2023 Canadian Labour Congress, Part 1 (w/ Emily Leedham, Guy Smith, Mary Newman, James Russwurm, & Liz Ha)

From May 8-12, the 30th Constitutional Convention of the Canadian Labour Congress took place in Montréal. Reporting for Working People and The Real News Network, Max attended the convention and spoke with a number of rank-and-file workers, organizers, and union officers about the state of the labor movement in Canada. In Part 1 of our two-part dispatch from the CLC, we talk to: Emily Leedham, the Prairie Reporter for PressProgress and editor of Shift Work, PressProgress' weekly national labour newsletter; Guy Smith, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees; Mary Newman, a journalist and producer for the Canadian Broadcast Corporation and member of the Canadian Media Guild; James Russwurm, a quality assurance tester for Keywords Studios, where workers formed the first union in the video gaming industry and affiliated with UFCW Local 401; Liz Ha, 1st Vice President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) Local 154, chair of the OPSEU provincial human rights committee, and vice-chair of the OPSEU Coalition of Racialized Workers.

Additional links/info below...

• Canadian Labour Congress website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Emily's Twitter page and newsletter 
• PressProgress's website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Guy's AUPE profile page
• Alberta Union of Provincial Employees website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Mary's Twitter page
• UFCW Local 401 website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Liz's Twitter page
• OPSEU Local 154 Facebook page
• OPSEU Coalition of Racialized Workers website 
• Emily Leedham, PressProgress, "Public Servants Forced Federal Government to Improve Deal By Going on Strike, Labour Experts Say"
• Aminah Sheikh, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, "The Right Wing is Organizing in Canada. Can The Left Learn to Stop Them?"
• CBC Radio, "Canada's Video Games Industry Is Getting Its 1st Union. Organizers Hope It's Not the Last"

Permanent links below...

• Working People Patreon page
• Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
• Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

• Jules Taylor, "Working People" Theme Song