The People United and Bread and Butter tell the stories of workers.
This past February, the Workers Arts & Heritage Centre opened two new exhibits in their space. The People United and Bread and Butter each tackle different but meaningful conversations.
The WAHC emphasizes its connection to the labor history of Canada by exploring how people work within the world. They do this by hosting exhibitions, workshops and programs for a range of ages and a multitude of other components. Tara Bursey, executive director of WAHC, plays a large role in many of these events.
“We are interested in the ways people work in the world, both for pay and no pay, and preserve and protect the history of labor and social movements through our programming,” said Bursey, in a statement for The Silhouette.
The People United was curated last year by Tamara Toledo, who is the curator/director of Sur Gallery. The exhibit aimed to showcase the power that people have through the work of several groups and artists. These artists are the Beehive Collective, Colectivo LASTESIS, Carlos Colín, Cristian Ordóñez and Syrus Marcus Ware.
Now, the exhibit is mounted at WAHC where they highlight the work as well. People can come to view the exhibit on Saturdays from 12 P.M. to 4 P.M. and Wednesdays to Fridays from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M.
“Themes in the exhibition include Afrofuturism, protest movements in Chile, resistance to extractivist projects in Latin America, and the material culture of social movements like stamps, banners and posters,” said Bursey, in a statement for The Silhouette.
Simultaneously, the Bread and Butter exhibit is composed of works from the WAHC’s permanent collection. It explores how a variety of working people receive and view food. This includes how food is delivered to populations, the fight for ensuring everyone is able to have food, and even how food is made. The exhibit was curated with the acknowledgment of issues present pertaining to food such as food insecurity.
To highlight issues such as food insecurity, WAHC has collaborated with Strathcona Market and Community Fridges Hamont. For the past two months they have had a shopping cart placed in the gallery. The aim was to allow people to not only learn about the complexity of food through the exhibit but to actively participate in making a positive difference.
“[The shopping cart] made our second floor Community Gallery the site of not just a collection of objects, but a space of community care where visitors could be agents of positive change in our neighbourhood and beyond,” said Bursey, in a statement for The Silhouette.
[The shopping cart] made our second floor Community Gallery the site of not just a collection of objects, but a space of community care where visitors could be agents of positive change in our neighbourhood and beyond."
Tara Bursey, executive director of WAHC
Ultimately The People United and Bread and Butter touch on the stories of working people by giving a platform to artists whose work reflects the power of human action. The WAHC believes these exhibits mark the start of what will be a great year of programs.
As COVID-19 continues to place strain on healthcare workers, McMaster University provides isolated and affordable accommodations
For many healthcare workers, the struggle to keep society safe has come at a personal cost. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers have faced an increased risk of infection, as well as the emotional impacts of dealing with this public health crisis.
Offering residence rooms to healthcare workers was a way for McMaster University to provide support to those on the frontlines. The aim of this program is to provide frontline healthcare workers with a safe and affordable place to self-isolate.
As these workers are at an increased risk of contracting COVID-19, living away from home for a period of time helps them to protect their families.
According to Laurie Ham, manager of conference and event services at McMaster, an organization heavily involved with this program is the Thrive Group. As Ham explained, the Thrive Group is a non-profit organization that has been helping to connect McMaster with healthcare workers who are interested in accessing this program.
“They receive the initial inquiry and they work with people interested,” said Ham.
The Thrive Group’s Vice-President of Business Strategy, Vickie Baird, reflected on the importance of having this program in place.
“We knew that there was some anxiety that these healthcare workers would bring the virus home to [their] families, so we wanted to be able to give them an affordable option that would allow them to stay somewhere safe during their work term,” said Baird.
The program, which launched on Jan. 20, allows healthcare workers to book a stay in McKay Hall at an affordable rate, with the option to order meals to their rooms as well.
“We had heard that [healthcare workers] really did want some options, other than calling a local hotel and paying a hundred plus dollars per night,” Baird explained.
“We had heard that [healthcare workers] really did want some options, other than calling a local hotel and paying a hundred plus dollars per night,” Baird explained.
Ham explained that McKay Hall was well-suited for this program.
“The building has just completed a major modernization of all of the washrooms throughout, so it makes it a perfect opportunity to have [healthcare workers stay in] a safe, comfortable setting,” said Ham.
