A Virtual Celebration of the 2022 Recipient of CIRA’s Canadian Freedom of Association Award

Date and Time : Wednesday 10th May 2023 16:00-17:30

Follow this Zoom Link to participate: https://umontreal.zoom.us/j/83932716180?pwd=MDJ4WDhaSXRNSVNMRGlTVE1rQy9xZz09

All are welcome in this celebration of the 2022 Canadian Freedom of Association Award. The program for this award celebration will last approximately 90 minutes and provide insights into the legacy of Canadian Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella on the freedom of association in Canada. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided.

Each year, the Canadian Freedom of Association Award recognizes an outstanding contribution to the understanding of, and respect for, international standards on the right to organize and bargain collectively to which Canada is bound. The 2022 recipient, Honourable Rosalie Abella, now a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, is most deserving of this honour. Justice Abella has devoted her entire career to the recognition, promotion and respect of fundamental human rights and freedoms, including the freedom of association, the right to unionize, and the right to collective bargaining.

Organization of the Ceremony on Wednesday May 10th 2023 @ 16:00 (EST)

1. The Canadian Freedom of Association Award: What is CIRA and the Canadian Freedom of Association Award?
- Dionne Pohler (U. Sask and CFoA Award CIRA Nominations Committee) 
 
2. Why this recipient?
- Gilles Trudeau (CRIMT, Université de Montréal and CFoA Award CIRA Nominations Committee)
 
3. Interview with the 2022 Recipient of the Canadian Freedom of Association Award
- Justice Rosalie Abella and/et Dionne Pohler
 
4. Assessing Justice Abella’s Legacy: 
- Interactive panel with key experts on Justice Abella’s legacy and the challenges for advancing freedom of association in Canada and beyond
- Adelle Blackett (Faculty of Law, McGill University)
- Steven Barrett (Partner, Goldblatt Partners)
- Louis Lebel (former Justice, Supreme Court of Canada / ancien juge de la Cour suprême du Canada)
- Kerry Rittich (Faculty of Law, University of Toronto)
- Panel moderated by Gregor Murray (CFoA Award CIRA Nominations Committee, CRIMT Director and Professor, École de relations industrielles, Université de Montréal)
 
5. Closing Remarks
- Rosalie Abella
- Gregor Murray
 
Acknowledgement of support for this activity: Roy J. Adams, the Canadian Industrial Relations Association, the Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT)  
 
 
CIRA is a bilingual association, also known as Association canadienne des relations industrielles (ACRI), which comprises a diverse network of people from across Canada and around the world interested in promoting research, discussion and education in the field of work, labour, employment and industrial relations. CIRA sponsors conferences, encourages high quality research and practice, and fosters the building of relationships between members. CIRA is open to any individual interested in industrial relations, work, labour and employment, including unionization, union-management relations, labour and employment law, and human resources management. Our association brings together specialists from labour, management, government and universities. The Canadian Industrial Relations Association is a great venue to learn more about the field of study and meet leading scholars and practitioners shaping the world of work.


 The Canadian Freedom of Association Award Mandate
The Canadian Industrial Relations Association is the result of a generous donation by Roy J. Adams to the Canadian Industrial Relations Association to support an annual award to a person or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to promoting understanding of and compliance with international standards regarding the right to organize and bargain collectively as those standards apply to Canada.  See: https://www.cira-acri.ca/en-awards#foaaward
 
Previous award winners include:

• 2021, Anthony Giles and the International and Intergovernmental Affairs Directorate, Labour Program, Employment and Social Development Canada; Brian Burkett and the Canadian Employers’ Council; Hassan Yussuff and the Canadian Labour Congress; and Larry Brown and the National Union of Public and General Employees.

• 2020 Deena Ladd and the Workers’ Action Centre

• 2019 Pierre Verge (accepted posthumously by his son Louis Verge)

• 2018, the Honourable Justices Beverley McLachlin and Louis LeBel; and

• 2017, Craig Bavis and Larry Kowalchuk.

As a continuation of its webinar series offering discussion spaces to groups facing issues of equity and inclusion in the workplace, CIRA is organizing a webinar on aspects related to union presence in indigenous communities.

Guests

• François Beauchemin, Spokesperson on tables E3-E4-S8-S9, Union advisor, Responsible for school network negotiations, Association of employees of Northern Quebec (AENQ-CSQ)

When?

