Volume 4, number 10, Spring/Summer 2003
A clear message to the CLC
"Clear language is remembering what it is like not to understand." This was a theme of the awareness workshop Clear Language: It s a Matter of Rights held on May 6 - a historic event attended by officers and staff at the Congress in Ottawa.
"If the labour movement is truly committed to social justice and participation, then we have to ask ourselves: who are we including?" said Ken Georgetti, CLC President. "Who are we leaving out? Is there a way to communicate our messages more effectively?"
Respect your reader and know your audience were among the main workshop messages. For example, writers should always consider the educational background, and the literacy and language skills of their readers. This is not about simple-minded writing, but about getting our message across.
Readers have the right to receive information that makes sense to them; otherwise, they won't read our newsletters, brochures and other documents. After all, most of us find complicated written material a challenge to read. And all of us are drowning in reading material competing for our attention!
Workshop participants learned about some of labour's clear language successes: rewriting a union constitution, annotating collective agreements, creating c1ear language companion contracts, and passing policies to encourage convention resolutions written in clear language. They drew up a list of the c1ear language opportunities and challenges at the CLC and discussed ways to move forward.
"This session is the first step in a process that will offer support, encouragement and further training as we embark on this bold endeavour in clear language," Georgetti said.
Learning Together is published three times a year with financial support from the National Literacy Secretariat. We welcome your articles, event notices and opinion pieces.
