassroots Immigrant Women Workers’ Leadership: Asian Immigrant Women Advocates (AIWA) - Jennifer Chun (Sociology, University of British Columbia)
Whose Labour? Whose Market? Lessons from Filipino Migrants in the Live-in Caregiver Program - Glecy Duran and Hetty Alcuitas (Philippine Women Centre)
B.5 - Rural Labour and Farmworkers
Rural Labour Shortages in Southwestern Ontario: racializing and feminizing the workforce in a ‘white,’ male-dominated labour market - Charlotte Yates and Aine Leadbetter ( McMaster University)
Chair: Shannon Daub (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
Roy Adams, McMaster University - Towards Effective Workplace Representation for All Canadian Workers: A Right, A Duty, Good Public Policy
Jinny Sims, BC Teachers’ Federation
Angus McAllister, McAllister Opinion Research
SATURDAY, MARCH 31, 2007
PLENARY III: INNOVATIONS IN ORGANIZING
Chair: Seth Klein (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)
Carla Lipsig-Mumme, Monash University
Junaid S. Ahmad, National Interfaith Committee on Worker Justice - Mobilizing Faith Communities: The Prophetic Call for Solidarity
BREAKOUT SESSIONS C
C.1 - Labour strategies
What Happened to Sectoral Bargaining? - John Weir , BC Federation of Labour
Organising for Labour Rights in the Community: Experiences and Lessons from Montreal - Jill Hanley ( McGill University); Bita Eslami (Immigrant Workers’ Centre)
Social Action for Social Justice: Political education via movements, parties and political groups - David Langille (Centre for Social Justice)
C.2 - Living Wage - Organizing
A Community Living Wage Dialogue - Jane Worton (Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria).
BC Employment Standards Act and Recent Immigrants: The Case of the Filipino - Habiba Zaman (Women’s Studies, Simon Fraser University,); Cecilia Diocson (Philippine Women Centre)
Dealing with De-Skilling: Immigrant Women Workers in BC - Xinying Hu (Women’s Studies, Simon Fraser University)
The Precarity and Social Organization of (Im)Migrant/Refugee/Nonstatus Workers within the Canadian economy and welfare state - Harsha Walia (No One is Illegal)
BREAKOUT SESSIONS D
D.1 - Temporary Foreign Workers
Developments and Experiences in the Employment, Organization, Representation & Assistance of Temporary Foreign Workers in BC, Alberta and Ontario - Adriana Paz (Justicia for Migrant Workers, BC); Joe Barrett (BC & Yukon Building & Construction Trades Council); Evelyn Encalada/Chris Ramsaroop (Justicia for Migrant Workers, ON); Stan Raper (United Food & Commercial Workers); Gil McGowan (Alberta Federation of Labour)
D.2 - Living Wage and Health Care Workers
Fighting for a Living Wage: A Community Coalition Strategy - Deborah Littman (UNISON); Catherine Howarth ( West London Citizens)
Privatization in Health Care: organizing contracted workers - Sue Fisher/Jennifer Whiteside (Hospital Employees’ Union)
D.3 - Education, Training and Apprenticeships
Skills Shortages and Women in Trades and Technology: A Public Policy Debacle - Marcia Braundy (Journeywomen Ventures)
Looking Beyond Want Ads: An Innovative Approach to Inclusion in the Labour Market - Jane Worton (Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria)
Basic Income Proposals: The Politics of Motherhood and Labour Market Attachment - Margot Young (Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia)
D.6 - Climate change and sustainable jobs
The Advent of the BioHEAT Economy in Canada: a new opportunity to promote rural economic security [D6-MPurdon-UofT-pdf] - Mark Purdon ( University of Toronto)