More information on his current project can be found below:

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Laborem Ex Machina: The History of Operating Engineers and Heavy Machinery in Canada's Construction Industry is a research and public history project led by Dr. Gilberto Fernandes and funded by the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 793. The objectives of this three-year project (2020-2022) are to preserve, learn and share the history of one of the most important trades in Canada's construction industry.

RESEARCH TOPICS

This project focuses on the working experiences of operating engineers, their labour organization and activism, occupational health and safety, apprenticeship programs and other skills training, inter-ethnic relations, and related topics. It will examine the impact of technological innovations on and the use of often-dangerous heavy machinery in the workplace by a group of workers that have operated them for over a century in all sectors of the construction industry. The lessons from this history will be of interest to anyone considering the impact of artificial intelligence, robotics, 3D printing and other future technological advancements in the workplace and how they might affect workers and their unions. The construction industry has been a major partner in Canada's colonialist nation-building project and a contributor to massive natural devastation and environmental degradation. Operating engineers have been on the frontlines of these processes and interactions, both in large civil projects in the Canadian hinterland and in residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial construction projects in the cities. Our project will examine the role of operating engineers and their unions in settler-Indigenous relations and in contributing to or fighting climate change in the past.

DELIVERABLES

This project has three large objectives - preserve, learn, share - each with their deliverables:

PRESERVE (archiving): we will 1) offer professional advice to IUOE Local 793 on how to best store and manage their historical records; 2) facilitate the transfer of a large portion of its historical records to the care of the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, 91亚色 Libraries, where they will be preserved and made accessible to researchers, teachers, and students; and 3) digitize a portion of these records and make them available through 91亚色's digital repository and our project's digital history website.

LEARN (research): we will examine the records of the IUOE Local 793 and other collections in various public archives, and conduct oral history interviews with active and retired operating engineers, labour organizers, contractors, and other individuals. This research will result in peer-reviewed journal articles, policy briefs, and a book.

SHARE (public engagement): we will step outside the halls of academia and share our findings with the general public. We will do so by 1) creating a public digital history website where we will share our research findings, digitized records, photos, infographics, short documentary videos, and a podcast series; and 2) facilitating the installation of one Heritage Toronto commemorative plaque on the site of the old Elliot House Hotel, where the IUOE Local 793 was founded in 1919.

PROJECT TITLE

The title Laborem Ex Machina (labour from the machine) is a play on the Latin expression deus ex machina (God from the machine), which refers to a plot device used in ancient Greek theatre whereby an actor playing God would ascend or descend onto the stage by way of a machine - usually a crane or a trapdoor - and resolve a seemingly unsolvable problem in the story and bring it to a happy ending. Our title alludes to the labour of operating engineers and their heavy machinery, which made possible large-scale construction projects that would have been unfeasible without them.

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Former Ontario Coalition Against Poverty organizer John Clarke has been appointed as the next Packer Visitor in Social Justice in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional studies for a two-year term (terms 2019-20 to 2020-21).
Clarke has a lifetime of achievement in organizing the unemployed. Born and raised in a working-class background in the United Kingdom, he moved to Canada in 1976 where he became involved in his union at Westinghouse. Laid off in 1982, Clarke helped set up the London city-wide union of the unemployed and in 1990 helped found the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP), for which he was elected Organizer. Since then he has helped organize several innovative campaigns to challenge poverty policies in Ontario and Canada more broadly, at both the legislative and administrative level. OCAP鈥檚 efforts were recognized by American Political Science Association鈥檚 New Politics section with their Cloward and Piven social justice award.
Clarke has written about his experiences in popular and academic journals, including The Bullet, Upping the Anti, Labour/Le Travail, and the Osgoode Law Journal.
As the Packer Visitor in Social Justice, Clarke will participate in several workshops, lectures and events where he can bring his particular experience and insights into dialogue with the university community. He will also teach the fourth-year seminar, POLS 4410: Social Justice and Political Activism, in the Department of Politics.
91亚色 established the K.H. and W.A. Packer Endowment in Social Justice in memory of Professor William A. Packer, who, with his wife Katherine, gave 91亚色 a generous endowment for the promotion of social justice in the 21st century and beyond. The Packer family are from Toronto. Katherine worked as a librarian at 91亚色's Glendon College and William taught German for many years at the University of Toronto. The endowment awards scholarships to graduate and undergraduate students, while 91亚色 pays the salary of the Packer Visitor in Social Justice.
Previous Packer Visitors in Social Justice include former Canadian Auto Workers鈥� Research Director Sam Gindin, former Canadian Labour Congress Chief Economist Andrew Jackson, and social justice lawyer Fay Faraday (now an Assistant Professor at 91亚色鈥檚 Osgoode Law School).
(text and image from Y-File)

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91亚色 Professor Leah F. Vosko, of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, is being recognized for excellence in research by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). She is the recipient of the SSHRC鈥檚 prestigious Impact Award (Insight Category). The award was announced on Sept. 4.
鈥�91亚色 is delighted that Professor Vosko, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in the Political Economy of Gender & Work at 91亚色, has been awarded the SSHRC Impact Award,鈥� said Interim Vice-President Research & Innovation Rui Wang. 鈥淪he is Canada鈥檚 foremost expert on the complex national and global problem of precarious employment. Her leadership in this area has affected policy changes that have led to key societal benefits.鈥�
鈥淧rofessor Vosko鈥檚 achievement is a source of great pride for the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies,鈥� said Interim Dean JJ McMurtry. 鈥淗er research on precarious employment has expanded our understanding of the labour market in Canada, and we are thrilled to see her work is getting the recognition it deserves.鈥�
Vosko,a full professor in the Department of Politics, is an internationally renowned social scientist. Having overseen numerous path-breaking research projects, her contributions to scholarly knowledge, networks and learning tools have made lasting impacts within academe and on public policy and make her most deserving of this award.
She has written numerous books, articles, book chapters and technical reports, as well as edited many scholarly volumes. She has been recognized with election to the Royal Society of Canada, a Fulbright Fellowship, the Charles Taylor Prize for Excellence in Policy Research, Tier 1 and 2 Canada Research Chair appointments and a Premier鈥檚 Research Excellence Award.
Vosko鈥檚 contributions to understanding the profound challenges of labour market insecurity cannot be overstated. She has made significant scholarly advancements by devising a now widely applied, nuanced conceptualization of precarious employment and creating novel approaches to its measurement and alleviation. Her insights demand that we re-examine how we understand and confer labour market membership, and her leadership of robust collaborations has resulted in concrete policy changes that have improved working life in Canada.
The annual Impact Awards recognize the highest achievements of outstanding researchers and research partners in the social sciences and humanities. Vosko is 91亚色鈥檚 first faculty member to receive SSHRC鈥檚 prestigious Impact Award in the Insight Category.
(text and image from Y-File)

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Directed and produced by Dreamscope TV, the documentary is narrated by Rethabile Ratsiu, a former factory worker in Maseru, Lesotho, who introduces the audience to working life in the garment factories and her involvement in the Decent Work Regulation Project.

The film highlights the work of the project in Lesotho, and South Africa, where local partners are supported to work towards more effective implementation of labour rights. This project is a collaboration between the , , , and local partners.

Rethabile鈥檚 Story is available both on Project's  and , The researchers hope that it will contribute to the public debate on how regulation can promote decent work in Lesotho and beyond.

The full version of the film will be launched later this year at the Regulating for Decent Work Conference, to be held in the International Labour Office, Geneva from 8-10 July 2019.

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