"Rebuilding Labor's Power" Conference Program

With more than 110 workshops or meetings scheduled, and record-breaking registration numbers, "Rebuilding Labor's Power" is shaping up to be a rabble-rousing weekend for labor! Check out updates on what's going on during the three-day event.

Click here to download a PDF of all the workshops and meetings.

Preconference Reception Thursday, April 10

Friday, April 11 Schedule

Freightliner Five Solidarity Reception, Friday at 9pm

Saturday, April 12 Schedule

Sunday, April 13 Schedule

Conference tracks

Conference themes

FRIDAY, APRIL 11

Click here to download a PDF of Friday's agenda.
10:00 am Registration Opens
9:00-5:00 Railroad Workers United Founding Convention
10:00-5:00 "China Hands" In-Depth Exchange on China
1:00-5:00 Pre-conference Meeting on Telecom

1:00-2:45 Workshops A (Click to view descriptions of Workshops A)

Fighting Racism

Internal Organizing

Labor Solidarity with Palestine

Globalization: The Roots of Workers’ Immigration

3:00-4:45 Workshops B (Click to view descriptions of Workshops B)

Labor in Latin America

Online Tools for Organizing

How to Lose Your Next Election

The Pension Crisis

Organizing in Right-to-Work States

Organizing Immigrant Workers

Black Labor History

Getting Ahead of Globalization

Film Screening

5:00-6:30 Meetings

Labor Techies

Workers Centers Meeting

International Guests Orientation

Film Screening

7:00-7:30 Music-Lynn Marie Smith

7:30-9:00 Main Session-"Democracy Is Power"

Welcome: Maureen Taylor, State Chair, Michigan Welfare Rights Organization

Mark Brenner, Labor Notes

Robert Whiteside, Freightliner Five, United Auto Workers Local 3520

Dinamichel Avila Gomez, Women’s Support Committee, Cananea Mine Workers Union, Mexico

Sal Rosselli, President, United Healthcare Workers-West, SEIU

Chair: Wendy Thompson, Retired President, United Auto Workers Local 235

9:00 Freightliner Five Solidarity Reception • Cash Bar
9:00 International Guests Reception • Cash Bar

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SATURDAY, APRIL 12

Click here to download a PDF of Saturday's agenda.
7:30 am Registration Opens
8:00-9:00 LGBT Caucus
8:30-9:00 Music-Aguila Negra

9:00-10:00 Main session-"Organizing Across Borders"

Anita Chan, Contemporary China Center, Australian National University

Baldemar Velásquez, President, Farm Labor Organizing Committee

Chair: Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes

10:15-12:00 Workshops C (Click to view descriptions of Workshops C)

International Solidarity: Focus on Asia

Labor and Politics

Fighting Raids and No-Match Letters

Pumping Up the Public Sector

Immigration and the Building Trades

Patients’ Rights, Workers’ Rights

Member-Driven Organizing

"Blame the Worker" Safety Programs

Solidarity Under Attack

Contract Campaigns

Building Alliances Between Unions and Workers Centers

Trends in Auto

Black Workers and Workplace Organization

Lessons from Labor History

Assertive Grievance Handling

Film Screening

12:00-1:45 Lunch (Click to view descriptions of lunchtime events)

Art in Action Training

Latino/Immigrant Solidarity

Black Workers Caucus

Nurses Meeting

2:00-3:45 Workshops D (Click to view descriptions of Workshops D)

Flyers and Newsletters

Student Labor Solidarity

Women’s Issues at Work

Bargaining for Social Justice

Fixing the Broken Health Care System

Innovative Organizing Strategies: Building Unions from the Bottom Up

Labor’s Role in Ending the War

Fighting Privatization

Neutrality Agreements and Organizing Deals

Shop Floor Tactics

Labor/Environmental Coalitions

Running for Union Office

Immigration Training for Labor Activists

Creative Tactics

Chinese Labor Movement

4:00-5:45 Union, Industry, and Sector Meetings (Click for descriptions)

