Labor Notes 2022: Full Schedule

8:00am CDT

Recovery Meeting

Friday June 17, 2022 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
JFK

9:00am CDT

Great Labor Arts Exchange Morning Check-in

Friday June 17, 2022 9:00am - 9:45am CDT
International Ballroom A

9:00am CDT

Encuentro Opening Plenary

Speakers

Rosa Martha Zarate, director, The Braceros Coalition

Manuel Vazquez Arellano, Mexican Federal Congressman

Friday June 17, 2022 9:00am - 10:00am CDT
Rosemont C

10:00am CDT

A Collective Response to Divisions in the Workplace and Beyond

The more our worksites are united, the easier it is to solve problems and move against bullying, conflict, and other divisions that weaken us. In this interactive workshop we'll practice member-to-member communication tools that help us increase respect among co-workers, fight oppression, and respond collectively to workplace problems.

Speakers

Joe Fahey

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
United B

10:00am CDT

How to Be an Educator in Your Union

The DePaul University Labor Education Center will guide participants through the nuts and bolts of preparing and facilitating educational workshops in their own locals and stewards meetings. We will also share opportunities to expand your training as an educator.

Speakers

Jessica Cook-Qurayashi, DePaul Labor Education Center

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
Hartsfield

10:00am CDT

Meet Your Fellow Troublemakers

One of the best things about the Labor Notes Conference is the opportunity to meet union activists from all over. In this session, we'll provide a brief orientation to the conference (and to Labor Notes!) and then break people out into groups to learn more about each others' unions, workplaces, and industries. Of special interest to first-time attendees, though all are welcome.

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
Narita A

10:00am CDT

Organizing Remotely

Whether due to the pandemic, already-hybrid workplaces, or other logistical challenges, many workers have had to figure out ways to do their organizing and even their collective actions remotely. Hear from panelists who brought workers together virtually to fight the boss.

Speakers

Joelle Monique, Writers Guild

Cherrene Horazuk

President, AFSCME Local 3800

Cherrene Horazuk has been an organizer for over 30 years. She is the president of AFSCME 3800 - the union of clerical workers at the University of Minnesota. In her 16 years of union activism, she has led a three week strike of 3000+ University workers, helped win a $15 minimum wage... Read More →

Diane Blumenfeld, AFSCME Local 3800

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
Grand Ballroom H

10:00am CDT

Young Workers Rising (S)

The recent upsurge in union organizing undermines the old complaint that young people don't get unions. They do. And they are bringing energy, ideas, and courage into the struggle. Hear from some of these workers about why and how they've taken up labor organizing to win a better world.

Speakers

Anmol Sanotra and Simran Dhunna, Naujawan Support Network

Quentin Kanta, Starbucks Workers United

Tyler Rasmussen, Longshore (ILWU) Local 23

Amandeep Singh Virk, Naujawan Support Network

Facilitator: Caitlyn Clark, Labor Notes

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
International Ballroom C

10:00am CDT

Bargaining Committee Crash Course

Learn the legal structure of contract bargaining, how to take effective bargaining notes, and the basics of drafting contract language.

Speakers

Jason Ide, Teamsters Local 399

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
Private Dining (Lobby Level)

Bargaining and contract campaigns

10:00am CDT

Anti-Racism Trainings in Our Unions: Lessons and Challenges

In the wake of the 2020 uprisings for Black lives, many organizations sought education about systemic racism in the U.S. For some, it built on the antiracist work they had already been doing, and for others, a new approach. Join a discussion about lessons learned and challenges faced, from the longstanding work of CWA's Reversing Runaway Inequality to projects inspired by the work of Bill Fletcher, Jr. and April Sims at the Washington State Labor Council.

Speakers

Hae-Lin Choi

Pessimist because of Intelligence, Optimist because of Will. - Gramsci

Prachi Goyal, Washington Federation of State Employees

Sherronda Jamerson, Washington Federation of State Employees Local 3488

Judith LaGuerre and Joe-Ann Fergus, Massachusetts Nurses

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
Lindbergh

Black workers and Juneteenth

10:00am CDT

How to March on the Boss (S)

Directly confronting the boss over workplace issues is a great way to make the union visible and vocal—with the added benefit of resulting in victories that matter. This workshop will teach participants the step-by-step process of organizing a march on the boss!

