Action Groups!

Posted: April 28, 2007

OPIRG-Toronto is a volunteer-driven, non-profit organization based at the University of Toronto, with a mandate to work around issues of social and environmental justice. Our Action Groups organize autonomously around various issues of social justice and environmental action. Some examples of current and former action groups include: Students Against Sweatshops Initiative, Anti-Racism Media EDucation, Equity Gardeners, Justice for Campus Workers, Enviro-Collective, Radio OPIRG, Food Issues Collective, First Nations Solidarity Action Group and Queer Action Group. All action groups are allocated an appropriate budget (for projects/events they wish to pursue throughout the year) in September and will have access to the following:

OPIRG's many resources (phone, fax machine, printer, button maker)

• an alternative resource library
  
• computers with internet access and web space
  
• meeting space at the OPIRG office or anywhere at the U of T campus (we are committed to using wheelchair accessible spaces for all events and meetings)
  

...and will have the support of OPIRG staff and board members when needed for such things as project support, visioning and outreach etc.

What role do working groups play at OPIRG?
Working groups are the core of OPIRG and the most common way volunteers get involved. They are essentially a collective of volunteers who organize around a specific issue, campaign or initiative (they include anywhere from 5-50 people). Action groups receive funding from OPIRG and use the OPIRG office for many of their activities. Each action group gets a write-up in the OPIRG newsletter and on the OPIRG website and staff try to recruit new members to the group throughout the year. All OPIRG action groups are initiated by volunteers, and must be approved by the Board of Directors.

OPIRG Toronto is committed to working on a wide range of issues from a integrated anti-oppression framework in order to work towards providing a safe and accessible space for people coming from various marginalized communities. This includes but is not limited to First Nations people, transgendered/transsexual people, women, dis-abled people, people of colour, members of the working class, and immigrants and refugees. Although our organization has a lot of work to do towards becoming more inclusive and proactively supportive of the struggles of all oppressed people, we believe that encouraging new action groups to research, educate, and take action on these issues is a step in the right direction.