…A new organizing model that gives non-union workers a chance to engage and organize…by Roxanne DuBois in Canadian DimensionAt Unifor’s founding BC regional Council, a speaker stood up at the mic and shared an idea. As a member of the Vancouver-based Local 3000, representing workers at various White Spot locations and elsewhere in the service industry, the speaker shared thoughts about how to reach out to non-union restaurant workers and to engage them with the union, its services, and its knowledge. Restaurant workers exemplify what precarious work is all about: many of them are young, but not exclusively; they work irregular shifts, have dodgy contracts at best, and certainly don’t have any backup if they have problems getting paid or issues with their boss.
Sure sounds familiar.
In November, the union recognized its first two community chapters: theThese seem similar to but not exactly the same as Workers Centers by another name. Whatever they are, we should learn more about. Hooray for resourceful Canadians... first Plan for Change and now this. Here's a downloadable PDF to read about community chapters and how to create one, : community_chapters_information_flyer.pdf
Canadian Freelance union for freelancers in the media sector, and
Unifaith, representing workers at the united Church. These two chapters
are national in scope.
More information about Unifor community chapters and resources on how to start your own can be found at Unifor's Community Chapters page. Roxanne Dubois is a staff member of Unifor and also former chairperson of the Canadian Federation of Students.
Community Unionism | Articles | Canadian Dimension
Working to transform communities, including ours -- adjunct faculty -- should be prime in our minds. Yet we are often so disorganized, different politically, and absent from what we could do to transform ourselves -- not waiting for someone else to do it -- that we take no stock when others vie positively for change.
ReplyDeleteUnifor is one such group, but as you say, we should find out about others closer to home. I, for one, will keep my eyes out for Jackson Rising; though they lost their election for mayor in Jackson, MS, they are fighting still.
We should look to their next steps, and join them, or emulate their work: my hat off to their struggle!
"We can't even come close to blaming this on evil, immoral Republicans. Everywhere we look, black Democrats and their appointees have been the prime movers and shakers in displacing the black communities which provided the very constituencies that voted black mayors and legislators into office. You can look at Brooklyn or Columbus, you can look at Atlanta or Chicago, you can look at Tampa or Philly or New Orleans. In each and every case black public officials took it upon themselves to sell the dismantling of public housing and the razing of entire communities as a process to which there was no alternative." http://blackagendareport.com/content/jackson-mississippi-rising-alternative-gentrification-urban-economic-development
Please check them out: https://www.facebook.com/jacksonrising
In sol(idarity),
Ana M. Fores Tamayo
Adjunct Justice
Petition: http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/better-pay-for-adjuncts
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AdjunctJustice