Appendix

FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
WOMEN AND MICROTECHNOLOGY

"Women and the Impact of Microtechnology" is the subject of an intensive three-day conference to be held at Carleton University from June 25 to June 27, 1982. The event includes a broad selection of workshops to be led by specialists in various relevant fields, including Heather Menzies, author of Women and the Chip and the soon to be released Computers on the Job; Patricia McDermott, sociologist; Jeanne Stellman, Executive Director of Women's Occupational Health Resource Centre, Columbia University; P. Anne Wilson, Director of Sales CATV Products, NABU Manufacturing Corporation; and the Honorable Maureen L. Hemphill, Minister of Education, Manitoba.

The objectives which have been outlined for the conference include the familiarization of women with microtechnology, the analysis of all of the fundamental issues relating to microtechnology and its impact on women, the development of individual and group strategies for using technology to the advantage of women.

The conference will, for the first time, bring together experts from a variety of professional, commercial and academic fields to discuss the issues which revolve around the integration of women into new areas within a changing labour force, and to participate in a variety of workshops and demonstrations. Some of the subject areas which will be discussed at the conference include: education, ergonomics, training and retraining, health and safety, math anxiety, and office automation.

For further information, please contact: Communicator Associates: 238-6444 (613). For registration information, contact: Lynda Barrett: 737-2973 (613).

Women and Micro technology Conference Resolves Strong Actions.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OTTAWA, June 28, 1982... Over 600 women from all across Canada resolved to take immediate actions to ensure that microtechnology is used for the benefit of women, rather than the reverse.

The Future is Now: Women and the Impact of Microtechnology was a three-day conference held in Ottawa, June 25 - 27, to examine the issues and make recommendations in the areas of employment, training and retraining, education, health and safety, information access and control, as well as legislation related to all aspects of the micro technology industry.

The sponsoring organizations of the conference were the Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunities for Women (CCLOW) , the Canadian Federation of University Women (CFUW), the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW), and the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC).

The following actions were instigated:

1. Employment, Training and Retraining

(i) A letter will be sent immediately to all federal MPs, insisting that employers (under federal jurisdiction) be compelled to train and retrain women. Suggested measures for doing this include the introduction of federal contract compliance, as well as new laws entrenching specific employment rights wherever technological change is introduced.

(ii) The Canada Employment and Immigration Commission will receive requests for special programs to be set up and for the allocation of training funds directed towards the integration and advancement of women in the microtechnology industry.

(iii) There will be regional lobbying of Ministers of Education to ensure that suitable, affordable training courses in computer literacy are established.

(iv) That special attention be paid by provincial governments to the needs of immigrant, native, handicapped and poorly educated women is also a priority.

(v) It is recommended that a national Work Research Institute be established to provide informed guidance in the humane application of the new technology. Funding from federal and provincial governments is requested and women must be involved in the planning of such an institute.