APIRG Research Committee

APIRG Research Exchange (AREx):
Project Postings

Students: remember that if you do not see a project that interests you here, or if you would like to work with a volunteer organiztion you are familiar with, you can always come and talk to the Research Coordinator on Mondays 2-4 to discuss your ideas, or email for an appointment. We will collaborate with you to shape your interests into a proposal for the Research Exchange and your prof.

The On-To-Ottawa Trek: an examination of a Canadian workers’ struggle in the 1930s
Organization Name	Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), Edmonton Branch
Organization Goal	To provide a historical perspective on the current labour situation in Canada; to educate workers about rank and file democracy and alternatives to the existing models of labour activism; to build a movement for workers’ control of industry.
Project Type	Research and Presentation
Research Question	To present the details of the On-To-Ottawa Trek of 1935, its relevance to labour today to a broader audience: the labour community, the activist community, and the community at large. In doing so, we hope to educate the public about Canadian history and workers’ struggles, and inspire interest and activism surrounding labour issues today. We’re hoping to promote discussion on how this historic event shaped the labour movement in the late 20th century.
View Full Proposal	Click here to view the full project proposal.
Interested?

 

Producer Co-ops: Investigating the Feasibility of an Alternative for Injured/Disabled Workers
Organization Name	Alberta Workers' Health Centre
Organization Goal	AWHC is a registered charity with a mandate to help improve the health and safety of Alberta’s workplaces and to help those who have suffered from workplace injuries and illness. Since the founding of the Centre in 1983 most of the provinces labour unions have made this financially possible.
Project Type	This project would take the form of a research paper.
Research Question	Injured and permanently partially disabled workers often follow one of two paths: 1) return to work in a modified capacity (relatively rare for permanently disabled) or struggle to maintain or regain employment while enduring pain, disability and extreme pressure from employers and co-workers. Alternately, they 2) are ‘encouraged’ to pursue training and incentives to form small businesses along the models of the (able-bodied) individual entrepreneur. Even for workers with full physical abilities this approach is fraught with a high failure rate. Workers with disabilities usually face even greater obstacles. We are interested in exploring the possibilities, barriers, or steps in the formation of worker co-ops comprised entirely or mostly of disabled workers who might be better able to support each other as co-owners and co-workers.
View Full Proposal	Click here to view the full project proposal.
Interested?

 

Redefining Workplace Health and Safety: A Critical Look at WCB Statistics
Organization Name	Alberta Workers' Health Centre
Organization Goal	AWHC is a registered charity with a mandate to help improve the health and safety of Alberta’s workplaces and to help those who have suffered from workplace injuries and illness. Since the founding of the Centre in 1983 most of the provinces labour unions have made this financially possible.
Project Type	This project would take the form of a research paper.
Research Question	Anecdotal evidence and scattered studies suggest that typical quantitative measurements used to evaluate the overall state of occupational health and safety (OHS) in Alberta are seriously flawed. We are interested in synthesizing these critiques of measurements such as the lost time claim rate, duration rates; accident/injury rate, and rates of fatalities to present a different picture of OHS in Alberta. This can be analyzed along a number of angles: we can ask who or what the data or the methodologies exclude, how it may be manipulated, and what jurisdictions outside of Alberta are doing. Because the scope of this project will necessarily limited to what a student can handle in a term, we do not expect to generate a comprehensive set of alternative measurements, but rather a coherent synthesis of several of these critiques.
View Full Proposal	Click here to view the full project proposal.
Interested?

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