Position Title: Climate and Labour Project Coordinator
Organization: Worker Solidarity Network
Start Date: As soon as possible
Rate of Pay: $24.00/hour, 35 hrs/week
Benefits: Paid sick days, extended health/dental benefits
Application Deadline: (Job posting extended) Dec 6 at 10pm PDT. We encourage you to submit an application before the deadline as interviews are being conducted on a rolling basis”
Length of Position: 1 year (possibility of renewal contingent on funding)
The Worker Solidarity Network is a province-wide organization that combats workplace exploitation within the unsurrendered homelands of approximately 200 Indigenous Nations across “B.C.”
This position would be based primarily on the Lands of the Skwxwú7mesh-ulh Temíx̱w (Squamish), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh), šxʷməθkʷəy̓əmaɁɬ təməxʷ (Musqueam), and S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō) Peoples.
Overview:
The Worker Solidarity Network (WSN) is a non-profit worker centre dedicated to ending precarious work in B.C. Our goal is to build collective worker power through the key pillars of our work, which include: support, education, and advocacy for workers whose rights are violated; workplace based direct action campaigns that are worker-led and help recover stolen wages; and broader province-wide campaigning to raise workplace standards and strengthen labour protections.
In this exciting new position at WSN, you’ll be creating and leading our “Climate and Labour Project.” The Climate and Labour Project will center the voices of people working in B.C’s fast food industry who are impacted by the entanglement of precarious labour and the climate crisis. This project has the potential to expand beyond fast-food outlets to other areas of the food supply chain (e.g. agriculture, retail food etc.). The project will identify and bring attention to issues that intersect climate and labour making an impact on issues that matter to workers. Without predefining what these issues are, and to give prospective applicants an idea of some possibilities, these issues might include for example: the impacts of heatwaves on working conditions, food industry waste and emissions that impact workers health, wildfire impacts on workers, the impact of rising temperatures on workers, or global pandemics and their impacts on those working in fast food and along the food supply chain. Importantly, this project will integrate climate justice and workers justice calls for action into the Worker Solidarity Network’s campaigning.
Ideally the successful candidate will be based out of Vancouver, B.C. While this is a strong geographically presence, we are open to other locations in B.C. for candidates who are a strong fit for the position.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Create and carry out a worker-centered “Climate and Labour Project” to learn how workers in B.C.’s low-wage fast food industry (and possibly workers in other areas of the food chain) are being impacted by climate change. This includes conducting worker outreach and setting up worker-engagement opportunities/ events to hear from and document workers’ experiences and concerns (e.g. a worker organizing committees, worker discussion sessions, worker forums, etc)
- Work with project participants, WSN staff, and WSN’s Climate and Labour Project committee to develop calls for action and change
- Work with project participants, WSN staff, and WSN’s Climate and Labour Project Committee to create project outputs that share learnings from project with the public, WSN community, and stakeholders
- Carry out the project using an organizing approach to build worker power and engage workers in WSN’s future advocacy and campaigning
- Engage existing WSN membership in the project while also growing membership to build WSN’s worker center movement
- Coordinate and grow the Climate and Labour Project Committee as a space for project engagement and development with WSN members, staff, and board members
- Build and strengthen community relationships with community groups and stakeholders in the climate justice movement
- Participate in on-going communication (using email, phone, and Slack), weekly meetings (using Zoom), and team trainings
Qualifications, Experience, and Skills:
- Personal experience working in the low-wage food service sector (e.g. fast food, agriculture, food retail)
- Demonstrated experience with climate justice, anti-poverty, anti-racism, migrant rights, Indigenous rights, and or labour rights campaigning and advocacy
- Familiarity with labour and climate issues experienced by low-wage workers
- Experience working with volunteers and organizing volunteer or membership-based groups
- Ability to communicate in languages other than English is a strong asset (*especially a language spoken by migrant workers working in the fast-food industry, including Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, Spanish, and Punjabi)
- Knowledge, and/or lived experience, of how multiple forms of systemic oppression intersect to shape the experiences of people working in low wage work environments.
- Experience with/ or knowledge of participatory action research is a strong asset
- Attentive listener with the ability to provide a respectful space for workers to feel comfortable and share their experiences
- Demonstrated ability to work independently, setting and meeting your own deadlines, and working in a way that is self-directed and self-motivated
- Detail-oriented and excellent organizational, planning and time-management skills,
- including ability to prioritize and meet deadlines
- Strong collaboration skills and the ability to work harmoniously with diverse people and organizations in the community
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills
Flexibility to accommodate meetings and action days that extend into the evenings and weekends is an occasional requirement.
Values Alignment:
- Commitment to workplace justice and grassroots worker organizing
- An understanding that the WSN operates with a decolonizing framework that respects relationships with the original people and spirit of this territory, and reflects on how our work at WSN may be bound up with systems and processes of ongoing colonization
Our commitment to employment equity:
Employment equity practices are used to work towards the inclusion of all people in paid work. Employment equity practices recognize that capitalism, racism, colonialism, ableism, sexism, and other isms and forms of systemic discrimination shape people’s work experiences and result in unfair and unequal employment situations that include: under-employment, harassment and discrimination at work, low wages or pay inequity, limited opportunities for promotion, or exclusion from being hired in the first place.
We strongly encourage and welcome applications from Black people, Indigenous people, and people of colour, people with disabilities, women, non-binary, LGBTQ2 + people, and people from additional equity seeking groups.
COVID-19 and work environment:
In accordance with the Worker Solidarity’s Vaccine Policy, WSN employees must be fully vaccinated in order to fulfill job-related duties. Ideally, this position will be based out of Vancouver B.C.; However, for a strong candidate other areas of B.C. may be considered. This position is a mix of remote work (work from home) and in-person work (e.g. meeting with workers, outreach, etc.) while following provincial COVID-19 guidelines. The position requires the ability to work online and communicate during work hours through phone, Zoom, email and Slack.
Application instructions:
Please email a cover letter and resume in a single PDF file to by December 6 2021. Please include the job title in the subject line of the email. Only short listed candidates will be contacted for an interview. We encourage you to submit an application before the deadline as interviews are being conducted on a rolling basis