Our guest speaker will be Joshua Berson regarding his recent trip to work with International PRIDE Centre in Kenya, which our Labour Council provided support for.

Prior to the meeting, from 6:00pm-6:45pm, we will host a Pizza Educational. The topic of the educational will be “Why labour exchanges with China matter for workers”. Speakers will be former Interim Leader of the NDP, Don Davies, as well as John Price, former coordinator of the Capilano University Labour Studies Program, and participant in 2006 VDLC delegation to China.

We will be collecting donations of period products as part of the Period Promise campaign at this meeting.

Please note that only duly appointed and sworn-in delegates have vote at VDLC meeting. Further, only delegates, and invited guest speakers, have voice unless otherwise granted by a unanimous vote of delegates present. In order to ensure the respectful and timely conduct of labour council business, these rules will be strictly applied.

The VDLC’s Constitution & By-laws, as well as a Labour Council Handbook, are available on the resources page of our website: https://vdlc.ca/resources/

The meeting agenda, including recommendations and any other documents will be distributed electronically and posted to our website closer to the meeting date.

The post May Regular Meeting appeared first on Vancouver and District Labour Council..

Striking with History combines training for activists with labour history to help people think creatively about today’s struggles and tactics. It will draw on the experiences of the participants, interactive role-play, and history from the struggle for the 9-hour day to the recent UniteHere hotel strike to develop critical thinking and organizing skills for activists and organizers.

Facilitator: Mark Leier, SFU
Mark Leier is a history professor at Simon Fraser University. He has been a member of several unions over his working life, including the Glaziers, CUPE, TSSU, Carpenters, and SFUFA. Noted for his use of the banjo and labour songs in his classes, Mark is an award-winning teacher who has taught labour history at the CLC Winter School and for several unions. His books include Where the Fraser River Flows, a history of the IWW in BC; Bakunin: A Creative Passion, a biography of the 19th-century Russian anarchist, and Rebel Life: The Life and Times of Robert Gosden, a BC radical and police spy. His most recent project, with labour studies instructor John-Henry Harter, is Roles of Resistance: Game Plans for Teachers and Troublemakers. 
 
 

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This will be an opportunity to connect with others who are concerned about the state of our public education system, and how we can work together to improve it.

Wednesday, April 22

6:00pm – 8:00pm

VSTA Offices

Unit 505-63 West 6th Ave.

Vancouver, BC

Light food and refreshments provided.

RSVP required: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx…

The post Townhall on Funding for Schools appeared first on Vancouver and District Labour Council..

We will be collecting donations of period products as part of the Period Promise campaign at our April, and May regular meetings.

Please note that only duly appointed and sworn-in delegates have vote at VDLC meeting. Further, only delegates, and invited guest speakers, have voice unless otherwise granted by a unanimous vote of delegates present. In order to ensure the respectful and timely conduct of labour council business, these rules will be strictly applied.

The VDLC’s Constitution & By-laws, as well as a Labour Council Handbook, are available on the resources page of our website: https://vdlc.ca/resources/

The meeting agenda, including recommendations and any other documents will be distributed electronically and posted to our website closer to the meeting date.

The post VDLC April Regular Meeting appeared first on Vancouver and District Labour Council..

Your vote matters! Those who are elected will make critical decisions about our cities, schools, libraries, and parks. The outcomes will impact everything from utilities and infrastructure to public services and programs; from transit to swimming lessons, street cleaning to garbage collection, and so much more.

Labour endorsed candidates are pro-worker progressives who will fight for affordability, housing and transit, good jobs and strong public services. Labour endorsed candidates will be posted on our website closer to election time.

Don’t miss the chance to have your voice heard.

The post Election Day appeared first on Vancouver and District Labour Council..

Join us in Edmonds Park on Monday, September 7th between 11:00am and 2:30pm for a free, fun, family friendly celebration.

There will be exciting speakers (starting at 11:00am), bouncy castles, games and entertainment for kids, live music, free food and treats, union and community organization booths, and more!

Speakers to be announced closer to the date.

The post Metro Vancouver Labour Day Celebration appeared first on Vancouver and District Labour Council..

4:00PM: Rally at Victory Square

4:30PM: March to the Russian Hall

5:00PM: Celebration at the Russian Hall

The event will feature speakers, music, comedy, food, union & community booths, and more! All welcome/ all ages.

Thank you to our sponsors: International Longshore & Warehouse Union Local 500, MoveUP, BC General Employees’ Union, Canadian Union of Public Employees Metro Council, International Association of Theatrical & Stage Employees Local 891, International Union of Operating Engineers Local 963.

The VDLC is excited to announce our entertainment acts for this year’s International Workers’ Day event! There’s a diverse lineup of different acts that we believe provide something for everyone!

Left Coast Labour Chorus – Formed in September, 2014, the Chorus is 30-plus singers who merge their voices and their activism in their music.  Some Chorus members are new to choirs; many have been part of other choirs and song groups, including Solidarity Notes, Bargain at Half the Price and Union Train. 

The Labour Chorus have performed at rallies, picket lines, and many other VDLC events.

See and hear more about them at their website – https://leftcoastlabourchorus.com/

Megan Milton – Fresh off taping a gala at the Halifax Comedy Festival, Megan is a Vancouver based stand-up comedian and playwright based in Vancouver BC. Megan’s working-class upbringing is central to her perspective, and she describes her writing as intelligent, dark and just a little bit crass.

