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This event is co-presented by the Concordia Student Union (CSU), QPIRG-Concordia, QPIRG-McGill, GRIP‑UQAM, and SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation.
Time:
Friday, November 24, 2023
7-9 pm est
In-Person
SHIFT Centre for Social Transformation
Concordia University
1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W., Room LB-145
Montreal, QC H3G 1M8
Metro Guy
EN-FR Whisper Translation
Snacks provided
ASL and Childcare provided with 48-hour notice. For this and additional accommodation requests, please email anticarceralgroup@riseup.net
A bilingual transcription of the conversation will be available after the event via anticarceralgroup@riseup.net
Order a Book
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About Solidarity Beyond Bars: Unionizing Prison Labour
Prisons don’t work, but prisoners do. Prisons are often critiqued as unjust, but we hear little about the daily labour of incarcerated workers — what they do, how they do it, who they do it for and under which conditions. Unions protect workers fighting for better pay and against discrimination and occupational health and safety concerns, but prisoners are denied this protection despite being the lowest-paid workers with the least choice in what they do — the most vulnerable among the working class. Starting from the perspective that work during imprisonment is not “rehabilitative,” Solidarity Beyond Bars: Unionizing Prison Labour examines the reasons why people should care about prison labour and how prisoners have struggled to organize for labour power in the past. Unionizing incarcerated workers is critical for both the labour movement and struggles for prison justice, this book argues, to negotiate changes to working conditions as well as the power dynamics within prisons themselves.
Jordan House is an assistant professor in the Department of Labour Studies at Brock University. His research focuses on prison labour and prisoner-worker organizing, new forms of worker organization and labour movement renewal. His work has appeared in several publications, including Labour / Le Travail, Labor Studies Journal, Rankandfile.ca, Canadian Dimension and Jacobin. He previously worked as a labour organizer and union researcher and is a long-time prison justice activist.
Asaf Rashid is a former union organizer and lawyer based in K’jipuktuk/Halifax and a board member of the Halifax Workers Action Centre, a member of the Canadian Prison Lawyers Association and a supporter of the East Coast Prison Justice Society. Rashid has also been a labour rights activist, among other social justice activities.