Speakers

Ryan Olds, Oregon Education Association

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
DFW

Direct action

10:00am CDT

Austerity, Debt, and the Fight for Education Funding

The constant cry from administrators and politicians is that there isn't enough money and we need austerity budgets. Meanwhile public funds are being channeled to Wall Street though debt servicing fees and real estate deals. Learn how some educators are organizing to expose the drain of debt and push back to demand fully funded public education.

Speakers

Hilario Dominguez, Chicago Teachers

Joanna Gonsalves, Educators for a Democratic Union, Massachusetts State College Association

Maria del Mar Rodriguez, National Coordinator for the Asociacion Puertorriqueña de Profesores Universitarios (Puerto Ric

Eleni Schirmer, Debt Collective

Facilitator: Jason Thomas Wozniak, West Chester University and Debt Collective

Rich Levy, Salem State University (retired), Educators for a Democratic Union

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
Lambert

Educators

10:00am CDT

Feel It in Your Bones: Embodiment for All

How can we find more balance, joy, strength, and liberation within our bodies? For organizers, the way we honor our bodies and those around us matters. Learn to scan your body and progressively relax. Share strategies for incorporating movement into life and organizing. Practice grounding breathing. Try out several simple ways to get a whole group moving together. Movements are relationships in motion—let's cultivate connection, skills, and joy as we move!

Speakers

Jayme Winell, movement educator, organizer, public school teacher

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
International Ballroom A

Great Labor Arts Exchange

10:00am CDT

Chinese Workers Under the Pandemic

Chinese authorities have used their tremendous centralized power to lock down society during the pandemic... and simultaneously accelerated the suppression of any form of worker self-organization. This panel will explore how workers as diverse as food delivery drivers, sanitation workers, domestic workers, and white-collar tech workers have faced censorship, surveillance, arrests, and incarceration as they organized to protect themselves.

Speakers

Facilitator: Michelle Chen, Belabored

Contributing Writer, The Nation

Michelle Chen is a contributing editor at In These Times and Dissent magazine, and associate editor at CultureStrike. She is also a co-producer of “Asia Pacific Forum” on Pacifica’s WBAI and Dissent‘s “Belabored” podcast, and studies history at the City University... Read More →

Aidan Chau, China Labour Bulletin

Eric Chen, Chinese labor organizer

Junyue Qian, researcher

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
Florence

International

10:00am CDT

Striking Before Union Recognition

Too often workers are told to play by the boss's rules: you can't act like a union until you've jumped through the official hoops. But for as long as there have been unions, workers have struck for the right to have a union. Hear from workers who have struck for, or before, recognition from management: the challenges, the benefits, and the tactics needed to win.

Speakers

Alfredo Zeferino Juarez, Familias Unidas por la Justicia

Beck Kaster and Lex Bloom, Great Lakes Coffee Strikers

Quan Le Thien Minh, Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition, UE

Facilitator: Dave Kamper, New Brookwood Labor College

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
Vienna

New organizing

10:00am CDT

Tech Workers Organizing: Challenges and Wins

Hear from tech workers who have successfully organized, and others who have not been successful yet. What are the specific challenges to organizing in the tech industry, and how we can overcome these challenges?

Speakers

Vicki V Crosson

Björn Westergard

I'm a software developer and member of NABET-CWA Local 31. Previously, my coworkers and I formed a union at a small startup in response to the retaliatory firing of a coworker. I'm interested in the effects of information technology on occupational structure, automation discourse... Read More →

Eris Derickson, Alphabet Workers Union

Facilitator: Emily Mazo, Collective Action in Tech

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
Sky Harbor

New organizing

10:00am CDT

Learning from the Covid Disruption: How Unions Can Emerge from the Pandemic More Effective

The Covid-19 pandemic has not only upended our lives and workplaces but also shaken up our unions, disrupting or transforming nearly all union activities. A period of disruption, however, is also an opportunity for change. In this interactive workshop, we’ll do a Stop/Start/Continue analysis to think through how our unions’ practices have changed over the past two years and how our organizations can emerge from the pandemic more effective and more democratic.

