Organizing “Vulnerable Workers” for improvements in their labour situation Jill HANLEY McGill School of Social Work

Community-based research projects ‘Learning to be an Immigrant Worker’  Baltodano, Chowdry, Hanley, Jordan, Shragge, Singh, Steigman & the Immigrant Workers’ Centre ( SSHRC)  Interviews with 50+ migrant workers on their labour experiences  Goal: Develop organising tools to encourage defence of labour rights

 ‘Organising the Undocumented for Labour Rights in Brussels and Montreal’  Hanley postdoctoral project ( FQRSC)  Policy analysis of access to social rights  Interviews with 70 NGOs, community groups and activist collectives  Goal: Develop organising strategies for vulnerable population

Presentation Outline  Defining “Vulnerable Workers”  Why Organize?  The background to organizing  Self-Organizing  Community Organizing  Union Organizing  Policy Advocacy

Defining “Vulnerable Workers”  Vulnerable to what?  Job precarity  Working Poverty  Discrimination  Vulnerable how?  Vulnerable jobs: employment conditions  Vulnerable people: social location

Why Organize?  History shows that few gains won and maintained without popular political mobilisation  Allows voice for the people most likely to understand the problem’s impact  Organizing also has important spin-offs: skill development, self-esteem, social networks

The background to organising  Popular Education: labour, social and immigration rights  Building relationships between workers and community members  Creating spaces for dialogue

Self-Organizing  Types of self-organizing:  Ethnic or fraternal associations  Workplace solidarity  Extended family or friendship networks  Common goals:  Information-sharing on rights  Access to employment  Employment security

Community Organizing  Types of community organizing:  Community economic development  Defence of labour rights  Labour-community collaboration  Common goals:  Alternative economic models  Access to rights  Increase solidarity for increased power in shifting economy

Union Organizing  Types of union organizing:  Traditional shop organizing  Workers’ associations  Support of social movements  Common goals:  Increase power through membership  Collective agreements  “Rising tide”

Policy Advocacy  Types of policy advocacy:  Change labour legislation  Change procedures for recourse  Address macro economic issues  Current issues:  Use of Temporary Foreign Worker Program  Right to unionize in “vulnerable jobs”  Access to recourse for vulnerable groups (CNT, CSST)  Resisting the negative effects of neoliberal global economy

Challenges in Organising  New kinds of jobs (“flexible” economy)  New kinds of workers  Migration (capital & labour)  International trade agreements

Alternative Possibilities  Focus organizing on vulnerable workers  Moving away from the workplace as the centre of organizing (ex. sectorial, associations)  Community-based workers’ centres  Support autonomous action