International Working Women’s Day 2023 at WSN
The Worker Solidarity Network is excited to present our panel fundraiser event to celebrate International Working Women’s Day and fundraise for our Solidarity Fund. This Zoom event will feature a panel discussion with Sartaj Birring, Alexandra Shewan, and Keira Zikmanis.
The Solidarity Fund exists to support workers who speak truth to power; such as workers who need financial support while contesting stolen wages, standing up for their rights at work, and responding to racism and discrimination.
Your donation will fund grants to workers so that they can organize for better conditions and meet their basic needs when persecuted for demanding fair treatment.
Join us in the call to end workplace inequalities on this International Working Women’s Day and deliver both justice and direct financial support to workers.
About the Panelists:
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 many years of retail experience in unionized and non-unionized workplaces and has continued in her work in organizing various industries such as retail and cannabis. She is passionate about worker empowerment, labour education, and climate reform.
The future in a workplace is an equal and inclusive one! Sartaj will be discussing the importance of organizing the workplace for women and LGBTQ+ women in addressing gender based violence in the workplace.
Keira Zikmanis (she/they) is a white, queer, disabled settler and a Registered Clinical Counsellor living on unceded Lekwungen territories. They have a private practice (www.wholenesscounselling.ca) focused on supporting trauma survivors and neurodivergent folks using an anti-oppressive and neurodiversity-affirming approach.
Keira will be discussing Burnout and the Patriarchy: How Systems of Oppression Contribute to Burnout, and What We Can Do About it. They will discuss how systems of oppression cause women and queer folks to experience higher rates of burnout in the workplace, as well as how we can recognize and recover from burnout.
Alexandra Shewan (she/they) is a Registered Clinical Counsellor with a virtual/in-person counselling and consulting business, Selkie Counselling, based out of Victoria, BC on unceded lək̓ʷəŋən and W̱SÁNEĆ territories. Her approach to counselling and consulting is intersectionally feminist, collaborative, trauma-informed, and anti-oppressive. Alexandra supports clients in uprooting internalized oppression to feel more embodied and heal their relationship to themselves and others.
Food and wellness are common topics in many workplaces, and yet fatphobia and recovery from diet culture/disordered eating are rarely considered. Even in social justice-oriented spaces, fatphobia and healthism can be rampant, and these biases disproportionately affect fat people, women, and Trans people (who experience the highest rates of disordered eating). This talk will identify how fatphobia and healthism show up in the workplace and discuss how to make your workplace more inclusive to fat folks and those in recovery from disordered eating.
Childcare:
WSN wants to provide the opportunity for folk that have parental responsibilities to attend the virtual event. WSN will provide an honoraria to cover the cost of childcare if required. Please reach out to pam@workersolidarity.ca if you are interested in the childcare honorarium, or if you have any questions regarding it.
This event will have live closed captioning.
