These are terribly long overdue, friends. My apologies.
I gather most of us are "a go" re: our next meeting, which Jim proposes for
Saturday, September 8, 2018 at 1:30?
Hope all are well!
Krishna
204.899.8687
++++++++++
*1919 WINNIPEG GENERAL STRIKE CENTENARY CONFERENCE (WGSCC) COMMITTEE: *
*MINUTES: MONDAY, JULY 16, 2018 | UNIVERSITY OF WINNIPEG*
Present:
Jim Naylor (Chair)
Krishna Lalbiharie
Janis Thiessen
Scott Price
Tim Gordienko
Jim Mochoruk
Sharon Reilly
David Camfield
Rhonda L. Hinther
Jeff Taylor
*1. REPORT FROM MEETING WITH CENTRAL COMMITTEE*
The umbrella central committee, established by the Manitoba Federation of
Labour (MFL) — and now referred to as the Advisory Committee — met on July
3, 2018. The meeting of said reported generally on finances in connection
with all activities and affirmed an overall funding commitment of
$900,000.00 to all 1919 Strike-related events. The committee also reported
on developments within the History and Education Committee.
Jeff Taylor met with the MFL in respect of the Graphic History project,
which will be produced at a reasonable price point in print ($20) and
online (free) and paid for entirely by the MFL. A number of copies will be
provided for free to unions, too.
The Graphic History Collective will provide copy by the end of August to
publishers. Jim Naylor suggests that we should organize a book launch at
some point (possibly at McNally Robinson). We will also determine
advertising and promotion fees for ads with various publishers and
periodicals. Jim also mentioned that he will be writing the introduction to
the Graphic History book and spoke about furthering some discussion about
the positives and negatives concerning the “Street Car” motif as a
conference brand.
Jim reports the MFL will likely have some additional monies to provide to
various other projects later on, and that the MFL might be interested in
developing an ongoing relationship in support of a labour history and
education program.
*2. SSHRC GRANT UPDATE AND FINANCES*
The WCSCC was unfortunately not awarded its SSRHC grant, but we will
re-apply for said by the August 1, 2018 deadline. No explanation was
forwarded re: application rejection, but it was generally suggested that we
ought to reapply with a greater emphasis on highlighting outreach
initiatives re: Connection category criteria — this, including further
educational-entertainment options throughout the conference. Scott Price
and Jim Mochoruk raised the idea of roundtable and keynote podcasts as
examples of said. Social media live presentations are also a possibility.
Given that our denial might be connected with budget matters, it was moved
that we ought to drop the second keynote option in our application.
Krishna will immediately pursue securing our keynote options, beginning
with Jane McAlevey as our top choice, followed by Saru Jayaraman.
Jim Mochoruk indicates that we can shave off expenses re: SSHRC application
by dropping the second keynote option, for example. Jim M. also suggests
that we prioritize our expenses by ensuring first that our roundtable
participants are fully funded re: travel, followed by grad students,
activists and the precariously employed. Jim M. also recommends that we
encourage, where applicable, conference participants to secure funding
options from their representative organizations, unions, etc.
Jim Naylor and Janis Thiessen mentioned that we have further grant funding
possibilities up to $20K re: University of Winnipeg’s Riley Foundation.
Jeff Taylor indicates that, regardless of our successes (or not) re: SSHRC,
we have some guaranteed financial security via the U of M’s Faculty of Arts
Dean’s Office.
Jim Naylor reports that our major funding sources/potentials include:
SSHRC, the U of M (Faculty of Arts Dean’s Office), the U of W, MFL and
conference registrations.
Jeff Taylor indicates that if we continue to be denied funding through
SSHRC — this, other than for technical reasons or something substantively
missed in the application — our lack of success could be owing to political
reasons, in which case we might want to pursue some sort of public
intervention or campaign.
*3.**BILLY BRAGG*
Rhonda L. Hinther indicates that things re: pursing Billy Bragg are
ongoing, with Jason Hooper continuing options and opportunities.
Janis Thiessen mentioned that we might be able to apply to the University
of Winnipeg re: conferring an honouray degree to Bragg, which may serve to
encourage Bragg’s participation.
Discussion concerning the CCPA’s involvement needs to be further discussed.
We will invite Jason Hooper to attend our next meeting re: costs covered
(and by whom) and what Bragg-event iterations are available to us.
*4. DISCUSSION RE: ADDITION OF DISABILITIES ROUNDTABLE SPEAKER
REPRESENTATIVE*
It was decided that we leave the roundtable compositions as is, but that we
seek to find space within the conference (if possible) to include a panel
or session on workers with disabilities, similarly to proposed efforts
regarding a student and youth workers panel. Rhonda suggests that should
someone from the Building an Inclusive Labour Movement roundtable bow-out,
we prioritize securing a replacement from the workers with disabilities
community.
