Special thanks to the Albert Shanker Institute for providng these videos.
The American Labor Movement At A Crossroads: New Thinking, New Organizing, New Strategies
January 15, 2014
Washington, DC
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 onger adequate to 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. The purpose of this conference is to examine new thinking and new initiatives, viewing them critically in the light of ongoing union imperatives of cultivating member activism and involvement, fostering democratic self-governance and building the collective power of working people.
AGENDA
8:30-9:00 am Check-in and Continental Breakfast
9:00-9:30 am INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME
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Leo Casey, executive director, Albert Shanker Institute
Alexandra Lescaze, executive director, Sidney Hillman Foundation
OPENING REMARKS AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS
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The Honorable Thomas Perez, U.S. Secretary of Labor
KEYNOTE: AMERICAN LABOR MOVEMENT AT A CROSSROADS
Randi Weingarten, president, American Federation of Teachers & Albert Shanker Institute
9:30-10:45 NEW FORMS OF LABOR ORGANIZING/ORGANIZATION I
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Tefere Gebre, executive vice president, AFL-CIO
Harold Meyerson, editor-at-large, American Prospect; columnist, The Washington Post; board member, The Albert Shanker Institute; judge, Sidney Hillman Foundation
“If Labor Dies, What’s Next?,” American Prospect
Karen Nussbaum, executive director, Working America
David Rolf, president, Workers Lab, SEIU 775
Moderator: Alexandra Lescaze, executive director, Sidney Hillman Foundation
11:00-12:15 NEW FORMS OF LABOR ORGANIZING/ORGANIZATION II
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Paul Booth, 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 Tzintzun, executive director, Texas Workers Defense Project
Moderator: Phil Kugler, special assistant to the president for organization, American Federation of Teachers
12:15-12:30 KEYNOTE: Steven Greenhouse, labor journalist
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1:00-2:15 BUILDING COMMUNITY-LABOR ALLIANCES
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Conversation with:
Marcelle Grair, National Organizer, United Students Against Sweatshops
Sarita Gupta, executive director, Jobs With Justice
Gerry Hudson, executive Vvce president, Service Employess International Union; board member, Sidney Hillman Foundation
Joseph McCartin, director, Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, Georgetown University
Sejal Parikh, director, Fast Food Workers Campaign, Working Washington
Moderator: Leo Casey, executive director, Albert Shanker Institute
2:30-3:45 RETHINKING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND UNION REPRESENTATION
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Catherine Fisk, chancellor’s professor of law; co-director, Center in Law, Society and Culture, University of California at Irvine Law School
Mary Cathryn Ricker, executive vice president, American Federation of Teachers; board member, Albert Shanker Institute
Dan Schlademan, director, OUR Walmart, United Food and Commerical Workers International Union
Prasi Gupta, deputy executive director, National Guestworker Alliance
Moderator: Cheryl Teare, director, Union Leadership Institute, American Federation of Teachers
4:00– 5:15 p.m. WORKERS’ RIGHTS AND COLLECTIVE POWER
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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 – 5:40 p.m. NEXT STEPS
Leo Casey, executive director, Albert Shanker Institute
