BC Policy Solutions, in partnership with Understanding Precarity in BC and the Morgan Centre for Labour Research at Simon Fraser University, has launched a new research project titled New Policy Directions in Labour and Climate Precarity. The project seeks to shed light on the intersections of climate change and labour precarity in order to develop a policy framework to address the combination of the two.
Why this project matters
In BC, the climate emergency is widely recognized and felt—from the 2021 heat dome to smoky summers and the recent atmospheric river that led to devastating flooding.
The impacts of climate change on precarious workers—those with non-standard forms of employment such as temporary foreign workers, part-time, short-term and gig workers and those misclassified as independent contractors—often goes unrecognized.
Precarious work is prevalent in BC and the changing climate affects precarious workers from those working in agriculture, food services, care work and construction to delivery services.
These workers can be exposed to extreme heat in restaurant kitchens and at building sites during weather catastrophes. They can be called on to deliver goods during pandemics and harsh weather and are told to keep working in fields as floods approach. Precarious workers face serious barriers to exercise their labour rights, including protection from extreme temperatures and refusal of unsafe working conditions. And these workers are not considered or involved in discussions about labour’s role in addressing climate change or in the discourse of just transition in the energy economy.
What we hope to achieve
This project aims to deliver an expansive and transformative framework to address the challenges of climate change and precarious work. There is an urgency, and opportunity, to bridge the siloes of climate change and precarious work in BC. Currently, the provincial government’s CleanBC program is being updated and analysts have identified that affordability must be central to this work. WorkSafeBC also plans to revamp guidelines on extreme heat, which is much needed.
This project is supported with funds from Mitacs, a Canadian non-profit research organization.