• Tuesday December 6, 2022 at 12:30PM (EST)

Where?

• Online: https://umontreal.zoom.us/j/88992074987?pwd=OFRkNDNTUWIzQy92UjE4aEpmQkFiQT09

Workers with disabilities experience discrimination in the job market. Adaptations or accommodations can reduce barriers in workplaces causing disabilities. Examples of neurodivergent employees’ experiences will illustrate how organizations can foster their full potential by creating adaptations in a flexible and individualized manner.

Guests

·       Valérie Martin, Ph.D. is a professor in management of occupational health and safety at ESG-UQAM. Her research focuses on inclusive businesses for workers with autism and other disabilities.

·       Solène Métayer, M.Sc., ICP-AHR, is a human resources professional who worked in the health network, in the cultural milieu and in private companies for 20 years. She learned at the age of 32 that she is autistic and has high intellectual potential. She is now starting a doctorate in communication at UQAM.

When?

• Friday October 21, 2022, at 12:30PM (EST)

Where?

Online: https://umontreal.zoom.us/j/82184266030?pwd=b1NDdEpmR3BNaTN4bWo1WEtEVVVwUT09

CIRA launches their series of webinars to give a talking space to groups bringing equity and inclusion issues in work and academic environments.
 
Title: Post-secondary Indigenous students' career paths and employment integration
 
Guests:

• Dre Émilie Deschênes, professor at l’Université du Québec en Abitibi-Temiscamingue (UQAT)

• Donna Sanford, student in Preschool Education and Primary Teaching, Université du Québec en Abitibi-Temiscamingue (UQAT)

• Rachel Martin, former student, McGill University

When:

• March 16, 2022 at 12pm EST

Where:

• https://umontreal.zoom.us/j/87104085267?pwd=MDdXNWt1K2RoREphSjNuZHN6OThYUT09

The goal of this webinar is for the guests to open a discussion on issues that Indigenous students meet in the transition to post-secondary education and employment then in their scholar, social and professional integration. Furthermore, aspects of the union world will be discussed, mainly trade unions' presence in Indigenous communities and their fit with community and Indigenous values.

CIRA/CAWLS Webinar:

"The Labour Relations of COVID Vaccine Mandates"

The introduction of vaccine mandates in workplaces to address the COVID-19 pandemic raise a number of complex labour relations issues. Workers and their unions recognize the immediate need to protect workers’ health and safety through widespread vaccine distribution. They must also consider longer term issues of protecting collective agreement language and limiting employer intrusion into workers’ privacy. This webinar explores how unions have been responding to this issue and what it might mean for labour relations in the future.

This webinar is jointly sponsored by the Canadian Industrial Relations Associations and the Canadian Association of Work and Labour Studies.

[This webinar will be in English]

Speakers:

• Dr. Alison Braley-Rattai, Associate Professor, Labour Studies at Brock University

• Troy Winter, Senior Health and Safety Officer at Canadian Union of Public Employees

Date

• November 24th at 12:00 (Noon) Eastern Standard Time

Place

• https://umontreal.zoom.us/j/84426146134?pwd=d3NiUlJmNHVtTks2UHdaSmF3dVN6Zz09

• Secret code : 253558

A Virtual Celebration of the 2020 Recipients of CIRA’s Canadian Freedom of Association Award: Deena Ladd and the Workers’ Action Centre (WAC)

Date and Time : 23 September 2021 16:00-17:00

All are welcome in this celebration of WAC and the Canadian Freedom of Association Award

To participate, follow this Zoom Link :  https://umontreal.zoom.us/j/86242693246?pwd=aXVGUmw2eFUrMzVoY2dRUDJVYk9Wdz09

The joint winners of the 2020 Canadian Freedom of Association Award are the Workers’ Action Centre (WAC) and its executive director Ms. Deena Ladd. 

The program for this award celebration will last approximately 60 minutes and provide insights into the work of WAC and the challenges for the freedom of association.

