Unions need new ways to deflect constant attacks and win back public support.
by Straight Good News staff
On March 24, the day the NDP picked a new leader, the Globe and Mail ran a cover story about how bad the reputation of the labour movement has become. In "The sorry state of our unions," writer John Allemang lays out the extent of the crisis facing the movement that brought us fair pay, occupational health and safety, weekends, pensions, workers' comp and so much more.
Ironically, Allemang points out, since the economic crisis surfaced in 2008, hard times "have fostered class warfare, naturally enough. But much of the hostility, contrary to the usual left-wing analysis, has been directed at the perks and presumptions of organized labour." With good, unionized private sector jobs are mostly gone or threatened, so it's easy to generate hostility against those who still have good jobs – union members, many of them in the public sector.
If the labour movement cannot turn this hostility around , its prospects are bleak.
With this crisis in mind, Straight Goods News is hosting its fourth Persuading to Win symposium in Toronto, September 14 and 15. The Workshop on Reviving Labour's Image will provide labour activists and professionals with valuable advice on how to fight the rap and win hearts and minds.
The workshop features a lineup of experts in persuasion, beginning with Canadian advertising guru, radio host and author Terry O'Reilly, author of the best-seller The Age of Persuasion: How Marketing Ate Our Culture. In the advertising world, O'Reilly has long been famous after a career as an award-winning copywriter for Campbell-Ewald, Doyle Dane Bernbach and Chiat/Day, and co-founder of the creative audio production company Pirate Radio & Television (it has a staff of 50, with recording studios in Toronto and New York City).
Attendance at the workshop is limited to 50. Please visit the website, let others know about the event, and sign up.
For information and application forms, visit the link below.
References
Workshop on Reviving Labour's Image
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