by Ken Georgetti, President
Canadian Labour Congress
Making It Clear: Clear Language for Union Communications is part of the Learning in Solidarity series of the Canadian Labour Congress' Workplace Literacy Project. The Learning in Solidarity series is producing a number of resources to help unions create a learning climate within their own organizations and within the community of labour. We are trying to reach out beyond our members who are currently active, to those who don't yet feel connected. The project is seeking meaningful ways to include them and to look critically at how we do things so that we can make the union more inclusive and accessible.
Making It Clear is an important product of the Learning in Solidarity series. It is about learning how to communicate clearly so that the messages we send are understood well by our readers. It is about what we have to say and about how it will be received. This includes unlearning old habits: many of us have often been encouraged to write in complex and inaccessible ways.
I would like to thank the principal writer of this resource kit, Anna Larsen of the Metro Labour Education Centre in Toronto, as well as Debra Hutcheon of the Ontario Federation of Labour's BEST program for their excellent work. I would also like to express my appreciation to Tamara Levine, Coordinator, CLC Workplace Literacy Project, for coordinating and providing direction to the project.
In addition, the reference group for this project has given generously of their time, insight and knowledge. Thanks to:
I would also like to thank Brigid Hayes, Program Consultant at the National Literacy Secretariat, for her enthusiastic support for this project.