Speakers

Elaine Bernard

Harvard Trade Union Program

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
North Central

Nuts and bolts

10:00am CDT

Bringing the Fight for Medicare for All into Your Workplace

The fight to win Medicare for All will not be won without bringing to bear our collective power as workers. We have to put pressure on our employers to join us in this fight, even though we know that their interests are not the same as ours. This workshop will provide tools for bringing this effort first to your co-workers, and then to your boss. While these tools were designed for union shops, they have applicability to other workplaces as well.

Speakers

John Thompson, United Electrical Workers

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
United A

Politics and connecting the dots

10:00am CDT

Secrets of a Successful Organizer: Beating Apathy

Are you beating your head against the wall trying to get other workers involved? This workshop is for you. Hear success stories from those who’ve turned their workplaces around and turned apathy into action. Learn practical organizing tools for engaging your co-workers, taking action, and getting results. Based on the popular book Secrets of a Successful Organizer.

Speakers

Zack Pattin, ILWU Local 23

Bo McClung, Pacific Environment

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
O'Hare Ballroom

Secrets of a Successful Organizer

10:00am CDT

Negotiating Workplace Changes

When the boss tries to make changes in past practices, technology, policies, or our work process, there’s no reason for us to surrender to our own “management’s rights” clause and say “there’s nothing we can do about it.” Building our shop floor organization and using leverage to bargain over changes can help us combat management’s attempts to act unilaterally.

Speakers

Don Taylor

Labor Educator, Professor, University of Wisconsin School for Workers

Labor education! Building organic leadership, capacity, and power!

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
LAX

Stewards

10:00am CDT

Weingarten Rights: Representing Your Co-Workers in Disciplinary Meetings

Every private sector union member has Weingarten rights: the legal right to union representation in meetings that can lead to discipline. In this workshop, we train workers to become Weingarten representatives who help hold managers accountable and build a strong union culture in the workplace. Learn about the history and importance of Weingarten rights and practice dealing with common obstacles!

Speakers

Facilitator: Sara David, Writers Guild

Marina Fang, Writers Guild

Friday June 17, 2022 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
SeaTac

Stewards

10:30am CDT

Creating Sanctuary Unions

Undergraduate Student Organizing

As worker exploitation expands and deepens in higher education, there's been a dramatic upsurge in the unionization of undergraduate student workers employed in food service, libraries, residential life, research, and even teaching. The energy and creativity of these efforts—including independent unionization, strikes, and high aspirational bargaining—will be explored by panelists from Kenyon, Grinnell, and Wesleyan.

Speakers

Camila Rivera, United Students Against Sweatshops

Ruby Raye Clarke, Wesleyan Union of Student Employees

Charlie Muller, Kenyon Student Worker Organizing Committee, UE

Prathik Gowda, Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Sky Harbor

1:00pm CDT

Bargaining Basics

You won your union election. Now it's time to bargain a contract. Where do you start? How can you lay the foundation for successful bargaining? What are the basic steps in presenting demands, showing power at the table, and coming to an agreement? This workshop will help you think through these steps and be ready to win.

Speakers

Ona Keller, California Teachers Association

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Hartsfield

Bargaining and contract campaigns

1:00pm CDT

Building a Contract Action Team

The Contract Action Team is the engine that drives a powerful contract campaign. Learn how to identify leaders, build your CAT, and activate it for your contract fight.

Speakers

Brian Hodge-Rice

3rd Grade Teacher, Adams Spanish Immersion - Saint Paul Public Schools

Maggie Kalda, St. Paul Federation of Educators

Chong Xiong, St. Paul Federation of Educators

Leah VanDassor, St. Paul Federation of Educators

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Private Dining (Lobby Level)

Bargaining and contract campaigns

1:00pm CDT

Inclusive Bargaining

Union contracts can be powerful tools to redistribute power at work. Learn how some locals are using contracts and contract campaigns to address racism, transphobia, language justice, health care access, and other issues important to members. Just as importantly, hear how organizing for these benefits can build solidarity and strengthen the union.

