Check out our current action groups!
What role do action 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 can include anywhere from 5-50 people). 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. 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.
Our Action Groups
Our actiongroups are organized autonomously around various issues of social justice and environmental action. All action grps are allocated an appropriate budget (for projects/events they wisht to pursue throughout the year) in September and have access to the following:
- a library
- office resources (phone, fax machine, printer, button maker)
- computers with internet access
- meeting space at the OPIRG office or anywhere on the UofT campus
- a committment to fully accessible spaces for all events and meetings
- support from OPIRG staff and board members for project support, visioning and outreach.
Action Groups' Mandate
OPIRG-Toronto is committed to working on a wide range of issues from an integrate anti-oppressive 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, disabled people, people of colour, members of the work 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.
