Working People3 Jun 2023

2023 Canadian Labour Congress, Part 1 (w/ Emily Leedham, Guy Smith, Mary Newman, James Russwurm, & Liz Ha)

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

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