Healthcare workers can stay at McKay Hall from three to 14 days, a policy which was created to accommodate as many workers as possible. Baird added that McMaster would be willing to consider extension requests.
As of Feb. 4, the program has received nine inquiries from healthcare workers, although none have registered yet. According to Baird, healthcare workers may be waiting to see if their employers would cover the cost, or they may be unsure about the meal plan, as it isn’t designed with long shift schedules in mind.
“I think it's still early. Even though we launched the program two weeks ago, it takes a while for the information to filter through,” Baird said.
Along with space reserved for healthcare workers, McMaster’s campus is still inhabited by a small number of students currently living in residence. To ensure effective social distancing and other safety protocols, Ham highlighted that healthcare workers and students are isolated from one another.
“It's entirely separate. It's a separate building; it's a separate series of standard operating procedures and protocols,” said Ham.
A number of McMaster departments have been involved to create this initiative. From parking to hospitality services, it takes a village to bring the community together.
“To be able to come up with a comprehensive [program] requires participation from [many] people,” said Ham.
Overall, Ham described this program as an opportunity for McMaster to give back to Hamilton’s healthcare workers.
“We were able to work through a plan to demonstrate the university's commitment to supporting these dedicated, passionate, relentless professionals who are caring for everyone else to make sure people stay well,” said Ham.
By: Anastasia Richards
Our lifestyles tend to be disposable. Many of us are prone to throwing things away and replacing them without thinking twice about it. We reach for simplicity and convenience, regardless of the consequences.
The Repair Café, a grassroots organization based in Toronto, will be hosting their first event in Hamilton at the Worker’s Arts and Heritage Centre as part of the ongoing Division of Labour exhibit. Set to take place on March 30 from 1 to 4 p.m., the workshop will gather community members to learn how to fix things together and address sustainability.
The Repair Café launched in Amsterdam in May 2009. The philosophies of the event are all linked to promoting sustainability, helping out your neighbours and getting to know others in the community. In 2013, there was a small group of citizens in Toronto that heard of the event in Amsterdam and wanted to bring it to the greater Toronto area.
“Whether it be… electronics, sewing and mending, small motor repair, carpentry. Individuals that have the skill set come to the café, usually held in public spaces such as libraries or community centres and they teach people how to repair on their own,” explained Suzanne Carte, curator of the Division of Labour Exhibit at the Worker’s Arts and Heritage Centre.
Not only does the Repair Café provide you with the opportunity to learn to be handy, it provides an opportunity to meet people in your community. While you wait on your repair or even if you just want to stop by and see what it’s all about, you can get to know your fellow neighbours.
“With that, there may be some intergenerational conversation…talking about an object will lead to one’s life, uses for said object, storytelling and all of that. It's about building community and skill sharing too,” said Carte.
We live in an age where disposal and replacement are all too easy. Many of us are far too keen on replacing things once they’re slightly damaged. The Repair Café workshops aim to challenge this notion by facilitating an opportunity for people to learn how to be handy, as part of a community and on their own.
The workshops also aim to challenge gender roles that are present within the context of the work associated with repairs. The Repair Café creates an environment where preconceived notions about gender, such as who can sew and knit or do small-motor repairs, can be addressed and broken down.
The Repair Café wishes to create a comfortable and inviting atmosphere so that even those who do not want to come and get something fixed can still feel compelled to attend and be a part of the community. As an example, Carte will be bringing her iron.
“I could probably go and find out how to do it via a digital platform, but I really want to be able to sit down with a person who can take me through the steps, answer any questions that I have in how to better care and serve this object that then services me,” said Carte.
Attending the Repair Café will provide her with an opportunity to collaborate with others in her community, share stories with them, exchange knowledge and extend the lifetime of her appliance.
The Repair Café hopes to change people’s mindset. Every contribution helps to improve our sustainability practices and it can all begin by learning how to fix the little things.
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By: Drew Simpson
The Division of Labour exhibit portrays sustainable ways of creating art while also looking at the difficulties of creating a sustainable art career. Housed in the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre’s main gallery space until April 20 and accompanied by a panel discussion, Division of Labour warns of the scarcity of resources, labour rights and living wages of artists.