*5.**WGSCC COMMITTEE STRUCTURE: LOGISTICS AND COMMUNICATIONS ADDITIONS*
Currently, the WGSCC committee includes both finance and roundtable
subcommittees. Jim Naylor proposes the creation of a *Conference Logistics
Committee*, which will directly oversee tasks concerning the execution of
events. Jim Naylor, Krishna, Paul Jenkins and Janis Thiessen volunteer as
members.
Krishna suggests that we also create a *Communications and Public Relations
Committee*, to which Krishna, Jim Naylor and Rhonda have agreed to
participate. Krishna will connect with MFL Communications and Research
Coordinator Andrew Todd.
Krishna will revise our current website such that the front page graphics
display fits properly; the Call for Papers section no longer forms our
homepage; and will advertise our finalized list of roundtable participants
at 1919-2019.com and on Facebook. Krishna will also see about switching
from wordpress.com’s limited format to another web platform — this, with a
full web relaunch and social media push come the Fall.
*6. PUBLICATIONS CONNECTED WITH THE CONFERENCE*
Jim Naylor advised that we might want to investigate further publication
possibilities in connection with the conference, including special 1919
issues of progressive periodicals alongside special volumes with publishing
houses, such as Fernwood, etc.
*7. ASSOCIATION OF UNITED UKRAINIAN CANADIANS (AUCC) REPORT*
Tim Gordienko reported on the success of the Association of United
Ukrainian Canadians’ (AUCC) 100thanniversary gala event, which took place
at the Ukrainian Labour Temple on May 12, 2018.
Tim reports that a number of renovations to the Labour Temple are being
proposed, including accessibility upgrades. Discussions are ongoing with
the AUUC. A meeting in September is being planned, in which it is critical
to articulate how improvements to the temple will benefit the AUCC.
*8. NEXT MEETING: TBD*
Hi everyone,
We're moving into high gear this fall in terms of organizing the Winnipeg General Strike conference. There are a number of things to deal with fairly quickly so we will be meeting the weekend after Labour Day.
The next meeting will be SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, at 1:30 in the regular place (please confirm this Janis) in Bryce Hall: 2B23.
I'll circulate an agenda beforehand, but let me know of anything you might want added.
Enjoy the remains of the summer!
Jim
James Naylor
Professor
Department of History
Brandon University
270 18th Street
Brandon, MB R7A 6A9
Canada
Office: 204 727 9664
Cell: 204 720 2117
Naylor(a)BrandonU.ca<mailto:Naylor@BrandonU.ca>
people.brandonu.ca/naylorj/<https://people.brandonu.ca/naylorj/>
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Hi everyone, and I hope summer's enjoyable for all,
We are still in the process of seeing about whether we can get Billy Bragg, but we've also been in some talks with the CCPA. If you remember, we were arranging the Bragg events with Jason from the West End Cultural Centre and the idea was that we would have an event with him at the Ukrainian Labour Temple on the Friday night, and the WECC would have him on the Saturday. The CCPA expressed interest and we had suggested or assumed they might want to do something with him on Sunday.
I recently talked to Molly McCraken from the CCPA. They are concerned that there was not a sufficient audience to have 3 Bragg events and suggested that there be a large, cosponsored event at Knox on the Friday night.
I was initially dubious about this since I didn't want our event to be hijacked. However, I have rethought this a bit. We were originally working with the CCPA on the keynote issue since there were clear benefits for both us and them. For us, it helped mitigate some of the financial concerns about bringing in a big name speaker. I think this remains true of the Bragg event.
It seems to me that we could rearrange things to the benefit of everyone. We could participate in a large Bragg event on the Friday, with heavily discounted tickets to conference attendees (the MFL has contributed $5000 to the Bragg event, and maybe they would be okay with us using it to discount tickets). This would allow us to rethink the Thursday Keynote event. I would suggest (as long as it's not a problem for the Labout Temple) that we hold the keynote there: we could bus people directly from the U of W, serve a light dinner, and have the keynote/social/wine and cheese there.
That's just one possibility, others of you might have others. Let me know what you think,
Jim
James Naylor
Professor
Department of History
Brandon University
270 18th Street
Brandon, MB R7A 6A9
Canada
Office: 204 727 9664
Cell: 204 720 2117
Naylor(a)BrandonU.ca<mailto:Naylor@BrandonU.ca>
people.brandonu.ca/naylorj/<https://people.brandonu.ca/naylorj/>
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