Speakers

Marina Fang, Writers Guild

Jennifer Charles, New York Professional Nurses

Monica Martinez, AFSCME Local 3299

Facilitator: Virginia Rodino, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance/Coalition of Labor Union Women

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Lindbergh

Bargaining and contract campaigns

1:00pm CDT

Researching Your Employer for Organizing and Bargaining Campaigns

How do we dig up information about our employers? How can we use this information to help our organizing and bargaining campaigns? Join us to explore the basics of industry and employer research and how to publicize bad employer behavior to advance our campaigns.

Speakers

Eric Dirnbach, Laborers

Claudia Balog, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
DFW

Bargaining and contract campaigns

1:00pm CDT

Climate Demands in Legislation and Bargaining

Corporations are responsible for much of climate change, so what happens when unions use their strategies to demand accountability and resources for climate justice? Bring questions and your own examples to this discussion of how unions are building power among their membership and communities to win contract language and pass legislation for healthier environments.

Speakers

Arlene Inouye

secretary, UTLA

A proud fighter for public education and social justice.

Greg Nammacher, SEIU Local 26

Kilton Webb, Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 567, Maine Labor Climate Council

Stephanie Corte, Texas Climate Jobs Project

Facilitator: Gene Carroll, Climate Jobs New York

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
International Ballroom C

Climate

1:00pm CDT

Building a Member Organizer Program

The NewsGuild is finding success with a program that trains members as organizers, connects them across the union, and exponentially builds their capacity to grow the movement. Learn how they're doing it and how your union might draw inspiration to adopt a similar approach.

Speakers

Andrew Pantazi, Communications Workers Local 3108, NewsGuild

I'm a journalist in Jacksonville, FL. I and my coworkers organized my hometown newsroom at The Florida Times-Union in 2018, and then I became a member organizer with the NewsGuild-CWA. I worked on successful campaigns to organize the Miami Herald & el Nuevo Herald, the Fort Myers... Read More →

Veronica Serrano

Port Organizer, Texas Climate Jobs Project

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Vienna

Democracy Is Power

1:00pm CDT

Direct Action

There is nothing like direct action to put the bosses back on their heels and assert worker power—and also a way to experience the joy of collective action. How do we build toward successful direct actions and use them to win big? These panelists will tell us how they did it and help participants bring the power of direct action back into their unions.

Speakers

Aya Konishi

Sam White, UNITE HERE Darwin's Coffee

Facilitator: Quentin Washington, Chicago Teachers

Laura Beebe, Auto Workers Local 2865

Gurjeet Singh and Parmbir Gill, Naujawan Support Network

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Grand Ballroom H

Direct action

1:00pm CDT

Labor on the Airwaves: Radio and Podcasts

Working people’s stories and voices have rarely gotten the attention and respect they deserve in the media, but that is changing. In this panel, trailblazing media makers will discuss how they are creatively using the mediums of radio and podcasting to lift up people's voices, struggles, and victories, to inform the public about vital undercovered stories, and to build a sense of solidarity and connection with our neighbors.

Speakers

Jamie Partridge, KBOO Labor Radio

Labor, Socialist Strategies, Immigration,

Judy Ancel, Heartland Labor Forum

Facilitator: Max Alvarez, The Real News Network

Michelle Chen and Sarah Jaffe, Belabored

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Lambert

Great Labor Arts Exchange

1:00pm CDT

The Art of Seeing Hidden Figures: Black Women in Labor Histories and Futures

In this session we'll share stories from our past to envision and impact our future through song, poetry, or hip hop. You'll get a chance to reflect upon your personal s/hero or hidden figure and create a story/song to be shared with others.

