About Us
The Worker Solidarity Network, formerly known as the Retail Action Network, consists of non-unionized and precarious workers across B.C. that advocate for our rights and interests as workers while taking collective action to improve labour standards for all.
In 2015, a small group of retail and restaurant workers in Victoria, B.C. joined together to discuss the common trends and experiences they endured in their sectors of work. Upon further research and conversation, and by recognizing the historical power of labour organizing, they began to act together in the spirit of mutual aid, solidarity, and direct action.
The WSN now consists of workers throughout the province that share an invested interest in the well-being of precarious employees that struggle under capitalism. The WSN effectively organizes to: distribute accessible know-your-rights education, close the gap in effective labour rights enforcement, support and empower individuals with complaints, and to campaign for long term improvements.
Through collective action, we are excited and confident about the future of the worker solidarity movement in B.C.
Staff
Executive Director
Pamela
- Badass worker advocate
- Fabulous denim
- Walk the Walk
- Feminism is my prizm
Shaking drinks by night and shaking the system by day, Pamela has been a part of the restaurant industry for over a decade. With her experience, she knows that workers often face unfair conditions: from the lack of sexual harassment policies, wage theft, living wage, tip protections and many others.
Pamela joined WSN over 3 years ago because justice for workers is something to fight for. Although she has left her campaign organizer role to transition to the Interim Executive Director role, she is still passionate about collective worker power.
Contact Pamela at
pam@workersolidarity.ca
Solidarity Steward Program Coordinator
Andreea
- The best voice-overs
- Dancing queen
- Will tell you all the laws your boss is breaking
Andreea has worked in retail for over ten years and is familiar with many of the challenges retail workers face. Empowering workers to stand up for themselves and their rights sparks joy for her.
As a Solidarity Steward, Andreea lets workers know their options in whatever situation they’re facing at work, and has their back throughout the process that follows.
Contact Andreea at
andreea@workersolidarity.ca
Membership Engagement Coordinator and Legal Advocate, Lower Mainland B.C.
Kristine
- Karaoke Kween
- Sunglasses at night
- Makibaka! Huwag Matakot!
Kris has been organizing for workers rights for over 15 years in precarious working conditions as a retail worker and a server and has taken on being a shop steward at her workplace. She also organizes within her community with various anti-imperialist filipino grassroots organizations.
As the Membership Engagement Coordinator and Legal Advocate with WSN, you’ll see her out in the streets, organizing with workers to help with their issues and build collective power.
Contact Kristine at
kris@workersolidarity.ca
Communications Coordinator
Jiyoon
- Attentive speedwalker
- Thoughtful observer of the TikTok franchise
- Walking encyclopedia of celebrity trivia
Jiyoon comes into her role at WSN with five years of work experience in the service industry. She was emboldened to fight for labour justice after growing up in a working-class community and having worked precarious jobs, where she experienced unfair working conditions that upheld harassment and wage theft, among other things.
As the Communications Coordinator, Jiyoon works towards building worker power by keeping WSN members and the public engaged with WSN’s ongoing work through worker stories, social media, and more.
Contact Jiyoon at comms@workersolidarity.ca
Community Engagement and Campaigns Coordinator
Ismail
- Always has two coffees on the go
- Half Mexican, Half Turkish, 100% working class
- Fights for fair conditions with a ferocious, four-pound feline sidekick
- Revolution is optimistic, optimism is revolutionary, revolutionary optimism is my hill to die on
Ismail comes to the WSN with close to a decade of experience in a variety of positions in food & beverage as well as in the hospitality industry, alongside a grounding in the student movement, and anti-racist organizing. Having witnessed every form of exploitation from labour violations to wage theft to unsafe working conditions, he brought his two worlds together and embraced radical labour organizing after understanding how change can only come through worker power.
As the Community Engagement Coordinator, he collaborates with the wider community to foster engagement and support to organize campaigns that build worker power and lead to real wins for workers, especially those who experience injustices in the non-unionized retail and hospitality sectors.
