OPSEU's Women’s Conference
November 2 - 4, 2007

“Beyond Borders: An International Perspective”

 ‘The most helpful part of the Conference was learning about the difference between charity versus solidarity’. ‘I learned more about international women and how Northern corporations are directly impacting their working conditions’. This was the response from many of the women who attended Beyond Borders: An International Perspective, OPSEU’s Bi-Annual Women’s Conference from November 2-4, 2007.  More than 150 women from across Ontario and different sectors of the union attended the conference. It was a weekend full of inspiration, education and debate about the impact of globalization on our sisters around the world.

Opening the Conference, OPSEU’s First Vice President and Treasurer, Patty Rout addressed the gains that OPSEU has made in terms of organizing and fighting for women’s rights in the Union. Patty also stressed that we need to extend the fight beyond our borders by listening to and taking direction from activists in developing countries. The Friday night closed with a discussion about “Drop the Debt”, a short and moving video clip about the conflicting relationship between foreign aid and debt in developing countries.

Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik, founder and director of the Masai Centre for Local, Regional and Global Health, kicked off the Saturday morning. Anne-Marie reminded us that, in addition to raising funds to support treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS in Africa, the developed world must support fair and affordable access to drugs already available and saving lives in the North.

Sharing their analysis and first-hand experience with international women’s issues, community activists engaged in a panel discussion following the Saturday morning keynote. Rusa Jeremic, the Global Economic Justice Coordinator for KAIROS carefully described how the current free trade model is   driven by Northern countries to acquire cheap and often inhumane access to resources and labour in the South. She was followed by Notisha Massaquoi, Executive Director of Women’s Health in Women’s Hands, who eloquently described the need for different outreach strategies and analytical tools for women of the South who face violence in a different context as new immigrants, non-citizens or as temporary workers. Finally, members heard from Loly Rico-Martinez, founder and co-director of the FCJ Refugee Centre, who passionately described the systemic barriers newcomers face in meaningfully integrating into Canadian society.

Saturday afternoon was filled with dynamic and interactive workshops on the morning’s themes. OPSEU members learned about the media’s messages about women from the South. They debated the kinds of actions that forward effective solidarity work and concluded by developing action plans around international women’s issues.   

A long day of education and planning was followed by a night of dance and film. Dancers from the Menaka Thakkar Dance Company both performed and delivered an informative presentation about the history, themes and meaning traditionally associated with classical Indian dance. “Made in Thailand”, a   short and moving documentary followed. The documentary probed the impact of globalization on Southern workers that provide the global economy with cheap labor. It also profiled women survivors of the 1993 Kader Toy Factory fire who went on to become grass-roots union organizers.

Sunday morning was filled with laughter, singing and fun. Each of the workshop groups competed in “OPSEU Idol” by performing key moments or learning in their workshop. Participants were awarded prizes in six categories that ranged from “The Best Drama Queens” to “Most Original Song”.  Overall, the Fair Trade and Accountability Group # 2 won the day with their creative re-take on the popular Coke advertising song “I’d like to buy the world a Coke…”

Peggy Nash, Member of Parliament for Parkdale-High Park, was the final keynote speaker of the conference.  Peggy passionately described the role of the union in pressing for change on international issues, the importance of education on issues that go “beyond our borders”, while reminding us about the critical need to work in solidarity with our international sisters to push for public policy change.

Informing us about the important work behind OPSEU’s two Solidarity Funds was OPSEU Staff member, Brenda Wall. She asked us to continue to support   the funds that support organizations actively involved in combating HIV/AIDS and build linkages with communities in developing countries to support development projects, exchanges and emergency humanitarian aid.

The Conference ended by delivering the concrete plans of action from each workshop.  Some of the highlights were:

• Expand ‘Beyond Borders’ workshops into regional educationals

• Build union links with local refugee and immigrant organizations

• Write resolutions for Convention on refugee and migration, fair trade and violence against women

• Pressure for changes to Federal Immigration Laws that create safer working conditions for domestic workers, validate their foreign credentials

• Identify a day/month to support a women’s shelter in your town – ask the shelters and women abuse advocates what they need

• ·Lobby for an OPSEU policy that bans all Coke products at meetings, conventions and vending machines.

For a full list of actions from the Conference, please go to Summary of Actions

In the end, somewhere between debating the meaning of solidarity, crying through a film about the conditions of work in Thai factories, and shopping at the Fair Trade marketplace, OPSEU sisters learned to ask our leaders more questions, take direction from women activists in the South and think long-term in terms of progress and change. Although OPSEU sisters have returned to their jobs and daily struggles, the Conference provided them with a shared analysis and commitment to also take action on pressing global women’s issues.