Speakers

MacKenzie River Foy, Village X Magazine and Jobs With Justice

Steve Jones, DC Labor Chorus

Elise Bryant, Labor Heritage Foundation

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
International Ballroom A

Great Labor Arts Exchange

1:00pm CDT

Workers and the Pandemic: An International Perspective

The Covid pandemic has impacted workers across the globe for the last two years, claiming 15 million lives globally according to the latest World Health Organization estimates. Come hear unionists from around the world talk about the experience of the pandemic in their countries and what unions have done to fight to defend workers' rights and health and safety over the past two years.

Speakers

Aminah Sheikh

Organizer, ETFO

I am a union organizer from Canada. I have organized union campaigns in all sectors/industries. Born in the the six. Proud Socialist and Muslim.@simplyaminah instagram @AminahSheikh twitter

Ana Merino, Movimiento Asambleario de Trabajadores de Sanidad, Spain

Stephane Enjalran, Solidaires, France

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
McCarran

International

1:00pm CDT

You Can't Do All the Work Yourself: Learn It, Do It, Teach It

Leadership isn't about taking on the tasks of our unions ourselves. It's about developing others to participate by providing them the resources and opportunity to do so. That's how we build a stronger union—but it's easier said than done!

Speakers

Rachel Farber, Alphabet Workers Union

Google

Alicia Hernandez, United Media Guild

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
United B

Nuts and bolts

1:00pm CDT

Pensions in the Crosshairs: Understanding the Attack

Employers from the Fortune 500 to City Hall are looking to dump traditional pensions and retiree benefits. Learn how unions are fighting back to defend their pensions, what information you’ll need to extract from management in bargaining in order to hang on to what you’ve got, and how recent changes in the law may affect your retirement. We’ll review the distinct issues facing employees in public pension programs, those in the private sector participating in single employer pension plans, and those in multi-employer plans.

Speakers

Mark Brenner, University of Oregon Labor Education and Research Center

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Mirabel

Politics and connecting the dots

1:00pm CDT

Mieux S'Organiser Pour Gagner (F)

Êtes-vous découragé lorsque vous essayez d'impliquer vos collègues? Cet atelier est pour vous. Écoutez des exemples de réussite montrant comment d'autres personnes ont transformé leur lieu de travail et ont transformé l'apathie en action. Découvrez des outils d'organisation pratiques pour engager vos collègues, organiser des actions et obtenir des résultats. [Workshop for French speakers only.]

Speakers

Marsha Niemeijer

Labor Notes Board & USW Local 9544

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Da Vinci B

Secrets of a Successful Organizer

1:00pm CDT

Secretos de un organizador exitoso 1: Vencer a la apatía

¿Se está golpeando la cabeza contra la pared tratando de involucrar a compañeros de trabajo en una lucha para mejorar su lugar de trabajo? Este taller es para ti. Escuche historias de otros trabajadores quienes convirtieron la apatía en acción. Aprenda los fundamentos de cómo organizarse para lanzar campañas que involucren a sus compañeros de trabajo para tomar acción y obtener resultados. [Workshop for Spanish speakers only.]

Speakers

Cecilia Prado, Workers Dignity/Dignidad Obrera

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
International Ballroom B

Secrets of a Successful Organizer

1:00pm CDT

Secrets of a Successful Organizer: Beating Apathy

Speakers

Camilo Viveiros, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Labor Center

Facilitator: Felix Thomson, SEIU Local 1021

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
O'Hare Ballroom

Secrets of a Successful Organizer

1:00pm CDT

Defending Your Co-Workers in Disciplinary Hearings

Stewards are the backbone of every union, defending co-workers when they need it most. In this workshop we will review how stewards can use their special rights and protections to most effectively advocate for their co-workers in investigatory interviews. We will also discuss how to handle supervisors who are trying to put you off or trip you up.

Speakers

Danielle Smith, NewsGuild of New York

Emma Cueto, NewsGuild of New York

Member, NewsGuild of New Yor

I am an officer and bargaining committee member for a unit of The NewsGuild of New York

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
LAX

Stewards

1:00pm CDT

Grievance Handling: Worst Practices

We can learn a lot from our mistakes and those of others. In this workshop we’ll follow a grievance handling from beginning to end and ask: What went wrong? What should have been done? We start when the initial report of a disciplinary suspension comes to the union’s steward and business agent, and follow step by step, identifying mistakes in the handling of the grievance which could have been damaging to the union’s case. The goal is to be persuasive and have a principled settlement. Come laugh and leave reminded of the mistakes to avoid. Presenter Richard De Vries confesses to having made all of the mistakes.

