Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor

Understanding Faculty Association Communication Strategies During Strike Action

2024-05-19T08:47:42-07:00

In 2021-22 there were an unprecedented six faculty association strikes across Canada. These strike actions took place during a period of crisis and transition in Canadian news industry. The consolidation of traditional media outlets meant that these venues were even less reliable for the extensive or effective coverage of the strikes, trends in post-secondary education, or faculty experiences as workers. Concurrently, the proliferation of social media platforms allowed faculty associations to reach audiences directly, bypassing the traditional news media. This paper presents results of our study of Canadian faculty associations’ communication strategies in this period of transformation in Canadian media structures. Based on interviews with members of the communications teams of faculty associations on strike in 2021-22, we identified three key issues that communications teams grappled with during their strikes: the “neutral” approach of the traditional media, a concern with maintaining professionalism and transparency, and the increasing need to use social media to reach important stakeholders. We conclude that although communicating with members remains the most critical task for faculty associations’ communications teams during negotiations and job action, it is a benefit to overall support to have robust external communications as well. In an ever-changing media environment, this means focusing on communications strategies well before beginning the bargaining process.

Leveraging Government Construction Purchasing to Expand Training and Apprenticeship, Overcome Skills Shortages, and Promote a More Diverse Workforce

2025-02-07T14:08:39-08:00

British Columbia has experienced a continuing shortage of skilled construction workers. Over half its apprentices fail to complete their vocational education and training (VOC) programs and an alarming number of workers leave the industry due to the precarious nature of the work and a toxic worksite culture, a problem of particular significance for Indigenous workers, women and racialized minorities. This article examines a unique experiment in reorganizing construction training and employment initiated in 2018 under a newly elected government. Its purpose was to address key factors that impeded the industry’s ability to achieve the government’s ambitious construction agenda by providing more extensive employer support for training and apprenticeship, recruiting a more diversified workforce and improving the workplace culture on construction sites. To advance this agenda, the government created a public corporation, British Columbia Infrastructure Benefits (BCIB), to train and employ the trades’ workforce on selected major infrastructure projects. To achieve the support of labour, it negotiated a community benefits agreement (CBA) with a council of 19 building trades unions covering its entire workforce. To enable BCIB to function as the employer on all its projects, the government made it a condition of its procurement contracts that successful bidders use BCIB’s employees and comply with the CBA’s terms, which prioritized local hire, apprenticeships and equity employment. To track its training and employment performance, BCIB established a comprehensive payroll-based database unique in the industry. This has enabled it to identify - and address - impediments to workforce renewal. To improve the worksite culture and deal with racism, sexism and homophobia, it created a mandatory two-day Respectful Onsite Initiative (ROI) orientation program which all its workers must take before starting their jobs. While the creation of a public employer has been controversial, BCIB’s workers have now logged over 500,000 hours, making it the second largest provincial construction employer. It has also documented significant progress in implementing its training and apprenticeship programs, achieving outcomes considerably better than the rest of the industry.

Kalief Browder and the Eclipse of the Public Good

2024-07-08T15:21:49-07:00

Kafka in the Bronx

2024-11-19T17:04:40-08:00