THE AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT AT A CROSSROADS:

New Thinking, New Organizing, New Strategies

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Washington Court Hotel, 525 New Jersey Ave. N.W., Atrium Ballroom, Washington, D.C.

The American labor movement is at a critical juncture. After three decades of declining union density in the private sector and years of all-out political assaults on public sector unions, America’s unions now face what can only be described as existential threats. Strategies and tactics that may have worked in a different era are no longer adequate to confront today’s challenges. The need for different approaches to the fundamentals of union work in areas such as organizing, collective bargaining and political action is clear. This conference will examine new thinking and new initiatives, viewing them critically in the light of ongoing union imperatives to cultivate member activism and involvement, foster democratic self-governance and build the collective power of working people.

AGENDA

8:30 a.m. –9:00 a.m. Check-in and Continental Breakfast

9:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS

Leo Casey, executive director, Albert Shanker Institute

Alexandra Lescaze, executive director, The Sidney Hillman Foundation

Thomas E. Perez, U.S. Secretary of Labor

Keynote: AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT AT A CROSSROADS

Randi Weingarten, president, American Federation of Teachers and Albert Shanker Institute

9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. NEW FORMS OF LABOR ORGANIZING/ORGANIZATION I

Tefere Gebre, executive vice president, AFL-CIO

Harold Meyerson, editor-at-large, American Prospect; columnist, Washington Post; board member, Albert Shanker Institute

Karen Nussbaum, executive director, Working America

David Rolf, president, Workers Lab, Service Employees International Union, Local 775

Moderator: Alexandra Lescaze, executive director, The Sidney Hillman Foundation

10:45 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Break

11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. NEW FORMS OF LABOR ORGANIZING/ORGANIZATION II

Paul Booth, executive assistant to the president, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Elizabeth Bunn, Organizing Director, AFL-CIO

Sara Horowitz, founder and executive director, Freelancers Union

Jessica Smith, chief of staff, American Federation of Teachers

Cristina Tzintzún, executive director, Texas Workers Defense Project

Moderator: Phil Kugler, special assistant to the president for organization and field services, American Federation of Teachers

12:15 p.m. – 12:30 p.m. REFLECTIONS ON THE STATE OF AMERICAN LABOR

Steven Greenhouse, labor journalist

Moderator: Mark Levinson, chief economist, Service Employees International Union

12:30 p. m. – 1:00 p.m. Lunch

1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. BUILDING COMMUNITY-LABOR ALLIANCES

Sarita Gupta, executive director, Jobs with Justice

Gerry Hudson, executive vice president, Service Employees International Union

Joseph McCartin, director, Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, Georgetown University

Sejal Parikh, fast food workers campaign director, Working Washington

Moderator: Leo Casey, executive director, Albert Shanker Institute

2:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Break

2:30 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. RETHINKING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND UNION REPRESENTATION

Catherine Fisk, chancellor’s professor of law; co-director, Center in Law, Society and Culture, University of California at Irvine Law School

Prasi Gupta, deputy executive director, National Guestworker Alliance

Mary Cathryn Ricker, executive vice president, American Federation of Teachers;board member, Albert Shanker Institute

Dan Schlademan, director, OUR Walmart, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union

Moderator: Cheryl Teare, director, Union Leadership Institute, American Federation of Teachers

3:45 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Break

4:00 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. WORKERS’ RIGHTS AND COLLECTIVE POWER

Mark Brenner, director, Labor Notes

Richard Kahlenberg, senior fellow, Century Foundation; board member, Albert Shanker Institute

Rich Yeselson, labor strategist

Moderator: Rachel Cohen, The American Prospect

5:15 p.m. – 5:40 p.m. NEXT STEPS

Leo Casey, executive director, Albert Shanker Institute

5:40 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. RECEPTION (555 New Jersey Ave, NW, 9th Floor)

For more information contact Vicki Thomas, vthomas [AT] ashankerinst [DOT] org