Workers’ Justice Course builds power across Northwest Toronto communities

The eight-session Workers’ Justice: A Community-Based Course on Rights and Action wrapped up on Thursday, November 8^th, 2025, marking the close of a rich and purposeful learning experience. The program was a partnership between the Jane/Finch Centre, the Jane and Finch Education Group, and York University’s Global Labour Research Centre (GLRC). Together, these organizations created an accessible space for residents in Jane-Finch, Rexdale, and Northwest Toronto to deepen their understanding of workers’ rights and collective action.

The free course took place at the Early Learning Centre inside the Jane and Finch Mall, running from September 1^st to November 6^th, 2025. Community members (many of whom live and work in the area) met each week to explore labour rights, workplace injustices, and strategies for building long-term change. The setting felt familiar and grounded, and participants described the space as safe, welcoming, and rooted in community care.

GLRC, based at York University, played an essential role in delivering the curriculum. The centre describes itself as a hub for cross-campus collaboration, grounded in strong relationships with labour and community partners. Its work focuses on the changing nature of employment, the limits of labour law, migration and citizenship, race and gender dynamics, worker health, and the revitalization of labour movements.

The course drew on these core themes and organized the content into eight interconnected sessions:

1. Situating Ourselves: Defining what makes a good job.
2. Big Picture: Examining unsafe work and the global forces that shaped today’s labour conditions.
3. Confronting Unsafe Work: Identifying who faces the greatest risk and why legal protections often fall short.
4. Confronting Wage Theft: Understanding how employers withhold wages and how workers can challenge the practice.
5. Confronting Employer Roadblocks: Analyzing employer power and the tools used to maintain it.
6. Bringing It All Together: Reflecting on how workers can fight for good jobs and confront injustice.
7. Workers’ Power in Our Workplaces: Exploring long-term strategies for collective struggle.
8. Expanding Our Vision of Justice and Solidarity: Looking beyond workplaces to imagine broader community action.
   

In the GLRC’s November newsletter, Director Adrian A. Smith reflected on the impact of the program. “About twenty-five community members participated and engaged in critical learning about workers’ rights, community action, and justice for workers and their communities.” He noted that each session built on the previous one, allowing participants to share lived experiences and develop stronger advocacy skills. As Smith wrote, “Participants shared their experiences and strengthened their capacity for advocacy on behalf of self and others, rooted in work-based and community justice.” A full report will be released soon.

The value of the course was clear. Participants gained practical knowledge while building trust, solidarity, and confidence. Many residents arrived familiar with the challenges faced in Northwest Toronto: stigma, structural inequities, under-resourced services, and the pressures of precarious work. The program allowed them to explore these issues together through open dialogue, shared stories, and collective problem-solving.

More than a training program, this initiative served as a model for community-led learning. It created a space where residents felt seen, supported, and empowered to advocate for safer workplaces and fair treatment. By centering community voices, the course showed how education can strengthen local movements and help workers push for justice that reaches beyond a single workplace.