Rosa moved to Hamilton from Quebec to begin a Master’s degree in Labour Studies at McMaster University a few years ago. She attributes her time spent as a youth at a labour-oriented Jewish-Socialist summer camp as her introduction to the labour movement. “That’s something that’s always stuck with me,” she shares. Previous to starting her degree she was working in restaurants and noticed power imbalances between workers and employers. “Looking back I was kind of informally organizing so I ended up going back to school…deciding to do my Master’s was when I decided to be more involved in the labour movement.”  Since graduating, Rosa has worked five separate research contracts jobs including the one she’s working on right now. 

Rosa has been in her current position since January 2021 and she works entirely from home. While living alone and working from home presents its own set of unique challenges, Rosa says, “I do not miss the commute!”  She has appropriated her kitchen table which she has moved to the living room and set up as her work-from-home desk. She uses her laptop and an additional monitor to do her research.  Rosa’s research is used by the union she works for to directly benefit members. “All unions are a little bit different but I’m assigned sectors and I help a lot with the collective bargaining process as well as union research like wage comparison [and] background on employers.” She also researches labour legislation and processes for when workplaces merge. In the context of COVID-19, she’s needed to research when workplaces that are deemed as essential work enter a labour dispute and are unable to go on strike and instead end up in arbitration. “So I’m learning a lot about the research that you have to do there and presenting cases. It’s a lot more of a bureaucratic process than mobilizing members, but really interesting work,” she says. 

At the beginning of the pandemic in the spring of 2020, Rosa’s employer laid her off. “I just packed up my stuff and my cat Opus and drove to my sister’s in Montreal.” While with her sister and her sister’s boyfriend in Montreal, Rosa passed the time by playing board games and cooking sumptuous meals with her household. Upon returning to Hamilton, she found that there were few jobs available.  “I was unemployed for pretty much the whole summer”, she shares. While between contracts, Rosa spent about seven months unemployed and was able to collect CERB. “I f*cking love being unemployed! Please put that in my profile, that’s what I want everyone to know about me!” she jokes. Rosa recognizes that she does valuable work in the labour movement and her community outside of paid employment. 

As a member-at-large at the Hamilton and District Labour Council (HDLC) Rosa co-chairs the Young Workers Committee. “A lot of precarious workers aren’t unionized and a lot of precarious workers are young workers. It’s trying to bridge the gap between Labour Council and young workers.” Rosa notes that all of her paid employment has always been precarious and that her current contract is no exception. “I think there is a huge problem where in this sector there is way too much contract work.” Like many contract-based workers without benefits, some forms of healthcare are more difficult for Rosa to access. Before the pandemic hit in March 2020, Rosa had plans to get minor dental surgery. Once COVID hit she was laid off and no longer had benefits. Fast forward to more than a year later, Rosa has still not had this dental procedure because even though she’s employed, her current contract does not offer dental coverage. “It just would have been nice to be able to get it!” 

During rolling lockdowns while isolated from friends and family, Rosa picked up playing online bridge with her family. She’s happy to live near the rail trail in Hamilton and tries to spend her lunch break going for a bike ride or run. Despite the activities, Rosa acknowledges that because she’s removed from an office environment “I find it quite alienating.” She jokingly adds that her most memorable pandemic activity was, “watch[ing] the first three Fast and Furious movies in one day.” While Rosa’s current contract has been extended by another six months, she notes that “I think unions should be leading by example and employing people permanently...there’s a lot of insecurity only looking six months ahead.”