Contact Ismail at ismail@workersolidarity.ca
Administrative Coordinator
Jade
- Behind-the-scenes boss
- Acupuncturist extraordinaire
- Mutual aid and community care or bust!
Jade has been doing administrative work with radical non-profits for a decade and delights in having a role that supports the workers who are supporting the workers. Using her organizational expertise to make sure all the boring but crucial boxes are checked, Jade is proud to be the bridge between the systems that exist and the dream-world we are building.
As the Administrative Coordinator, Jade keeps the wheels turning and the staff paid so WSN can keep fighting for your rights and building worker power across the province.
Contact Jade at jade@workersolidarity.ca
Board
President
Sartaj Birring
Sartaj is a labour organizer and activist who works closely with workers who are experiencing unfair working conditions, such as wage theft, sexual harassment, and discrimination. Her start in the labour rights movement began during her over 5 years of retail experience in unionized and non-unionized workplaces and has continued in her work organizing retail, restaurant, cannabis, and industrial sectors, among others. She is passionate about worker empowerment, labour education, and climate reform.
Vice President
Spencer Lachmanec
Spencer Lachmanec has volunteered for WSN since its early days and has served on the board of directors for three years, most recently as president. Spencer is excited to contribute to WSN’s continued growth and evolution. He is honoured to serve another term — this time as the board’s vice president. The struggle to build worker power feels more urgent than ever.
Treasurer
Patrick Johnson
Patrick was a founding member of Retail Action Network in 2015 and has been involved in Worker Solidarity Network (WSN) since that time. As WSN continues evolving to best support workers building structural change, Patrick seeks support to continue on the Board of Directors. Patrick brings his experience as a union organizer and elected leader of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1518, and believes that every worker is an organizer. With skills development and support from WSN, we can continue engaging workers and create a positive sustainable change for all workers.
Secretary
Wes Carroll
Wes has been involved with WSN since the organization’s youthful years, having filled the roles of volunteer, Outreach Coordinator (2017/18), and Public Education Coordinator (2019), while representing WSN at Canroots (2016/17), CBC Radio, and the Fair Wages Commission (2017). His graduate studies in both communications and music inform his current work as Program Developer for the VCM’s Contemporary School and his political music. As an organizer, Wes is inspired to collaborate in liberatory imagining, inclusion, community, and struggle.
Member at Large
Austen Adams
Austen’s been a member of the WSN since 2022 and was on the Board of Governors this past year. He’s contributed to outreach, socials and the climate and labour project taking all opportunities of his membership. He’s an Ecosystem Management Technician running his own small landscaping business. He aims to rejoin the board of governors for another year to continue to contribute to the WSN and to help the direction of the organization forward with a voice for low income workers and precarious workers.
Member at Large
Dominic Gibbs
Dominic Gibbs was introduced to the WSN through a labour dispute involving an attempt to unionize his workplace. During this difficult time, the WSN extended unwavering support and solidarity to him. He became a member shortly thereafter. Dominic would like to return the favour of the assistance the organization gave him. The WSN team has demonstrated that they are strong advocates of labour solidarity and, in turn, has inspired him to become an advocate for them.
Member at Large
Emma White
Emma (she/her) is a queer, white settler living on lək̓ʷəŋən Territory (“Victoria BC”). During her seven years working in food service, she gained firsthand experience of how workers in BC are exploited. After transitioning to the field of non-profits, her commitment to the labour movement was further solidified during her time working as an Employment Standards Legal Advocate for Together Against Poverty Society (TAPS), where she assisted non-unionized employees in navigating issues covered by the ESA.
Member at Large
German Ocampo
German Ocampo was born in Quindio, the coffee region of Colombia. He brings experience in community organizing, advocacy, education, as well as community-based action projects. In the past few years, he has been working on projects based in Tofino (unceded Nuu-Chah-Nulth territory) concerning environmental stewardship, indigenous sovereignty issues, decolonization of the cultural landscape as well as education as a social justice and anti-poverty issue.
