9/16-9/17. LABOR CONFERENCE. MACALESTER COLLECGE

[annm4peace]

( I just found out about this. wish I knew about it sooner)


Friday September 16th
7:00 p.m. Opening Plenary
Peter Rachleff – Professor of Labor History, Macalester College
Welcome & Emcee
Kenny Spatta – Steward, CWA, New York City, NY
The Verizon Strike
Workers' Report – BCTGM Local 167G. Moorhead, MN
Lock-out at American Crystal
Peggy Coyne – President, MTI, Madison, WI
Madison Teachers and the Madison Demonstrations
Jane Slaughter – Labor Notes magazine, Detroit, MI
The Current Situation for Labor

Saturday September 17th
8:30 a.m. Coffee and Pastries
9:00 a.m. Wealth Inequality, Todd Dahlstrom – SEIU Local 26

10:00 a.m. Ken Riley – President, International Longshoremen's Association Local 1422, South Carolina
11:00 a.m. Workshop Session One (see description on back page)
12:00 p.m. Lunch, Macalester Cafeteria (Cost: $8.00; closes at 1:00 p.m.)
1:15 p.m. Workshop Session Two (see description on back page)
2:30 p.m. Closing Plenary: Which Way Forward for Labor?

Jane Slaughter – Labor Notes magazine, Detroit, MI

Joe Burns – Author of “Reviving the Strike: How Working People Can Regain Power and Transform America”

Gerardo Cajamarca – Labor movement activist in Colombia & the U.S.

11:00am Workshops
Contract Campaigns Old Main Room 001
Discuss elements of successful contract campaigns and learn from the Verizon strike and locked-out sugar workers. With Joe Burns, author of “Reviving the Strike,” labor negotiator, 25-year union activist; & Kenny Spatta, Steward, CWA, Verizon striker.

Independent Labor Politics Old Main Room 002
The workshop will discuss the necessity of breaking with the politics of the rich. Both the history of and prospects for Labor's independent political action will be considered. With Dave Riehle, former Local Chairman of United Transportation Union Local 650. He writes and speaks frequently on labor history.

Low-Wage Workers Organize! Old Main Room 009
Low wage workers are organizing. Hear directly from them in this workshop. With Veronica Mendez, organizer of low-wage workers at CTUL, the Center of Workers United in Struggle, previously a union organizer for UNITE-HERE! In Chicago she was a community organizer for affordable housing; & Micah Buckley-Farlee, Minneapolis, an organizer with the IWW Jimmy Johns Workers Union for two years until he was terminated for union organizing. He is a member of the Twin Cities IWW Food and Retail Industrial Organizing Committee.

The Madison Movement Old Main Room 010
We were proud to see tens of thousands of working people stand up against attacks on our rights in Madison earlier this year. Join with Peg Coyne to discuss how labor united and took action in Madison and throughout Wisconsin. With Peg Coyne, President, Madison Teachers, Inc.

1:15pm Workshops
International Solidarity Old Main Room 001
In a time when corporate interests extend past national borders, working people cannot allow borders to stop our solidarity with each other. Hear from organizers at the frontlines of building international labor solidarity and extending the perspective of “an injury to one is an injury to all” across borders. With Ken Riley, President of Local 1422 of the International Longshoremen's Association in Charleston, South Carolina and leader of the successful international defense campaign for the Charleston Five; & Gerardo Cajamarca, Representative of the International Commission of SINALTRAINAL, the National Union of Food Workers of Colombia.

Beating Apathy Old Main Room 002
Are you beating your head against the wall trying to get members involved? Hear success stories and learn practical organizing tools you can use to draw people in and get them standing up for themselves at work. With Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes magazine.

FBI Raids & Civil Liberty Threats: Why It's Important for Labor to Take a Stand Old Main Room 009
Last year, the FBI launched raids on labor activists involved in anti-war and international solidarity work in Minnesota and Chicago. Panelists will talk about the history of government attacks on labor and labor's fight for civil liberties, and why international solidarity and opposition to US wars and repression at home have to be on the agenda for trade unionists. With Cherrene Horazuk, AFSCME 3800 and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression; Dave Riehle, former Local Chairman of United Transportation Union Local 650, who writes and speaks frequently on labor history; Jess Sundin, AFSCME 3800 member, anti-war and international solidarity activist whose home was raided by the FBI in September 2010; Gus Ganley, local activist and filmmaker working for social and environmental justice; and Steff Yorek, AFSCME 3800 member whose home was raided by the FBI in September 2010.

Direct Action: What It's All About Old Main Room 010
This workshop will look briefly at the history and reasons behind direct action, building on the experience in the room and culminating in discussion and practice of direct actions we can take back to our own workplaces and strategizing. With David Boehnke, a member of the Twin Cities Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). He has assisted with action and campaign planning on a number of organizing drives including the Jimmy John's campaign, education, service, and beyond.