Speakers

Richard De Vries, Teamsters Local 705

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Grand Ballroom B

Stewards

1:00pm CDT

Strike Support

It's the workers who win a strike, but rarely without some serious support from friends, relatives, and allies. Hear from workers and community supporters who built powerful strike support operations, and built out organizing infrastructure and cross-union connections that lasted beyond the picket line.

Speakers

Molly Armstrong, SEIU Local 1021

Rossana Rodriguez, 33rd Ward Alderperson, Chicago City Council

Nolan Tabb, Auto Workers Local 281

Laura Wadlin, Teachers (AFT) Local 2277

Facilitator: Honda Wang, AFSCME Local 1549

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Florence

Strikes

1:00pm CDT

STRIKE! Reviving Labor's Most Powerful Weapon (S)

At the heart of workers' power is the ability to shut down business as usual by using the best-known tool in the labor movement's toolbox: the strike. Hear from workers who've done it themselves, from Nabisco to Kellogg's to Starbucks, and how those fights have transformed their unions, their co-workers, and the world.

Speakers

Donna Jo Marks, Bakery Workers Local 364, Nabisco

Kevonna Neely, Communications Workers Local 1133

Facilitator: Sara Nelson, Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA)

Sarah Pappin, Starbucks Workers United

Friday June 17, 2022 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Rosemont AB

Strikes

1:05pm CDT

Supply Chain Solidarity Down Commodity Chains

This Railroad Workers United session starts at 1:05. The Supply Chain Study/Research Group helped organize Railroad Workers United's Richmond and Chicago Rail Safety Conferences in 2015, as well as similar ones around the world. This interactive workshop will strategize how all workers along commodity chains can act in solidarity, whether in extraction, production, maritime, longshore, warehousing, trucking and retail. We will look at bottlenecks and supply chain vulnerabilities, along with the inspiring recent success of Amazon worker organizing.

Speakers

Gifford Hartman, Global Labour University and Railroad Workers United

Friday June 17, 2022 1:05pm - 2:15pm CDT
Paris

Strategy

1:30pm CDT

Organizing Against Colonialism in Puerto Rico

The recent privatization of the energy delivery infrastructure in Puerto Rico highlighted the problematic role that AFL-CIO unions have played in destabilizing and weakening the local, independent union movement ever since the archipelago was invaded by the U.S. Whether it’s raiding public sector unions and signing sweetheart deals with government agencies or aligning themselves with private interests to neutralize militant independent unions, so-called “union colonization” has driven a wedge and created righteous indignation from our brothers and sisters in Puerto Rico.

Speakers

Mercedes Martínez

President, Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico

Mercedes Martínez, mother of 3, has been the President of the Teachers Federation from Puerto Rico since 2015. She is an ESL teacher, graduated from the University of Puerto Rico, who has been in the union as an active member since 2005. In 2008 she participated with thousands of... Read More →

David Galarza

Communications Specialist, CSEA

Ángel Figueroa Jaramillo, Union of Workers in the Electricity

Monique Dols, a contributor to Labor Notes

Friday June 17, 2022 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT
Ronald Reagan

Encuentro

1:30pm CDT

Organizing Worker Cooperatives

Worker cooperatives promote the values of worker dignity, democratic control of their workplace, educational and financial growth for worker owners, and concern for the broader social health of their community. Interest in this economic model is growing rapidly, especially in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, as community credit unions and the New England Cooperative Fund remained solvent and healthy, even as more traditional banks and financial institutions big went bankrupt. This workshop will explain the process to create worker cooperatives in any community or industry.