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/megan.mish.mash/

YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmqZtBE1Vlk

Deocera is a Vancouver based band led by singer-songwriter Allison Deocera. With its name derived from Allison’s Filipino family tree, their sound combines tight harmonies, tasteful groove, and jazzy flourishes. With influences of 90s R&B girl groups, 2000s-era neo soul, and 70s soul. 

Bandcamp – https://deocera.bandcamp.com/album/birthday-girl-ep

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/deoceratheband/

Cheap Flavor –  Raised on equal parts Minutemen, John Lee Hooker, and System of A Down, this power trio of hollerin’ bastards have played for near a decade up and down the west coast.

Slinging homemade hot sauce for merch and covering every artist from Nelly Furtado to Pete Seeger, they’ll make ya shake your ass and shout for class war in the same 45 minute set. or at least until they get winded. 

Bandcamp – https://cheapflavor.bandcamp.com/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/cheapflavor/

Simon Thistlewood, aka “dj Ocean” is an artist from the Okanagan. His weekly radio show ‘Forest Grove’ on CITR 101.9fm features an hour of eclectic tracks, chosen hits and occasional guests: https://citr.ca/listen/green-forest-grove

news on upcoming shows and archive of creative projects can be found at: https://hegemony-lodge.ghost.io/

He is delighted to perform again at this year’s May Day, in celebration of working people everywhere -The Cause of Labour is the Hope of the World

We also encourage participation in the Vancouver Heritage Foundation & BC Labour Heritage Centre celebration of the Vancouver Labour Temple. See poster below for details.

The post Celebrate International Workers’ Day! appeared first on Vancouver and District Labour Council..

** The meeting will be preceded by a presentation by the NDP History Group, on the history of  the NDP in BC, and labour’s relationship. The presentation will begin at 6:00pm in the meeting hall.**

The guest speakers during this month’s meeting will be from the FLOW Coalition and United Way BC regarding the Period Promise campaign, and menstrual equity in schools. We will be collecting period products as part of the Period Promise campaign at our March, April, and May regular meetings.

Please note that only duly appointed and sworn-in delegates have vote at VDLC meeting. Further, only delegates, and invited guest speakers, have voice unless otherwise granted by a unanimous vote of delegates present. In order to ensure the respectful and timely conduct of labour council business, these rules will be strictly applied.

The VDLC’s Constitution & By-laws, as well as a Labour Council Handbook, are available on the resources page of our website: https://vdlc.ca/resources/

The meeting agenda, including recommendations and any other documents will be distributed electronically and posted to our website closer to the meeting date.

The post VDLC March Regular Meeting appeared first on Vancouver and District Labour Council..

VDLC affiliates and community groups are invited to set up information tables to promote your organization and campaigns. The event will also feature free food, and a children’s area with face painting, a balloon artist, and more. The VDLC will also be delivering some cases of Union Protein Project canned tuna for the Wishing Tree free store at the school.

Contributions toward The Union Protein Project and/or the costs of the event, can be made to:
Union Protein Project
105-3920 Norland Avenue
Burnaby, BC
V5G 4K7

Union Protein Project started at “Protein for People”; a labour initiative funded by union donations and the United Way to provide “labour fished and processed” canned salmon to food banks across BC. It has since expanded into providing tuna and peanut butter as well as Salmon and serving not only BC but Alberta also.

A growing number of people, both working and unemployed, are forced to turn to food banks to feed their families.  In fact, over 32% of BC food bank users are children.

Protein is critical to a healthy diet and crucial to mental and physical development. The Union Protein Project donates union laboured canned salmon, tuna, and peanut butter and helps food banks to maximize their purchasing power through large volume buying.

Each year, Union Protein Project partners with labour councils to host community forums like this one to connect people with valuable resources, and with the labour movement. 

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The Canada Labour Code applies to federally regulated employees and workplaces, including those engaged in interprovincial or international shipping and navigation, interprovincial or international transportation by road, railway, ferry, pipeline, postal services, airports, telecommunications, broadcasting, etc. This course is designed to provide an understanding of key aspects of the Code and its application to the unions and employers covered by federal labour law. In this course we will focus on Part II of the Code, dealing with occupational health and safety in federally regulated workplaces. The most important sections will be reviewed, along with interpretations and key rulings that illustrate the application of the Code, including the internal complaint resolution process and the protections for workers against retaliation for exercising rights under the Code.

NOTE: Most workplaces in BC are provincially regulated for purposes of labour relations and subject to the BC Labour Relations Code. Provincially regulated sectors/industries include health, education, construction, retail, film, etc. Workers and union representatives in those sectors/industries should take the BC Labour Code which will be offered Fall 2026.

In Person at Maritime Labour Centre

Facilitators: Craig Bavis & Rebecca Kantwerg, Victory Square Law
Craig Bavis has been a partner at Victory Square Law office since 2005. Craig has extensive experience in advising and representing unions in mediation, arbitrations and at Labour Relations Board hearings. He has appeared in all levels of court up to the BC Court of Appeal and Federal Court of Appeal. Craig primarily represents unions in the public and private sector across British Columbia in labour matters. Craig also works in Saskatchewan where he is involved in Charter Litigation.

Rebecca Kantwerg (she/they) joined the firm as an associate in 2018, after articling and working in-house for a large union in British Columbia. Rebecca has represented clients at numerous mediations, and has appeared before labour arbitrators, the BC Labour Relations Board, the BC Court of Appeal, and the Federal Court of Appeal. Rebecca also has experience intervening in matters at the BC Court of Appeal and responding in BC Supreme Court to last minute applications for injunctions against picketing and protesting.
 

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