Youth Un(der)employment Forum

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

“Enough with un(der)employment!”

You’re invited to join students, young workers, community and labour organizers and other allies for a forum addressing youth unemployment and underemployment in Ontario.

When: Friday, September 27, 9am-4:30pm, followed by an evening social
Where: Oakham Lounge (2nd floor), Oakham House, Ryerson University, Toronto
Cost: FREE
Registration: Click here to register.

Click here to visit our event page on facebook.

Looking for stories: We also want to hear how youth unemployment and underemployment is actually impacting the lives of young workers and recent graduates. Send a message to youthemploymentsummit@gmail.com to share your story.

Why:
For decades young workers have faced challenges getting a foothold in the labour market. In recent years, the austerity agenda has magnified these challenges and hit young people in Ontario particularly hard. In April 2013, youth unemployment in Ontario was sitting at 16.4 percent, compared to 6.2 percent for those 25 and over. Many young people who do have work are underemployed or working in temporary short-term positions. Meanwhile, the cost of tuition at Ontario universities is among the highest in Canada and record levels of student debt are weighing recent graduates down as they enter the labour market.
While the challenges facing young people today are becoming recognized, the goal of this event will be to push the conversation to the next step. The event will aim to discuss and put forward concrete solutions to the problem of youth un(der)employment and explore how governments, employers, the labour movement, and other actors can do more to address this challenge.

Contact: If you have any questions about the event please contact BrynneSW@ofl.ca.

This event is being hosted by the Ontario Federation of Labour, Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – Ontario, Unifor, United Food and Commercial Workers, Canadian Labour Congress, and Workers United Canada.