1. An Introductory Panel on the Work of the Workers’ Action Centre in Covid Times

Deena Ladd (WAC executive director)

Nadira Begum (WAC organizer)

Veronica Zaragora (WAC organizer)

Gregor Murray (Université de Montréal and CFoA Award Nominations Committee), moderator

2. The Canadian Freedom of Association Award: What is CIRA and the Canadian Freedom of Association Award?

Jason Foster (Athabasca University and President, Canadian Industrial Relations Association)

3. Why Deena Ladd and the Workers’ Action Centre?

Leah Vosko (York University)

4. Testimonies and Tributes to the Award Recipients

Carol Wall (Abolitionist, Social Justice Labour Educator)

Winnie Ng (Ryerson University)

Laurell Ritchie (Goods Jobs for All Coalition and retired UNIFOR (CAW) National Representative) 

Andria Babbington (President of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council)

         Gregor Murray (on behalf of the CFoA Award Nominations Committee).

5. Closing remarks

         Deena Ladd on behalf of the Workers’ Action Centre

The Canadian Freedom of Association Award Mandate

The Canadian Industrial Relations Association is the result of a generous donation by Roy J. Adams to the Canadian Industrial Relations Association to support an annual award to a person or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to promoting understanding of and compliance with international standards regarding the right to organize and bargain collectively as those standards apply to Canada.  See: https://www.cira-acri.ca/en-awards#foaaward

The 2020 Canadian Freedom of Association Award Recipients

The joint winners of the 2020 Canadian Freedom of Association Award are the Workers’ Action Centre (WAC) and its executive director Ms. Deena Ladd. 

Deena Ladd is the Executive Director of the Workers’ Action Centre (WAC). For over 20 years, she has been working to improve wages and working conditions primarily for racialized communities, women, low-wage workers and immigrant workers. 

The Workers’ Action Centre (WAC) is a worker-based organization in Toronto committed to improving the lives and working conditions of people in low-wage and unstable employment. Thousands of working families are struggling to make ends meet, so the WAC organizes for decent work. 

WAC's members are workers in precarious jobs. They are recent immigrants, workers of colour, women, men, and youth. Most do not belong to unions and often cannot exercise basic freedom of association rights because they work in small workplaces, are temporary workers, on contract, independent contractors or unemployed. In one month, they may be juggling 2 or 3 jobs, as has been readily apparent in the Covid-19 pandemic; in another month, they might not have any work or income. When they are able to find full-time work, there is often still little protection against unfair working conditions.

WAC members are actively involved in its campaigns and advocacy work to improve wages and working conditions for all workers. Through sharing experiences at work and mutual support, WAC members seek to build a stronger movement for change. The constant objective has been to expand the boundaries of freedom of association for the most precarious and often vulnerable persons at work. 

In awarding the 2020 Canadian Freedom of Association award jointly to the Workers’ Action Centre and to Deena Ladd, we wish to give special recognition to their outstanding contribution in bringing freedom of association rights to workers who, most often, have to overcome huge obstacles to exercising their fundamental rights to associate freely to improve their lives at work. 

How to support the work of the Workers’ Action Centre?  Two ways to support the Workers’ Action Centre’s Fight for Decent Work!

1. WAC is proud to be an advocate for change and thus, under current legislation, cannot be a registered charity or issue tax receipts. You can directly support the organizing work by going to https://workersactioncentre.org/support-wac/

2. You can also support the OEERC Education and Leadership Fund for Workers in Precarious Employment. The Ontario Employment Education and Research Centre partners with WAC to develop valuable educational programming to support workers who need access to information in their first language, need support to deal with workplace problems and connects workers to leadership training programs. The OEERC is a charity and you will receive a tax receipt for your donation. Please indicate your support for WAC’s work and go to https://oeerc.org/support/

What is the Canadian Industrial Relations Association (CIRA)? https://www.cira-acri.ca/home

CIRA is a bilingual association, also known as Association canadienne des relations industrielles (ACRI), which comprises a diverse network of people from across Canada and around the world interested in promoting research, discussion and education in the field of work, labour, employment and industrial relations. CIRA sponsors conferences, encourages high quality research and practice, and fosters the building of relationships between members. CIRA is open to any individual interested in industrial relations, work, labour and employment, including unionization, union-management relations, labour and employment law, and human resources management. Our association brings together specialists from labour, management, government and universities. The Canadian Industrial Relations Association is a great venue to learn more about the field of study and meet leading scholars and practitioners shaping the world of work.

L’Association canadienne des relations industrielles (ACRI) se veut un réseau de gens de partout au Canada et autour du monde intéressés par la promotion de la recherche, des discussions et de l’éducation dans les sphères du travail, de la main-d’œuvre, de l’emploi et des relations industrielles. L’ACRI parraine des conférences, appuie la recherche et les pratiques de haute qualité tout en soutenant la création de rapports entre les membres. L’ACRI s’ouvre à toute personne intéressée par les relations industrielles, le travail, la main-d’œuvre, l’emploi, y compris le syndicalisme, les rapports syndicat-employeur, le droit du travail et de l’emploi et la gestion des ressources humaines. Notre association réunit des spécialistes des domaines du travail, de la gestion, des gouvernements et des universités. L’Association canadienne des relations industrielles constitue un endroit idéal où on en apprend davantage sur le champ d’étude et où on rencontre des étudiants, des étudiantes, des praticiens et des praticiennes qui moulent le monde du travail.

Acknowledgement of support for this activity: the Workers’ Action Centre(https://workersactioncentre.org/), Roy J. Adams, the Canadian Industrial Relations Association, the Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT) www.crimt.net

In the third and last webinar of a series from CIRA, our guests are invited to share the union perspective on issues of equity and inclusion, including with members, staff and workplaces.
 
When?

• Tuesday May 25th at 11am

Guests:

• Marc-Édouard Joubert, President of the Conseil régional FTQ Montréal Métropolitain

• Christine Maclin, Director of Human Rights of UNIFOR

To watch the webinar:

• https://youtu.be/B6zvdTRMokk

 
The webinar will be in French and English.

Webinar 2: The academic researcher and her / his / their questions about race, gender and intersectionality

This second of a series of three CIRA webinars aims to contribute to long due conversations regarding equity, diversity and inclusion at work and the way in which academic researchers address research questions that take into account race, gender and intersectionality. Webinar 1 opened the discussion on equity, diversity and inclusion and how these are addressed or questioned in academic teaching through choices of content and pedagogical approaches.  Webinar 3 will give voice to practitioners such as union representatives and the challenges they face in representation endeavors.

During webinar 2, our guests, Tamara Lee and Maite Tapia, will help us discuss how as academic researchers they address questions around race, gender and intersectionality. These two authors of a recent article* that addresses these issues in Industrial Relations, will share their experiences regarding challenges they may face while conducting empirical research on these themes, and will help discuss relevant implications regarding bias and reflexivity.

*Lee, T. L., & Tapia, M. (2020). Confronting Race and Other Social Identity Erasures: The Case for Critical Industrial Relations Theory. ILR Review, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0019793921992080.

Guests:

• Tamara Lee, Assistant Professor, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University

• Maite Tapia, Associate Professor, School of Human Resources & Labor Relations, Michigan State University

Date:

• Thursday April 15th at 11am

Place:

• https://umontreal.zoom.us/j/94479587958?pwd=OHJKQ3NDZSs5dlFkSERrQ2F5SFFidz09

You can also share the event in your network: https://fb.me/e/4R0ksysq9

We hope to see you soon

CIRA

CIRA Webinar series – Les webinaires de l’ACRI

Sensibilisation et conversations autour de l’équité, la diversité et l’inclusion dans nos milieux de travail (universitaires et de praticiens)

Webinaire 1 : Equité? Diversité? Inclusion? Et Quels enjeux pour l’enseignement?

Ce premier panel d'une série de rencontres virtuelles sur les questions d’équité, de diversité et d’inclusion est organisé par l'Association canadienne des relations industrielles (ACRI). Il lancera une discussion autour des enjeux des enseignants du fait de leurs identités (genre, ethnoculturelle) dans le milieu universitaire québécois et canadien. Seront traités également les enjeux dans la transmission des aspects liés à ces termes qui méritent encore d’être définis, dans le contenu des cours, dans l’approche pédagogique en classe ou encore en encadrement de travaux d’étudiants.

Invitées :

• Wassila Merkouche, Professeure substitut au département ORH, ESG-UQAM

• Emilie Genin, Professeure agrégée, École de relations industrielles, Université de Montréal

Date :

• Mardi 16 mars à 10h30

Lieu :

• https://umontreal.zoom.us/j/99168884614?pwd=bk9hMlJwVWNkVG56TE9QSXIyeEZpZz09

Vous pouvez aussi partager l’événement sur Facebook auprès de vos réseaux : https://fb.me/e/2fhUylL4y

Au plaisir de vous y voir!
L'ACRI