Speakers

Ana Guajardo, Illinois Worker Cooperative Alliance

Martin Unzueta, director of CCWR

Friday June 17, 2022 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT
La Guardia

Encuentro

1:30pm CDT

Workers Centers and Unions Transforming The Restaurant Industry

Over a quarter of the restaurant industry is Latino, 20 percent of the workforce speaks Spanish, and nearly 10 percent is undocumented. It also has one of the highest rates of wage theft and other labor abuses. The last two years have upended the industry and workers are both refusing to return to work and organizing to change these conditions. This meeting will serve as a space to bring worker centers and unions together around a restaurant worker bill of rights to demand a new future for the industry.

Speakers

Teófilo Reyes

Research Director, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United

Teófilo Reyes is Research Director at the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United. ROC-United seeks to improve wages and working conditions for the nation's low-wage restaurant workers. Before coming to ROC, Teófilo served as a community organizer with the United Farm Workers, co-director... Read More →

Friday June 17, 2022 1:30pm - 2:45pm CDT
Liberty

Encuentro

2:15pm CDT

The Climate-Rail Alliance

This Railroad Workers United session starts at 2:15. Merely converting to electric cars and trucks won’t stave off the climate crisis. To achieve necessary reductions in fossil fuel emissions we must shift a substantial amount of automobile and truck traffic to rail quickly. The Climate Rail Alliance organizes to educate Congress and the general public about the crucial role rail must play in our future, and how rail workers and environmental activists can join forces.

Speakers

Tom White, Railroad Workers United

Friday June 17, 2022 2:15pm - 3:15pm CDT
Paris

Climate

3:00pm CDT

Fighting H2-A Visa Programs

A Union Brews at Starbucks (S)

Starbucks workers across the country have been self-organizing an expansive and exciting new organizing campaign that has caught the national imagination. Hear from workers who've organized their own stores, gone on strike, built public support, and are changing the labor movement.

Speakers

Michelle Hejduk

Mason Boykin, Jacksonville

Alydia Claypool, Kansas City

Bill Whitmire

Store Union Organizer/Committee Co-Leader, Starbucks Workers United

My name is Bill Whitmire. I am Starbucks Shift Supervisor in Phoenix, AZ. I became invovled in the Starbucks Workers United movement in late December of 2021. I have gained quite an education in grass roots organizes, dealing with union busting, conducting actions, and dealing with... Read More →

Kylah Clay, Boston

Laila Dalton, Phoenix

Will Westlake, Buffalo

Friday June 17, 2022 3:00pm - 4:45pm CDT
Rosemont AB

3:00pm CDT

Healing, Not Harming: Trauma-Informed Organizing in the Ongoing Pandemic

Many of us and our co-workers have experienced loss and trauma; many are struggling, at work and outside it. We're organizers, but we're humans first. So what does all this mean for how you approach your co-workers? The first thing is not to do harm, even unintentionally. We'll identify some harmful practices and talk about steps we can take to make our movement a place that heals, not hurts.

Speakers

Elizabeth Pellerito

Director, UMass Lowell Labor Education Program

Prachi Goyal, Washington Federation of State Employees

Melissa Markstrom, SHARE Union/AFSCME

Katie Weidling

UNAC / UHCP

Friday June 17, 2022 3:00pm - 4:45pm CDT
Hartsfield

3:00pm CDT

Organizing for the Long Haul: An Intergenerational Panel

Union organizing has its great victories and its losses; our goals as a movement require ongoing work and significant staying power. Hear organizers from different generations discuss how we sustain ourselves to stay in the struggle, and what questions we face as we help others keep at it and work through disappointments.

Speakers

Ian Scott

Pam Galpern, Communications Workers Local 1101

Peter Butler Olney

ILWU

Organizing Amazon

Zack Pattin, ILWU Local 23

Friday June 17, 2022 3:00pm - 4:45pm CDT
SeaTac

3:00pm CDT

Inclusive Bargaining

Speakers

Marina Fang, Writers Guild

Jennifer Charles, New York Professional Nurses

Monica Martinez, AFSCME Local 3299

Facilitator: Virginia Rodino, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance/Coalition of Labor Union Women

Friday June 17, 2022 3:00pm - 4:45pm CDT
Florence

Bargaining and contract campaigns

3:00pm CDT

Organize the South

Rebuilding the U.S. labor movement will require serious advances in the South, long the area where unions have been weakest. Hear from leaders on the frontlines of organizing at Amazon warehouses in Bessemer, Alabama; city workers and state employees in North Carolina; and Virginia teachers and other public sector employees mobilizing to win collective bargaining.

