On Thursday afternoon, you will be in Elective Workshops from 1:15 to 4:30 p.m.
Please sign up for an Elective Workshop for Thursday, June 12th. Please indicate your second and third choices as well. There is a limit of 20 people for each workshop, so if your first choice is full, we'll try to sign you up for your second or third choices.
- Learning about Online Influence: Disinformation, Extremism, and Digital Literacy (Room 1172 – Old Main Building)
This workshop will empower participants by exploring how online influences shape our lives, behaviors, and communities. Through hands-on activities and group discussions, participants will examine how disinformation and extremism can impact their lives, daily activities, and communities. The session will unpack the difference between myths and facts in conspiracy theories, reveal the underlying mechanisms that determine what content we see online, and offer tools for identifying generative AI images, deepfakes, bots, and trolls. It will also explore how popular platforms contribute to the spread of fake news, censorship, and propaganda, and how extremist groups use these spaces to recruit and target specific audiences. Additionally, we will discuss how trends in media production continue to marginalize vulnerable groups, and share strategies for recognizing and responding to disinformation and anti-social narratives. By the end of the workshop, participants will be equipped with practical skills to strengthen their online information literacy in their own lives.
- Art for Activism (Room 2551 – Old Main Building)
At this workshop we will explore: how art can be a powerful tool not only to communicate a message, but also to inspire others into action; review the basics of graphic design to have a solid base to work from; and learn some tips and tricks to help you turn an idea into an engaging visual. You will also have an opportunity to get your hands dirty - with paint! We'll practice how to make a stencil and apply it to different mediums, and how to work on laying out a design into fabric and paint banner.
No previous experience is necessary, just a willingness to try out new things and share your creativity!
- Solidarity in Action: Addressing Anti-Black Racism Across Our Workplaces (Room 1762 – Old Main Building)
No matter our role, no matter our background, we all have a part to play in dismantling anti-Black racism. In this session, we will explore how anti-Black racism operates within health care systems- and within union environments- and how we can challenge it together. This interactive session will offer a space to learn about how anti-Black racism impacts individuals and the broader community and to explore what collective action can look like. Through real-world examples, practical tools, reflection, and discussion, we’ll build skills to recognize injustice, respond effectively, and strengthen solidarity across every role and community.
- Palestine 101 - How Labour Unions can Help End Apartheid (Room 2662 – Old Main Building)
This workshop will take you through the history of Palestine up to the current, ongoing siege of the Gaza strip and the expanding settler violence in the West Bank. We will look at the devastating impacts this violence has had on the healthcare system and health care workers as they continue to care for the sick and injured with fewer and fewer supplies. You will learn about the apartheid regime imposed by the Israeli state and the ways in which the Canadian government is supporting and enabling it.
By the end of this workshop, you will have an understanding of why the occupation of Palestine is a labour issue and how we, as labour activists, can use the lessons and tactics of the South African solidarity movement to exert collective pressure on our unions and our government to end the current siege and topple the apartheid state.
- Beyond 72 hours (Room 2761 – Old Main Building)
"Beyond the 72hr Kit" is a workshop for busy changemakers who feel overwhelmed, under-resourced, or unsure where to start with emergency planning. Together, we’ll move from avoidance to action - creating a plan that includes your community, building an emergency kit list tailored to your specific needs, and developing strategies to support others in preparing with you.
- Climate Change, Colonialism and What Comes Next? (Room 1742 – Old Main Building)
What does climate change have to do with Indigenous rights? In this workshop, we’ll explore the root causes of the climate crisis, and how dominant worldviews shape climate solutions. Through storytelling, simple tools, and open discussion, we’ll explore what climate justice really means, why Indigenous communities are on the frontlines of climate impacts, and how Indigenous worldviews can unlock a better future for us all.
- Raise Your Voice for Public Health Care: Build Skills and Speak Out (Room 1761 – Old Main Building)
Health care profiteers use a bait-and-switch, pointing to real issues like wait times and staff shortage, then pushing the problem as the solution: private, for-profit care. Drawing inspiration from the legacy of the Medicare movement, you’ll gain the tools to confront misinformation, speak with clarity and confidence, and raise your voice for a public system that puts people before profits.
- Labour in solidarity with migrant worker justice (Room 1771 – Old Main Building)
It is estimated that there are now 70,000 people working under the Temporary Foreign Worker program here in British Columbia with an additional estimated 6,000 labouring under the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program. Many of these workers experience exploitative conditions and exposures to a great number of occupational hazards without proper education or training in dealing with them.
We don't know the exact number of workers with precarious immigration status. Sanctuary Health and other organizations work to reduce barriers to access education, health care, Legal Aid etc. This workshop will explore the journey of migrants, and tools for organizing workers. Participants will explore the Sanctuary City Principles and the importance of incorporating them into our groups and unions.
- Financial Literacy for working class people (Room 2771 – Old Main Building)
This workshop guides participants through developing and executing a retirement plan, regardless of income. We’ll explain government funding resources like the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), Old Age Security (OAS), and the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS). The workshop will also cover Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) and Tax Free Savings Plans (TFSAs) to strategically reduce taxes now.
Participants will also participate in one of two breakout groups: a discussion about the Municipal Pension plan, with special guest, former Financial Secretary Donisa Bernardo, or a discussion about ways to protect yourself from financial scams.