Dear Contract Faculty Members,
OPSEU is sponsoring an exciting leadership and development opportunity for 5 contract faculty organizers from around the province. The Feet on the Ground training program is designed by the Workers’ Action Centre for worker leaders from across sectors who are interested in developing skills in community organizing for decent work.
If you are an Ontario college contract faculty member, and have been partial load at some point, please consider getting involved. The training program will allow you to develop your community organizing skills and become a leader in the fight for decent work and equal pay at Ontario colleges and beyond.
Contract faculty who participate will receive an honorarium of $5640 for their organizing and training time in the program.The full cost of the program has been approved for five (5) OPSEU CAAT contract faculty members. We have budgeted for 3 of the 5 members to come from outside the GTA and taken into consideration flight costs, accommodations and other expenses related to the four (4) meetings to be held in Toronto that are identified in the training timetable below.
The program dates, which you have to be available for, are as follows:
– February 25 to November 30: Field organizing for seven hours per week, with one month off in the summer. This will include outreach, events, workshops, communication, workplanning, activity reports, and mentorship. Some of the organizing hours may be altered to fit the academic schedule.
– February 23 – 24: Participation in the Fight for $15 & Fairness Provincial Strategy Meeting and skills-building sessions in Toronto on Saturday, February 23 and Sunday, February 24. Training program participants will also have a dinner together on the evening of Friday, February 23, which would serve as an introduction to the program and other participants.
– March 22 – 23:First in-class training in Toronto. In-class training sessions will take place in Toronto at the Workers’ Action Centre office (location at 720 Spadina Ave, Suite 202).
– June 7 – 8:Second in-class training in Toronto. In-class training sessions will take place in Toronto at the Workers’ Action Centre office (location at 720 Spadina Ave, Suite 202).
– October (date to be determined):One-day evaluation session of the program in Toronto at the Workers’ Action Centre office (location at 720 Spadina Ave, Suite 202).
The deadline for applications is February 8, 2019. Your applications should be sent to the OPSEU College Faculty Divisional Executive at: divexcaata@gmail.com.
Please include brief answers to these questions in your application:
- Contact information:
- Full name:
- Address:
- Email:
- Phone:
- Preferred communication (phone, email, text etc):
- Languages (if other than English):
2. How many years have you been teaching and at what colleges? What area do you teach in?
- How have you been involved in organizing for fairness for college contract faculty? Have you ever been involved in other community organizing?
- Why are you interested in this training opportunity? What skills would you like to learn or develop more?
- What do you hope to accomplish in your organizing work by the end of the program?
- How do you think this training will benefit you, your faculty union local, and the division?
More information about the Feet on the Ground training program is here: program information for participants fog 2019 caat [pdf]
If you have any questions, contact the program coordinator Brynne Sinclair-Waters at brynne@oeerc.orgor 647.226.7184.