Division of Labour also serves as an educational tool to communicate and start discourse around the issues regarding sustainability. The Socio-Economic Status of Artists in the greater Toronto and Hamilton area discussion, which was facilitated by Divisions of Labour curator, Suzanne Carte, and included panelists Sally Lee, Michael Maranda and Angela Orasch, encouraged artists to be vocal and seek action.
“People want to be around artists, but they really don’t. If they were living in the reality that a lot of artists are living in, it would not be favourable. What they want is the pseudo creative lifestyle. They want to be around beautiful things and smart people, but they don’t really want to be assisting with making sure artists are making a living wage and that artists are being supported financially,” explained Carte.
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For emerging artists, this exhibits presents a valuable learning experience as it informs them of community issues. This topic is particularly important since emerging artists are often asked to work for free, often under a pretense that the work will add to their portfolios or lead to exposure. However, Carte argues that asking artists to work for free devalues the work they do.
“Because you are emerging, and because you’re new to the practice does not mean that any institution, organization or individual business, whatever it might be, can take advantage of you and use it as exposure… it’s not about gaining experience — I can gain experience on the job. I can gain experience while being compensated for what I do,” explained Carte.
While Carte encourages individuals to stand up for themselves, she understands that many artists may not be in a position to be able to reject sparse opportunities. She, alongside the panelists at the discussions, further discussed ways emerging and established artists can fight for their rights.
Lee gave an overview of organizations and advocacy groups that focus on bettering labour and housing situations and are making communities aware of gentrification and the living experiences of artists in Hamilton and Toronto.
Maranda added that lobbying for bigger grants or funding is not enough. The community also needs to be advocating for the improvement of artists’ economic status through establishing a basic or minimum hourly wage, affordable rent and transportation.
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Recently, Maranda was a quantitative researcher for the Waging Culture survey. The survey investigated home ownership in Hamilton compared to Toronto. Maranda concluded that Hamilton artists are less reliant on the private market and contribute more to the public art community.
The survey also suggested an artist migration from Toronto to Hamilton due to Hamilton’s lower rent and higher artist home ownership. This leads to a domino effect as real estate agents and developers follow the migration and aid gentrification.
Orasch stated that real estate agents and developers have secretly attended similar panel discussions. The panelists speculated they do so to learn how to market housing to artists. However, the overall sentiment was that they crossed into an artist-designated space to further exploit artists.
“Developers are taking advantage of the language that we have been able to construct for ourselves, to be able to be attractive to other artists or other individuals who feel as though they want an “artsy” experience out of life,” explained Carte.
Lee emphasized how all these surveys and discussions need to reach key decision makers. The Division of Labour exhibit and the panelists at the discussion have repeatedly stressed that talk is merely educational, the true goal is action and change.
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Waleed Ahmed
The Silhouette
The collapse of Rana Plaza, a garment-manufacturing complex in Bangladesh, which killed 1,134 workers, sent shockwaves around the globe this past April. Just a few months earlier, the Tazreen factory fire had already killed cheap online viagra 117 people in the country. These latest episodes bring the death toll of Bangladeshi factory workers to over 1,800 since 2005. The appalling disparity between these downtrodden substandard garment factories and the upscale stores where the products are sold is nothing short of criminal.
Corporations such as Wal-Mart Canada and Joe Fresh which outsourced from these sweatshops came under intense heat. Investigative journalists, such as that of the CBC and the Toronto Star, have since revealed chilling facts. For example, it was found that workers evacuated Rana Plaza a day before the collapse but were forced to go back due to threats of termination. Since the collapse, workers continue to protest for the minimum wage to be increased from $39 a month to a mere $100. Stories of people like 10-year old Shakil Khan send shivers down the spine: he has been working as an unpaid trainee for 4-months and will make $4/day when he eventually gets a salary.
So, what has been done about all this? More importantly, what can we do as socially conscious consumers to ensure our clothes are not made through exploitation of others?
