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)

BREAKOUT SESSIONS A

A.1 - Living Wage and Welfare Rates

• Who Deserves What: Establishing the Income Thresholds for Minimum/Living Wages and Incomes Assistance-"Minimum Wages in Canada," Stuart Murray (Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives); Steve Kerstetter (former Director, National Council on Welfare); Michael Goldberg (former SPARC Research Director)

A.2 - Internationally trained professionals and accreditation

• The Value of ‘Experience’ and the Labour Market Entry of New Immigrants in the Canadian Hi-Tech Industry - Peter V. Hall ( Simon Fraser University, Sustainable Communities)
• In BC’s Economic Interest - Priti Shah and Poonam Kapoor (Capacity BC)
• Towards Reinstating Reciprocity of Foreign-Trained Health Professionals - Leonora Angeles/Sheila Farrales/Danielle Bisnar (Philippine Women Centre).

A.3 - Employment Access

• Redefining "Welfare to Work" in BC: Meaningful Training and Employment Programs for Long-Term Social Assistance Recipients - Shauna Butterwick (UBC); Whitney Borowko (SFU).
• Jobs vs. Mutual Aid: Taking Back the Meaning of 'Work' in Community - Chrystal Ocean and Daphne Moldowin (Well-being thru Inclusion Socially and Economically)
• 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)
• Lessons from the Postsocialist Workplace: Service Workers in China - Amy Hanser, (Sociology, University of British Columbia)
• 'Trading my health for money': Precarious Employment and Workers' Health - Wayne Lewchuk and Marlea Clarke ( McMaster University)

A.5 - Child Care and Parental Leave

• 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.
• A Comparison of Parental Leave and Work-Family Measures in Canada, Québec and Other Countries - Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay, Universite du Quebec a Montreal.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS B

B.1 - New Development in Labour Standards

• The Arthurs Recommendations: A Giant Leap Forward in Establishing Dignity in Labour Standards - Brian B. McArthur (United Food and Commercial Workers International Union).
• Labour Standards For the 21st Century: Regulating Working Time - Judy Fudge (Faculty of Law, University of Victoria)

B.2 - Young Workers

• Gendered Distinctions in Teenage Work in B.C.: The Beginnings of a Pattern - Lisa Clark and Marjorie Griffin Cohen (Political Science, Simon Fraser University).
• 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)
• Vocational Rehabilitation in Canada - Tamara Grenon
• A National Strategy for Canadian Workers with a Disability - John Rae, Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians.

B.4 - Immigrant and Migrant Workers

• 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)
• Field Reports: Impacts of Changes to Employment Regulation on Immigrant and Migrant Farm Workers in BC - Arlene Tigar McLaren ( Simon Fraser University)/Mark Thompson (UBC)

B.6 - Labour in Latin America

• Lessons of Privatisation: Canada Post's Union-busting Scheme in Guatemala - Michael Skinner (York University)
• Learning Policy Influence from Latin American Social Movements - Carol Wood (CoDevelopment Canada)

PLENARY II: LABOUR RIGHTS AND THE PUBLIC

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).
• Normalizing Contingency? Re-regulating the Chicago labour market...from the bottom up - Jamie Peck ( University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Nik Theodore (University of Illinois).

C.3 - Public Service Workers

• Union Organizing as a Strategy to Change Laws and Regulations - Deborah Bourque (Canadian Union of Postal Workers)
• Government Contracting Out of IT-Enabled Work: Implications for Workers - Penny Gurstein and Anisha Datta ( University of British Columbia).

C.4 - Immigrant Workers - Experiences

• 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)
• Access to adult basic education and post-secondary training for low-income people - Shauna Butterwick (Educational Studies, University of British Columbia)
• Falling Short:  BC's Post-Secondary Education & Training Policies - Phillip Legg (Federation of Post-Secondary Educators)

D.4 - Health and safety

• Does Preventing Cancer Prevent Jobs? - Cathy Walker (Labour Environmental Alliance Society)
• Preventing Needless Injuries - A Provincial campaign - Pam Piddocke (BC Nurses’ Union)
• Restoring and Protecting Public Workers' Compensation - Deborah Payment, Compensation Employees’ Union.

D.5 - Barriers to Labour Market

• Urban Aboriginal Poverty: Jobs & Justice - Kate Rexe (Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions)
• 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)
• Global Warming: The Path Ahead - Cliff Stainsby (BC Government and Service Employees’ Union)

PLENARY IV: Closing

Chair: Stephen McBride (Political Science, Simon Fraser University)

• Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Simon Fraser University (Political Science)
• Elaine Bernard, Harvard Law School (Labor and Worklife Program) - Mobilizing for Jobs & Justice in the 21 st Century