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Richard Wilkinson, one of the world’s most preeminent researchers on social inequalities, and author of the Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone will kick of the CFLR conference as the keynote speaker.
Ottawa (18 December 2012) – The Canadian Foundation for Labour Rights (CFLR) will be hosting an international conference on Labour Rights and their Impact on Democracy, Economic Equality and Social Justicein March 2013. The conference is being sponsored by CFLR's three union partners: the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE); United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW Canada) and the Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF). The conference will take place, March 26 - 28, 2013, at the downtown Hilton Hotel, Toronto.
The conference is designed to provide a forum to advance social science research which affirms the critical role labour rights play in advancing democracy within nations, creating greater economic equality and promoting the social well-being of all citizens.
It will examine how to communicate this research using key message frames that connect labour rights to the core values that Canadians share as citizens. The conference will also consider strategies to help labour and civil society build a broad-based progressive coalition in support of shared values of Canadians and the labour movement.
The keynote speaker at the conference will be Richard Wilkinson, one of the world’s most preeminent researchers on social inequalities. He is best known for his 2010 book with Kate Pickett The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone. The headline-generating UK bestseller showed that societies with more equal distribution of incomes have better health, fewer social problems such as violence, drug abuse, teenage births, mental illness, obesity, and others, and are more cohesive than ones in which the gap between the rich and poor is greater. Wilkinson will speak at the opening of the conference on Tuesday evening, March 26, 2013.
Other speakers will include Canadian and international human rights advocates, progressive labour relations academics and union-side lawyers who are recognized for their work on issues related to the conference themes and topics.
Participation at the conference will be limited and by invitation only. Further information on the conference can be obtained by e-mailing conference2013@labourrights.ca.
More information:
Labour Rights and their Impact on Democracy, Economic Equality and Social Justice International Conference
What people have said about The Spirit Level: Why equality is better for everyone
CFLR
The Canadian Foundation for Labour Rights (CFLR) is a national voice devoted to promoting labour rights as an important means to strengthening democracy, equality and economic justice here in Canada and internationally. CFLR was established and is sponsored by the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE).