THE SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVIST

Kari Michaels was elected as executive vicepresident of the B.C. General Employees' Union (BCGEU) in 2017. Now in her second term in that role, Michaels helps shape the direction of one of the largest and most diverse unions in B.C. – one that represents thousands of members in healthcare, community social services, education, highways maintenance, casinos, credit unions, municipalities, regional districts and other sectors.

Michaels joined BCGEU as a member when she and her co-workers at the Kwantlen Student Association unionized at their worksite. At the time, she was working as a records coordinator and student advocate. Facing what she describes as hostile working conditions, she quickly became active, first as a shop steward and subsequently stepping up as a bargaining committee member.

“We looked to join the BCGEU because the support staff at KPU are also members and so there was an alignment there in terms of being in a common union,” she explains. “We ended up organizing our workplace so that we could have better protections and collectively improve our workplace.”

Because of Michaels’ leadership, employees of the student association are union members to this day. That experience, she says, inspired her to run for election to the provincial executive of BCGEU.

“I ran largely wanting to help other members in our union build power and use the experience that we had in organizing our workplace so that we could have better protections to help support other members doing the same thing in their workplaces,” says Michaels.

Michaels is committed to building workers’ capacity to take action to improve their working conditions through education and training. She has been deeply involved with BCGEU as the young worker representative on both Local 704 and the Component 7 executive, Local 704 first vice-chairperson, a member of the BCGEU Young Workers Committee and member of the joint labour management committee.

“I've been most passionate about helping workers understand their power,” she says. “We don't have to accept things the way they are, we really can change things by working together and collectively resolving issues.”

Michaels’ determination to contribute to positive change was shaped by her early experiences. Growing up, she watched her mother struggle to support her family financially despite being a relentlessly hard worker. That experience, along with coming of age during a time when 9/11, the Iraq War and the resulting anti-war movements were happening, solidified her passion for social justice.

She cut her teeth in the world of advocacy, helping create the Feminist Collective at KPU, which ran self-defence classes on campus, marched to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women and created a dedicated women’s space on campus. As an employee of the student association, she helped KPU students navigate complaints and appeals processes.

“It was very rewarding to be able to help students through the process and to get some sense of closure in the situation,” she says. “That translated to the work that I'm doing now in terms of supporting workers to organize and get their employers to do what's right.”

As an executive board member for BCGEU, Michaels is assigned to various units within the union, working with their bargaining teams to support them as they negotiate their collective agreements or on initiatives to support their unique situations and needs.

For Michaels, workers’ rights extend beyond workplaces, and she was attracted to working with BCGEU because of its advocacy on various social issues. She is currently working on a number of BCGEU advocacy campaigns on issues such as housing affordability for the working class.

“The BCGEU is very much interested in not just improving our working lives and our workplaces but looking at society around us and seeing how we can create a more just society,” she explains.

Michaels, who graduated with a bachelor of arts in philosophy in 2017, says her time at KPU helped shape her social consciousness. Having spent her time as a student volunteering and advocating for the next generation of learners, she truly embodies the adage: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

This experience was foundational to her career, and now she is using it to help others assert their own rights. For Michaels, her accomplishments only serve as motivation to push harder.

“Whatever rights we have, whatever benefits or entitlements we have, those are fought for, and they can just as easily be taken away if we aren't vigilant about continuing to – not just fight for what we have – but to expand it even further,” she says. 