Young people will be the focus of next fall’s Good Jobs Summit, Unifor’s director of strategic planning says.
“They are the shock troops in an economy of precarious work,” Fred Wilson told the BC Regional Council meeting this afternoon.
Delegates to the council voted unanimously to support the summit, committing to organize events throughout British Columbia leading up to the summit and to sending delegates to Toronto for the summit itself.
The Good Jobs Summit will be held at Toronto’s Ryerson University on October 4 and 5, launching the school’s annual Social Justice Week – which will also include events marking World Day for Decent Work on October 7.
Ryerson has signed off as Unifor’s first partner in the summit, Wilson said. Many more are expected, including progressive groups, other labour organizations, student groups, governments and even businesses. In fact, for the summit to be successful, all must be welcome.
“We don’t want to have a debate with ourselves,” Wilson said.
There will be events across Canada gathering local and regional ideas to be taken to Toronto. A bus tour will tie many of the events together, Wilson said, adding Unifor wants to get people thinking about new ways to create jobs for our young people.
“This will not be about growing the GDP. This will be about creating good jobs,” Wilson said. “This conference is not going to be just talking heads. We’re going to be in the streets, we’re going to be making some noise.”