Unions Confronting White Supremacy Virtual Workshop

Event Type

HSA Unions Confronting White Supremacy Virtual Workshop 

In the last year, there has been an increase in awareness around equity issues around the world. The Black Lives Matter movement, Dr. Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond’s investigation and report on systemic racism in health care, and the uncovering of unmarked graves of Indigenous children continue to be relevant and must be addressed.

HSA has completed a report entitled Confronting Racism with Solidarity: An Analysis of the 2020 HSA Workplace Racism Report. It explored experiences of discrimination at work by racialized members and the results and results are available here: https://www.hsabc.org/news/hsa-report-workplace-racism-now-available
HSA Leadership has committed to provide HSA members with relevant educational opportunities.

On Thursday, September 23, participate in a virtual workshop, Unions Confronting White Supremacy.
Time: 9 am – 4:30 pm

This full day participatory workshop is a crash course in intersectional anti-oppression with a focus on race. It helps union members think about our role in dismantling a system of white supremacy, confront racism and building a more inclusive world.

This first section invites us to ask questions: 

What is whiteness? What is racism? How are white people complicit in systems that oppress Black, Indigenous, Mixed race and people of colour? What can and should we do about it?

In the second part we consider questions of how unconscious bias and institutional culture lead to outcomes that are unjust; and practice intervening in micro and macroaggressions against racialized people. 

Optional topics include hate speech, freedom of expression, human rights protections, and positive action outside systems of law.

Adrienne Smith is a transgender human rights activist and social justice lawyer. They recently settled a BC Supreme Court case which guaranteed access to opiate replacement therapy for prisoners in BC jails. Adrienne appeared at the BC Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada where they argued about the deleterious effects of mandatory minimum sentences for women, indigenous people, and drug users. As a trade union activist, they advocate for transgender inclusion in our unions and workplaces. Adrienne volunteers at the Catherine White Holman Wellness Clinic where they give free legal advice, take on human rights cases, and notarize name change documents for trans people

Members who are interested in this workshop are asked to complete a registration application by logging into My Events Registration using the prompts provided. Workshops are listed under Other events.  Please call the HSA office at 604.517.0994 or 1.800.663.6119 if you do not know your HSA member ID number.