Labour Studies Conference at the University of Windsor

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS:
Building Bridges - A Labour Studies Conference at the University of Windsor – Feb 2007

February 2nd and 3rd , 2007

Conference Theme and Objectives:
In the face of neoliberal globalization, labour market restructuring, war, and other major challenges to social justice, labour and social movements are struggling to create solidarity and overcome many sources of division. This conference will explore those issues which both divide and unite labour and social movements, and discuss current and possible strategies for improving unity within and across movements and borders. The conference will bring together labour researchers, artists, and union and social movement leaders and activists to examine both the sources of division and the potentials for solidarity.

The conference is being held at the same time as the 9th Annual Labour Arts Festival, which will allow participants to take in a variety of arts events over a three-day period.

Call for Participants:

Panelists: The goal of the conference is to foster reflection, debate and strategizing based on insights derived from a variety of different practices academic, activist, and artistic. As such, each panel discussion will have four to five speakers (15-20 minutes per speaker) representing a cross-section of researchers, union leaders, activists and artists. The presentations should be informal and address the following questions:

- What are the major challenges to building unity in your area of practice? What are the sources of division and in what ways do they hinder movements?
- What initiatives are you working on to address these challenges? What
is working and what isn’t?
- What strategies should be adopted to build more effective bridges?

Discussants: Each panel will also have a discussant, whose role will be to pull together the themes emerging from the presentations and subsequent discussions, and summarize key strategic lessons. While panelists will not be asked to present formal papers, they will submit a one-page summary of their presentation to the discussant in advance of the conference.

Students: We are also particularly interested in fostering labour studies students participation in the conference, and in building connections between students at different institutions. We have therefore structured in time for students to meet, and will subsidize their participation in the arts events (see below for details). We encourage faculty to actively recruit students to attend.

If you are interested in volunteering your services as a panellist or discussant, please email a short (250-word) outline of what you would like to contribute (see the panel topics below). Also, if you know of an academic, movement leader, activist or artist that would be suitable for one of the sessions, please send us their contact information with a short description of why you think they would be a good choice. The deadline for submitting an intent to participate is August 15th, 2006.

For More Information, Please Contact:
Dr. Alan Hall Dr. Stephanie Ross
Director Department of Sociology
Labour Studies Programme and Anthropology
hall4@uwindsor.ca stephr@uwindsor.ca

Both c/o University of Windsor
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
N9B 3P4

Tentative Schedule:
Thursday February 1st
7:30 - 11:30 pm Art Show and Festival Reception ArtCite Gallery

Friday, February 2nd
8:30 - 9:00 am Conference Registration
9:00 -11:00 am Panel I: Bridging Union and Non-Union Workers
11:00 - 1:00 pm Lunch and Labour Art Display
1:00 - 3:00 pm Panel II: Bridging Unions and Workers across

Sectors in Canada
3:30 - 5:30 pm Panel III: Bridging Unions and Workers across

National Borders
7:00 -10:00 pm Dinner Theatre

Saturday, February 3rd
9:30 - 11:30 am Panel IV: Bridging Unions, Workers and Social Movements

11:30 - 1:00 pm Lunch and Labour Film Shorts
Meeting for Labour Studies Students
1:30 - 3:30 pm Panel V: Bridging through Art and Culture
4:00 - 6:00 pm Panel VI: Bridging Unions and Academics
7:30 -11:30 pm Labour Cabaret


Conference Details:
Registration: There will be no registration fee.

Meals: Lunch will be provided on Friday, but on Saturday conference attend ees will be free to eat in one of downtown Windsors many restaurants. There will be a charge for the dinner theatre on the Friday night.
Registration before December 1st, 2006: $35.00
Registration after December 1st, 2006: $45.00

Lodging and Transportation: Participants will have to pay for lodging and transportation, but the conference will seek to get the best possible rates by booking downtown hotel rooms in bulk.

Arts Events: With the exception of the Dinner Theatre, all Labour Arts Festival events are free.

Students: Since we want to encourage attendance by Labour Studies students from various universities, we will waive their dinner costs and seek to billet those coming from outside of Windsor with our Labour Studies students.

Canlan to buy Ice Gardens at York University

Canlan Ice Sports Corp. plans to acquire the Ice Gardens arena complex at York University, the ice-rink operator says. The conditional agreement announced July 18 is with PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc., which is acting as the court-appointed receiver and manager for the Ice Gardens at York University Inc., and as trustee in bankruptcy for 1170843 Ontario Inc., reported the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail July 19. The arena complex, which was built in 1996, is one of the largest in Canada, containing five National Hockey League-size rinks and one Olympic-size rink with seating for 1,500 spectators. The deal is expected to close July 31.

The Saga continues

The news release from the TPS continues the saga.

IBEW Union Burying Ground

The title is linked to the song below which briefly outlines some of the difficult history of the Labour Movement.

The site has many intersting links to other Labour Sites.

"Union Burying Ground"

Woodie Guthrie (1946)
I see they're lowering right new coffin,
I see they're letting down right new coffin,
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
And the new dirt's falling on a right new coffin,
The new dirt's falling on a right new coffin,
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
O, tell me who's that they're letting down, down,
Tell me who's that they're letting down, down,
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
Another union organizer,
Another union organizer,
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
A union brother and a union sister,
A union brother and a union sister,
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
A union father and a union mother,
And union father and a union mother,
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
Well, I'm going to sleep in a union coffin,
I'm going to sleep in a union coffin,
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
Every new grave brings a thousand new ones,
Every new grave brings a thousand members,
Way over in that Union Burying Ground.
Every new grave brings a thousand brothers,
And every new grave brings a thousand sisters,
To the union in that Union Burying Ground.

Library Boy

An interesting collection of law based items.
The author of this linked blog is Canadian.

Fair Practices Commission - WSIB

The Fair Practices Commission is the organizational Ombudsman for the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Neutral and independent of the WSIB, the Commission receives complaints from injured workers, employers and service providers. It is responsible for ensuring that the administrative practices and services of the WSIB are fair, reasonable, appropriate and equitable.

The Spring 2006 newsletter is available currently. http://www.fairpractices.on.ca/html/fpcnewsltrspr06.pdf

Facilities Services Job Posting On-line Now

The Facilities Services Job Postings will now be on the York University Website
http://webapps.yorku.ca/nonacademicpostings/

We await the other areas to follow CSBO, YUDC, and ELC.

Big Box Mart Video

Big Box Mart video

This reminds us of the case regarding W**Mart.
Enjoy the video and its lessons.