Report from the 2008 PYC International Youth Day Event

August 8-9th, 2008, at the Wellesley Membership Centre
 

Over 30 young workers from across the province, piled into the Wellesley Membership centre to attend the first ever International Youth Day event on August 8-9th, 2008. We were excited and energized by the chance to learn more about how to get involved in the Union on a number of fronts. In the end, it was a day and half of full of enthusiasm, learning and strategizing about the critical role of young workers in our union’s future.

On Friday night we opened with a workshop entitled “Unionism 101.” We started by learning about the benefits that unions have brought to all workers such as paid holidays, health and safety legislation and health care. After a short presentation on how dues are used, the members then pieced together puzzles that helped them learn about the union leadership structure and the decision-making process. The night ended with ideas about how to become more involved in the union. Ideas included attending local meetings, encouraging other young workers to come along, volunteering with local community groups serving marginalized youth, getting involved in political campaigns and lobbying to attend Convention as observers.

On Saturday morning, OPSEU 1st VP and Treasurer Patty Rout, welcomed the young workers and shared her insights about getting involved as a young worker and OPSEU’s commitment to reducing its carbon footprint.

Pati was followed by an inspiring presentation by young activist - Jaggi Singh. Eloquently speaking to the challenges of organizing against international financial interests that block environmental, labour and social justice agendas, Jaggi urged young workers to create a new language and vision of resistance. Jaggi thoughtfully critiqued various models of social justice organizing: the benevolent approach, the celebrity approach and the charity approach. Jaggi asked young members to consider organizing broader-based strategies which emphasize direct action, popular education, mutual aid and direct democracy – strategies which value the existing work and the power of grass roots mobilizing. Jaggi ended by encouraging us to start thinking about Huntsville in the summer of 2010. That is where the G8 summit will take place and communities will gather to protest against the secrecy and lack of democracy that surrounds the setting of global financial agendas that affect workers, the environment and fair trade.

We finished up the event with a workshop entitled “Taking Action, Climate Change.” Gary Shaul, an MDT currently assisting with implementing OPSEU’s three-year green plan, assisted in developing the materials and co-facilitated the workshop. The workshop started by exploring the ways in which we are already experiencing climate change in our communities, at work and at home. We then built on that knowledge with a short quiz where we learned about the green house effect, the most affected regions of the world, as well as the countries with the largest carbon footprint. Sadly, Canada is in second place behind the U.S. We then moved into a short but important discussion about the links between climate change and social justice agendas. We noted that the groups most affected by environmental degradation are often left out of strategy development. For example, people living in poverty can least afford organic foods, hybrid cars or carbon taxes. Workers in the manufacturing sector are losing their jobs without the benefit of being involved in discussions about replacement jobs and industries. We all recognized that no matter what strategy we support, we must be sure to include the voices of the most marginalized if we hope to achieve long-term success and real collective engagement.

The workshop ended on a positive note with the development of regional action plans acted out in the form of energizing skits, poems and cheers.

In the end, young workers left motivated, enthusiastic and hopeful about their place in the union.