Public Employees

Building Trades

Teachers

Health Care Workers

Airline Workers

Railroad Workers

Campus Workers

UFCW

Bus Drivers

Teamsters

Postal

Steelworkers

SEIU

Verizon

Auto

Longshore

Physicians for a National Health Program

Film Screening

6:00-7:30 Free time • Meetings (Click here for descriptions)

Meet the Authors: Books on Labor

"Discovering Robeson," one-person play by Tayo Aluko

Consult an Expert: "Ask Us Anything About…"

Black/Brown Dialogue

Health Care Reform

7:15-7:45 Music-Fruit of Labor

7:30-10:00 Banquet/Keynote Address: "Rebuilding Labor’s Power"

Rose Ann DeMoro, Executive Director, California Nurses Association

Chair: Marsha Niemeijer, Labor Notes

Labor Notes Fundraiser

Troublemaker Awards

10:00 Open Mic Talent Show • Cash Bar

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SUNDAY, APRIL 13

Click here to download a PDF of Sunday's agenda.
7:30 am Registration Opens

7:30-9:00 am

Meeting with Chinese Organizer

8:00-9:00 am

Meet the Labor Notes Editors

Meet International Auto Workers

9:00-10:30 Interest Meetings (Click here for descriptions)

Chinese Labor Movement

Continental Living Wage Campaign

Fighting Wal-Mart

Staff Unions

Labor Media and New Technology

IWW

Environmental Working Group

Fighting RICO Suits

Post-Katrina Labor Solidarity

Labor Educators Swap Meet

VidaViva Health & Safety

Canadian Labour

Retirees

Labor Against the War

On the Campaign Trail–Labor and the 2008 Election

Young Workers and Activists

Film Screening

10:45-12:30 Workshops E (Click here for descriptions)

Democracy Is Power

Contract Campaigns and Bargaining Table Tactics

Organizing in a Multiracial Workplace

Health and Safety for Immigrant Workers

Dealing with the Media

Taking Control of the Workplace

Building International Solidarity

Untangling the Web of Private Equity

Workers Centers: Building Power for Low-Wage Workers

Passing the Leadership Torch

Social Movement Unionism and Black Political Consciousness

Film Screening

12:30-1:00 Lunch
12:30-1:00 Music-Anne Feeney

1:00-2:00 Main session-"Troublemaking for the Long Haul"

Cathy Austin, President, Canadian Auto Workers Local 88

Richard Berg, President, Teamsters Local 743

Chair: Yanira Merino, Laborers’ International Union

3:00-5:00 Global Unionism: The Prospects for International Grassroots Solidarity

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Track Your Way Through the Conference

With more than 100 workshops and meetings, there’s a lot to keep you busy this weekend. These are some possible “tracks” that you and your group could follow throughout the conference. Click here to view a complete track listing.

Track 1: Nuts and Bolts
Track 2: Local Officers
Track 3: Organizing
Track 4: Health Care and Health Care Workers
Track 5: International
Track 6: Black Workers’ Issues
Track 7: Immigrant Workers
Track 8: Workers Centers
Track 9: China and the Chinese Labor Movement
Track 10: Auto Workers

Track highlights:

Chinese Labor Movement

Anita Chan: author of “Chinese Workers Under Assault” and prominent Chinese labor rights scholar and advocate as a main session speaker

Pre-Conference China Discussion: Friday, April 11 for invited guests to compare recent experiences and observations

The Chinese Labor Movement: Saturday, April 12 workshop on the Chinese labor movement designed to enlighten both experienced activists and those new to the topic

Special Interest Meeting: Sunday, April 13 meeting for those actively working on Chinese labor movement issues or those wishing to start

Experienced and knowledgeable China labor activists, academics and allies on Chinese labor issues will be coming from China, Hong Kong, Australia, Germany, UK, Canada and the U.S. to lend great depth and breadth to this track.

For full participation in the Labor and China Track, please arrange to arrive by the morning of Friday, April 11 and stay through late afternoon of Sunday, April 13. If you have any questions, suggestions, or proposals about this track, please contact Ellen David Friedman at ellendavidfriedman@hotmail.com or 802-522-6227.

