The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is a Canadian labour organization that brings together national and international unions, provincial and territorial federations of labour and community-based labour councils to represent over 3 million workers. The Labour College of Canada (LCC), is a year-long educational curriculum bringing together Canadian labour leaders, run by the CLC. The complete program has 3 intensive sessions, with the first in-person session of this cohort taking place from July 13-18 at the Donald Gordon Centre in Kingston, Ontario, on the traditional land of the Anishinabek, Haudenosaunee and the Huron-Wendat peoples.
The week was structured into 3 classes. On Sunday afternoon, along with my fellow new students we gathered to begin our first class - “The Theory and Practice of Unions”. We learned about the history and struggles of labour and unions in Canada with some broader North American context included. We discussed different approaches to unionism and how to use strategic leverage to build capacity and, in turn, power. We also examined case studies discussing relevant moments in labour history that demonstrate working class solidarity, including CUPW’s fight for rural mail carriers, BC’s operation solidarity, and the BC Hospital Employees Union strike of 2004.
In the second course of the week, Strategic Thinking, Planning, and Development, we discussed the power of positive inquiry to develop a plan, tools to develop an inquiry based question, analysis and research tools, and strategic thinking methods. Perhaps the most valuable part of this course was our discussion of strategic planning methods and best practices. Here, we discussed different strategic planning models and how to best plan for positive, long-term outcomes.
Our final course of the week was “Labour’s Journey Towards Truth and Reconcili-action“. This course was presented in one session on Tuesday afternoon. A presenter from the University of Manitoba’s National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation walked our group through Canada’s dark history that is too often hidden, including the residential school system and the ongoing impacts of the system such as intergenerational trauma, the Sixties Scoop, the child welfare system, MMWIG2S+, and other systemic injustices such as food and housing shortages. We also discussed what reconciliation can look like and the TRC’s 94 Calls to Action.
On our final full day, we came together with the other cohorts who were finishing their journey. During their graduation dinner, we heard from the graduates about their Independent Learning Project topics, which gave us some ideas to consider for our own projects that we will be completing over the next year.
Overall, LCC Session 1 offered an enriching and motivating experience. It also provided a valuable opportunity to build lasting relationships with counterparts in other labour sectors across the country. I look forward to continuing to share the lessons learned with PIPSC colleagues and am awaiting sessions 2 and 3 in great anticipation.
Katie Francis