Calls for industry-wide reforms gave birth to initiatives such as the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. This is the first agreement of it’s kind, one that promises to bring significant changes to working conditions in Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh Accord was drafted in conjunction with unions in Bangladesh, apparel companies and labour rights NGOs. It gives workers at factories increased protections such as the right to refuse unsafe work – something that could have saved the Rana Plaza disaster. In addition, it requires monetary commitments from global corporations to fund the repairs and renovations factories. Most importantly, the Accord is legally binding which means that global brands can now be held accountable in court for their operations abroad. Thanks to public pressure, this Accord has now been signed by over a hundred global clothing brands. This includes groups such as H&M, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and even Canada’s Loblaws’ Joe Fresh.
However, corporate culprits Wal-Mart and Gap have started a parallel safety initiative instead of joining the Accord. Along with 20 other brands, the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety was created with hopes to also offer improved safety and better working conditions for factory workers. Despite the promises, the Alliance initiative lacks the rigour of the Bangladesh Accord, provisions for forming unions and more importantly, it’s not legally binding. This corporately-regulated voluntary initiative was drafted without consultation with unions and cannot be enforced by worker representatives – this leaves all the power with the companies. It was private regulation schemes that lead to disastrous results in the first place; it’s hard to see how a similar program could be a solution to the problem.
Many have dismissed the Wal-Mart/Gap initiative as simply a public relations exercise. NGO’s such as CleanClothes, United Students Against Sweatshops, Macquila Solidarity Network and LaborRights have already called for and started campaigns urging them to sign up for the Bangladesh Accord. Leading US labour federations jointly declared the Alliance initiative to be “weak and worthless”. In contrast, the UN Secretary General, EU and trade unions has accepted the Bangladesh Accord both globally and locally in Bangladesh.
So what are we to do in light of all these developments? Our best course of action is to pressure Wal-Mart/Gap and associated retailers to sign onto the legally binding Bangladesh Accord. Consumers have a better case to make as competing brands have already signed on to it and thus deserve recognition and preferential treatment by ethical buyers.
Assisting campaigns calling for implementation of the Accord is our best bet. One of the most effective ways of doing so is personally delivering a letter to your local Wal-Mart/Gap. Simply not buying from them isn’t effective, as it won’t get the message across. Emailing these corporations, posting on their Facebook/Twitter and signing onto petitions are also effective methods. Whether it be raising awareness through social media or just talking about it with your friends – any thing which puts pressure on corporations to invest in worker safety is key.
As I watched footage of overworked factory workers being pulled out of the rubble, I couldn’t help but wonder if the very clothes in my closet originated from that factory. It is our collective demand for cheap fashion that has empowered corporations to push factory owners beyond their safety limits. It is therefore our responsibility to call on these companies to implement radical reforms to ensure worker safety, ethical pricing and fair-wages.
Dina Fanara
Assistant News Editor
Students trying to get to and from McMaster may have a hassle on their hands.
Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) workers may begin striking on Jan. 30 after Members of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 107 voted 94 per cent to strike on Jan. 15.
The HSR workers, under the ATU Local 107, have been in negotiations with the City of Hamilton for a three-year contract. Despite over a year of negotiation, an agreement has not been reached, during which time, HSR workers have been on the job without a contract.
Some demands made by ATU Local 107 include annual hourly pay increases for the next three years, changes to overtime pay for part-time workers and increased vacation allowance based on years of service. a
A Jan. 24 offer by the City was rejected by the union. If negotiations fall through, over 600 employees will strike.
Alex Rockingham
Silhouette Intern
An agreement has been reached between McMaster administration and CUPE 3906, a union representing the University’s Teaching and Research Assistants.
Two weeks ago, the union approved a strike mandate, demanding wage increases and benefit improvements. In the end, the strike was not implemented, as both parties reached a settlement through negotiation.
A tentative agreement was reached late on Nov. 17 after a series of thirteen bargaining dates. Based on the details released pertaining to the agreement, it appears that the days of hard haggling have paid off for the TA and RA union.
CUPE 3906’s bargaining team was able to negotiate wage increases for both McMaster graduate and undergraduate employees, as well as improvements for their benefits, such as the union’s Family Dental Plan.
Other gains made by the bargaining team include a bi-weekly payment system, the settlement of eight outstanding health and safety training grievances, and paid printing costs.
The ratification vote process ran on campus from Nov. 21 to Nov 23, and the union ultimately ratified the agreement. Bulletins outlining the agreement details are available at CUPE 3906’s website.