Black Workers Track

"Hopefully, one brick at a time, we can change corporate unions, to rank-n-file unions, by going back to the basics." -Nichele Fulmore; rank and file Teamster, Labor Notes conference participant, and one of the builders of the Black Workers track.

Friday, 3:00 pm: Black Labor History: The Black Freedom Struggle, the AFL-CIO and The Fight For a Genuine Labor Movement; Lessons Since The Civil Rights Era.

Saturday 10:15 am: Black Workers and Workplace Organization.

Saturday Lunch, 12:00 to 1:45 pm: Black Workers Caucus. The theme is "Black Workers: Organizing in the Face of Neoliberalism, Labor Retreat, and the Corporatization of Everything."

Sunday Workshops E Social Movement Unionism and African American Political Consciousness

There will be two interest meetings outside the Black Workers Track umbrella that are a high priority. The Black/Brown Dialogue Saturday at 6:00 pm and Post-Katrina Solidarity Sunday at 9:00 am

Contact track organizer Tim Schermerhorn for full track listing at 646-996-0401 or by emailing him at timtransit@yahoo.com

Health Care Workers and Health Care Reform Track
Along with the keynote address by Rose Ann DeMoro of the California Nurses Association this track will include:

Workshops: Fixing the Broken Health Care System, and Patients' Rights, Workers' Rights.

Meetings: Health Care Workers, Nurses, and Health Care Reform.

Immigrant Workers Track
Along with the main session talk by Baldemar Velasquez, President of Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), this track will include:

Workshops: Organizing Immigrant Workers, Fighting Raids & No-Match Letters, Health and Safety for Immigrant Workers, Building Trades and Immigrant Workers, Labor and Latin America, Globalization: Roots of Immigration.

Meetings: Immigrant solidarity and May 1 immigrant rights actions planning.

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Special pre-conference event

On Thursday, April 10 at 6 pm join the Detroit Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild reception for Mexico's Authentic Labor Front/Frente Auténtico del Trabajo

Location:
Constitutional Litigation Association
450 W. Fort St., Ste. 200
(Above the Anchor Bar)
Detroit, MI 48226

Click on image to download a flyer to promote this event.

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Freightliner Five Solidarity Reception

Join us for a special reception for the "Freightliner Five", local officers of UAW 3520 in Cleveland, North Carolina who were fired from Freightliner Truck after leading workers out on strike after hitting a wall in contract negotiations.

Click here and here to read recent Labor Notes coverage on this struggle.

The reception will be at 9:00 pm in Regency A of Hyatt Regency of Dearborn. This event is open to the public.

Speakers: Robert Whiteside, Shop Chair, UAW 3520; Franklin Torrence, Civil Rights Committee Chair, UAW 3520 and founding member of NC CBTU; Allen Bradley, Skilled Trades Chair, UAW 3520; General Baker, retired Detroit Auto Worker; Leonard Riley, Co-chair National Longshore Workers Coalition, a leader of ILA 1422 in Charleston, South Carolina; Wendy Thompson, former President of UAW 235, American Axle.

THEMES

Workplace: Winning power on the job, shop floor organizing and resisting workplace restructuring.

Fighting Concessions: While many companies cry broke we will explore what we can do to fight back rather than give back.

Organizing: Organizing strategies that work to increase our numbers.

Health Care Now: How can labor respond to the problem of the U.S.' broken health care system?

Labor and Politics: What will it take to rebuild labor's political muscle?

Rebuilding the Labor Movement from the Bottom Up: Organizing for revival from below, connecting with worker centers and non-majority unions and building practical cross-federation solidarity.

Immigrant Rights: How can the labor movement deepen our alliances with workers fighting for a right to live and work free of government harassment and employer intimidation?

International Solidarity vs. Competition: Overcoming the race to the bottom by building solidarity across borders.

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SPECIAL MEETINGS OR CAUCUSES

The Labor Notes Conference is a great place for like-minded activists to meet and organize among themselves. We have extra meeting rooms and will make every effort to provide space for participants who would like to schedule meetings or caucuses in addition to those listed in the agenda. Contact conference@labornotes.org if you are interested in seeing us host your meeting at the conference.