Jun 3, 2023
From May 8-12, the 30th Constitutional Convention of the Canadian Labour Congress took place in Montréal. Reporting for Working People and The Real News Network, Max attended the convention and spoke with a number of rank-and-file workers, organizers, and union officers about the state of the labor movement in Canada. In Part 1 of our two-part dispatch from the CLC, we talk to: Emily Leedham, the Prairie Reporter for PressProgress and editor of Shift Work, PressProgress' weekly national labour newsletter; Guy Smith, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees; Mary Newman, a journalist and producer for the Canadian Broadcast Corporation and member of the Canadian Media Guild; James Russwurm, a quality assurance tester for Keywords Studios, where workers formed the first union in the video gaming industry and affiliated with UFCW Local 401; Liz Ha, 1st Vice President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 154, chair of the OPSEU provincial human rights committee, and vice-chair of the OPSEU Coalition of Racialized Workers.
Additional links/info below...
- Canadian Labour Congress website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- Emily's Twitter page and newsletter
- PressProgress's website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- Guy's AUPE profile page
- Alberta Union of Provincial Employees website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- Mary's Twitter page
- UFCW Local 401 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- Liz's Twitter page
- OPSEU Local 154 Facebook page
- OPSEU Coalition of Racialized Workers website
- Emily Leedham, PressProgress, "Public Servants Forced Federal Government to Improve Deal By Going on Strike, Labour Experts Say"
- Aminah Sheikh, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, "The Right Wing is Organizing in Canada. Can The Left Learn to Stop Them?"
- CBC Radio, "Canada's Video Games Industry Is Getting Its 1st Union. Organizers Hope It's Not the Last"
Permanent links below...
- Working People Patreon page
- Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
- Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
- The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page
Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)
- Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song