Centre for the Study of Work and Education - Update 6th July 2009

CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF WORK AND EDUCATION – UPDATE 6th JULY 2009

OUR MANDATE: The Centre for the Study of Education and Work (CSEW) brings together educators from university, union, and community settings to understand and enrich the often-undervalued informal and formal learning of working people.

We develop research and teaching programs at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (UofT) that strengthen feminist, anti-racist, labour movement, and working-class perspectives on learning and work.

To change your subscriptions settings, visit: http://listserv.oise.utoronto.ca/mailman/listinfo/csewbroadcast

For more information about CSEW, visit: http://www.csew.ca


TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• NEW! FROM FERNWOOD PUBLISHING – FIGHT BACK: WORKPLACE JUSTICE FOR IMMIGRANTS
• REPORT – ENTRY-LEVEL AND NEXT-STEP JOBS IN THE LOW-SKILL JOB MARKET
• JULY 15 EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE CALL – SETTING UP & RUNNING A CBPR DEPARTMENT IN A COMMUNITY AGENCY: THE ACCESS ALLIANCE EXPERIENCE
• ARTICLE – PRACTICALLY SPEAKING: IMPROVING THE FABRIC OF WORKPLACE LEARNING
• COMMEMORATIVE BOOK “A CENTURY OF CO-OPERATION” NOW AVAILABLE
• ARTICLE – LESSONS FROM THE HUMBLING OF GENERAL MOTORS
• A FAREWELL TO ATKINSON COLLEGE (TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2009)
• ONLINE PUBLICATIONS

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NEW! FROM FERNWOOD PUBLISHING – FIGHT BACK: WORKPLACE JUSTICE FOR IMMIGRANTS
By Aziz Choudry, Jill Hanley, Steve Jordan, Eric Shragge & Martha Stiegman

Displacement of people, migration, immigration and the demand for labour are connected to the fundamental restructuring of capitalism and to the reduction of working-class power through legislation to free the market from “state interference.” The result is that a large number of immigrant and temporary foreign workers face relentless competition and little in the way of protection in the labour market. Globally and in Canada, immigrant workers are not passive in the face of these conditions: they survive and fight back. This book documents their struggles and analyzes those struggles within the context of neoliberal globalization and international and national labour markets. Fight Back grew out of collaboration between a group of university-affiliated researchers/activists and the Immigrant Workers Centre in Montreal. The book shares with us the experiences of immigrant workers in a variety of workplaces.

It is based on the belief that the best kind of research comes from people’s lived experiences and consequently tells it “how it really is”.

Available at your local independent bookstore or order online from
http://www.fernwoodpublishing.ca

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REPORT – ENTRY-LEVEL AND NEXT-STEP JOBS IN THE LOW-SKILL JOB MARKET

Low-skill jobs are not “no skill” jobs, and the labor market for non-college jobs—jobs that do not require a college degree— is vast and diverse. This brief uses data from the 2007 Survey of Employers in the Low-Skill Labor Market to explore differences between non-college jobs that have few if any requirements and those for which either a high school degree, prior experience, or previous skills training is extremely important.

The report aims to broaden and deepen our understanding of the diversity of this labor market.

To read more: http://www.urban.org/publications/411801.html

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JULY 15 EDUCATIONAL CONFERENCE CALL – SETTING UP & RUNNING A CBPR DEPARTMENT IN A COMMUNITY AGENCY: THE ACCESS ALLIANCE EXPERIENCE

Community-Campus Partnerships for Health is pleased to announce the second call in our 2009-2010 Educational Conference Call Series. In the midst of the numerous recovery act funding announcements from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), we've been noticing a dramatic rise in inquiries to CCPH from community-based organizations that are either applying directly for research grants or as partners of academic institutions that are the lead applicants. We've decided to focus the call series on answering the most frequently asked questions, as part of the over-arching theme of "Building Community Capacity for Research." Each call includes speakers who provide answers and insights from their direct experience, helpful handouts, and links to relevant resources.

The audiofile, agenda, and handouts for the first call, which took place on June 3 and addressed the "how and why" of obtaining a federally negotiated indirect rate and federal wide assurance, are now posted on the CCPH website at:
http://depts.washington.edu/ccph/pastpresentations.html

The next call, scheduled for July 15 from 3:30 - 5 pm eastern time, addresses the question of what organizational systems and supports need to be in place to do community-based participatory research (CBPR) in a community agency setting. The call is titled "Setting Up & Running a CBPR Department in a Community Agency: The Access Alliance Experience.”

To register for the call, go to: https://catalysttools.washington.edu/webq/survey/ccphuw/78916.

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ARTICLE – PRACTICALLY SPEAKING: IMPROVING THE FABRIC OF WORKPLACE LEARNING

The rising dollar. An aging workforce. Competition from overseas. These are just a few of the challenges facing Canadian businesses. Increasingly, companies are investing in skills training as a way of gaining a much-needed edge—and Canada’s textile industry has been on the forefront of this shift, spending millions of dollars on an innovative—and inventive—workplace learning initiative.

To read more: http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Newsroom/PracticallySpeaking/20090616MWTextiles.htm?Language=EN

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COMMEMORATIVE BOOK “A CENTURY OF CO-OPERATION” NOW AVAILABLE

One of the highlights of the Canadian Co-operative Association's National Congress in Ottawa was the launch of A Century of Co-operation, a commemorative book by Canada's pre-eminent co-op historian, Ian MacPherson. The 234-page book chronicles the history of Canada's co-operative movement through text and images from the movement's beginnings to the present day.

The book can be ordered from CCA's website at: http://www.coopscanada.coop/en/about_cca/100th/Commemorative-book . Cost is $50 plus GST.

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ARTICLE – LESSONS FROM THE HUMBLING OF GENERAL MOTORS
By Sam Gindin

Of all 20th century industries, it was the auto sector that best captured the sway of capitalism and the rise of American dominance. The assembly line showed off capitalism’s remarkable productive potential and the automobile flaunted capitalism’s consumerist possibilities … In the growth years after the war, the proudest achievement of the UAW and then the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW), even to the point of trading off workplace rights, was winning what was essentially a ‘private welfare state’ – a set of gains that brought workers not just wages, but the security of a range of benefits, of which health care and pensions were the most significant…

To read more: http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/bullet229.html

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A FAREWELL TO ATKINSON COLLEGE (TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2009)
By James Laxer

A great experiment in part-time, adult education is coming to an end tomorrow.

Atkinson was on the cutting edge of the drive to democratize what had been a rather hide bound system in the past. Greater accessibility was the watchword of the time … From the very start Atkinson was about much more than upgrading professionals who needed a university degree. Without being fully conscious of what this implied at the outset, Atkinson was learning through experience how to educate people who combined work and study in their lives.

To read more: http://www.jameslaxer.com/2009/06/farewell-to-atkinson-college.html

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