Labour, Working Conditions and COVID 19

Panel Overview

Panelists address how the COVID crisis is affecting essential workers and workplaces, the role of employment insecurity in shaping safety and security for these workers and the society that relies upon them, and potentially transformative outcomes that could arise from the pandemic for working conditions, corporate power, workers rights and (in)equality.

Speakers

Tracey Osborne, Facillitator

Dr. Tracey Osborne an associate professor and Presidential Chair in the Management of Complex Systems Department at the University of California, Merced. Her research focuses on the social and political economic dimensions of climate change mitigation in tropical forests and the role of Indigenous Peoples, the politics of climate finance, global environmental governance, and climate equity and justice.

Andrea Dehlendorf

Andrea is Co-Executive Director of United for Respect, a national organization building power for people working in low wage jobs by centering their voices, experiences and solutions in the national movement fighting for the future of work, our economy and corporate regulation. Andrea leveraged critical advances and learnings into developing innovative models of leveraging technology and internet based activation to support working people build power and voice. Andrea has also worked with Justice for Janitors, Airport Workers United and hotel worker organizing in Las Vegas.

Deena Ladd

Deena Ladd has been working to improve wages and working conditions in sectors of work that are dominated with low-wages, violations of rights, discrimination, precarious and temp work for the past 27 years. She has worked to support and develop grassroots training and organizing with groups such as the Fight for $15 and Fairness Campaign and the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change. Deena is one of the founders and Executive Director of the Toronto Workers' Action Centre.

Gagandeep Kaur

A warehouse worker, labour activist and grassroots organizer in the Peel region. Proud to be a member of Canadian Union Of Postal Workers (CUPW) and organizer for Warehouse Workers Centre-Peel. With the passion to build community and organize for better working conditions, my goal is to support workers, fight for their rights and strengthen labour movement.

Photo courtesy of Andrea Dehlendorf

Juan De Lara

Juan is a human geographer who works at the intersections of race, space, and power. His interdisciplinary research focuses on three broad themes. The first centers on urban political economy, racialization, and the politics of space. A second set of research interests focuses on the use of data science and technology to reorganize how various state agencies are restructuring the social relations of race, immigration, and labor. A third set of projects focus on public-facing research that support community-based organizations in their efforts to resolve social disparities.

Steven Tufts

Steven Tufts is an Associate Professor in Geography at York University. He is a labour geographer with a current research focus on the role workers play in urban economic development, labour market adjustment, and growing populism. Steven is also a spokesperson for the Toronto Airport Workers' Council, an organization representing Pearson International Airport's 50,000 workers.