The Living Wall
WHAT IS THE LIVING WALL?
The living wall was created to track the
participation of Workers of Colour at Convention. It also tracks the positions
that Workers of Colour hold and their level of involvement in the decision
making positions within the union (e.g. local presidents, EBMs). It was created
to see if the number of Workers of Colour members attending convention and
participating in decision-making positions are a reflection of OPSEU’s
community. We also wanted to acknowledge the contributions that were made by
Workers of Colour in building our strong union.
In the past we asked members to come sign our
wall, in some cases we had to bring the wall to the member. Although, the
Workers of Colour have conducted this mini survey for the past three years we
would still like OPSEU as a whole to profile it’s membership to get a more
accurate count of the union’s demographics.
Why we use the living wall
There are several reasons for collecting
statistics on “Workers of Colour” within OPSEU. It gives a broad picture of how
“Workers of Colour” are represented within our union. Statistics can also
highlight the changing needs of our Union, and can help us to compare our
current representation with representation of members in past years.
The Living Wall provides evidence of the
under-representation of Workers of Colour at Convention as well as within
OPSEU’s regional and local decision-making structures. Information from
the Government of Canada’s 2001 Census states that Workers of Colour make up
12.6% of the Canadian workforce. The information gathered through the Living
Wall provides concrete evidence of the fact that Workers of Colour
representation within OPSEU structures is far below that level. When decisions
are being made that directly affect Workers of Colour, we are not part of the
decision making process.
RACIAL STATUS AND EMPLOYMENT OUTCOMES
A
report published by the Canadian Labour Congress entitled “Racial Status
and Employment Outcomes” came to the following conclusions based on information
collected from Statistics Canada about Workers of Colour:
- Workers
of Colour in Canada are experiencing lower incomes, higher unemployment, and
persistence in precarious jobs, which all lead to a lower sense of economic
security.
-
Workers of Colour, although present across many occupations, are
underrepresented in more senior positions, and are much less likely to be
unionized than white workers.
-
Canadian-born women of Colour are the most educated group in Canada, yet
have the highest levels of unemployment, and the lowest wages annually, and
hourly wages.
- In
all years, a higher percentage of white workers had union coverage.
-
Even when Workers of Colour are unionized, their wage benefits are
significantly lower than those of their white counterparts.
-
Workers of Colour are less likely to be unionized and when unionization does
occur, Workers of Colour benefit less from unionization.
For
Workers of Colour these findings are obvious. We do not need statistics to
confirm our lived experiences. Statistics however help to validate our
experiences to those who are unable to see “systemic discrimination”
without concrete evidence. Collecting statistics can help us provide this
evidence.
The Living Wall And the Social
Mapping project
The Living Wall pre-dates the development of the OPSEU Social
Mapping Project (SMP). Members of the Workers of Color Caucus, who had been
involved with the Living Wall, lobbied OPSEU to do a more substantive
demographic profile of its membership. Workers of Colour played a key role in
getting the SMP resolution passed at Convention in 2008. The resolution called
for a social map of the membership and a plan to create a more representative
workforce. It was also concerned with the representation of equity-seeking
groups at all levels within OPSEU and issues of accountability and fairness in
decision-making processes. The governance structure and budget to support the
SMP was recently passed by the OPSEU Executive Board. and the 2009 Convention.
Plans are now underway to hire an external consultant, survey the membership and
staff, as well as assess membership and employment systems in order to identify
barriers to increased participation of all under-represented groups within
OPSEU