Speakers

Rev. Ryan Brown, Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment

Kristina Bell, Retail and Department Store Workers (RWDSU), Amazon Bessemer

Facilitator: Jacob Morrison, Valley Labor Report

Sekua Royall

Patrick Korte, Richmond Education Association, VCORE

Friday June 17, 2022 3:00pm - 4:45pm CDT
Grand Ballroom A

Black workers and Juneteenth

3:00pm CDT

Workers Affected by Climate Change (S)

With extreme weather conditions and recurring natural disasters on the rise, workers are increasingly facing the effects of climate change at work. Come hear from workers at the front lines of the climate crisis about how it's affecting their working conditions—and how they're fighting back.

Speakers

Speakers

Mary Clinton

Organizer, CWA District 1

Patrick Shepherd

Organizer, UAW Region 9A

Alexi Shalom, Association of Legal Aid Attorneys

Friday June 17, 2022 3:00pm - 4:45pm CDT
Grand Ballroom B

Direct action

3:00pm CDT

Campus Debt: Pushing Back and Reclaiming Our Colleges and Universities

Learn how institutional debt works and how it exacerbates racialized inequality in higher education. We present materials to use to research and expose institutional debt, as well as strategies to organize on your campus and connect to university debt work across institutions. These tools can be used in the classroom and to build solidarity among faculty, staff, and students, who are often pitted against each other by university administration, yet are all hurt by institutional debt.

Speakers

Joanna Gonsalves, Educators for a Democratic Union, Massachusetts State College Association

Eleni Schirmer, Debt Collective

Dana Morrison, Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties

Speakers

Brandon Mancilla, Harvard Graduate Student Employees, Auto Workers Local 5118

Tony Pollard and Alfonzo Jackson, Transit (ATU) Local 689

Juan-Carlos Rodriguez, NewsGuild of New York

Friday June 17, 2022 3:00pm - 4:45pm CDT
Grand Ballroom C

New organizing

3:00pm CDT

An Organizing Approach to Researching the Boss

Researching the boss is key to knowing how to fight back effectively, and it shouldn’t just be left to the “experts.” Learn how to turn researching the boss into an organizing project, and how to use what you learn, collectively.

Speakers

Tom Juravich, UMass Amherst Labor Center

Susanne Cervenka, NewsGuild of New York

Alex Gecan, NewsGuild of New York

Olivia Geho, Graduate Employee Organization – Auto Workers Local 2322

Bryan Nelson, NewsGuild of New York

Friday June 17, 2022 3:00pm - 4:45pm CDT
Dulles

Nuts and bolts

3:00pm CDT

Effective Meeting Facilitation

We've all been in bad meetings. Learn how to make yours efficient and engaging. We'll discuss and practice how a facilitator can handle common challenges, like what to do if nobody will talk... or one person won't stop.

Director of International Strategies and Co-Director of Education, UE

Nichel Dunlap Thompson, United Electrical Workers

Friday June 17, 2022 3:00pm - 4:45pm CDT
Lambert

Politics and connecting the dots

3:00pm CDT

Secrets of a Successful Organizer: Beating Apathy

Speakers

Anthony Downing, Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals

Samantha Winslow

Friday June 17, 2022 3:00pm - 4:45pm CDT
O'Hare Ballroom

Secrets of a Successful Organizer

3:00pm CDT

Assertive Grievance Handling

Striking Differently

There's more than one way to strike—you don't have to follow the formula of waiting for the contract to expire, grabbing a picket sign, and chanting "one day longer, one day stronger." Across the labor movement, from bus operators to media workers, troublemakers have found creative ways to strike multiple times in a short period, across fractured workplaces, and even in non-union workplaces.

Speakers

Alex Han

Bargaining for the Common Good

Charlie Muller, Kenyon Student Worker Organizing Committee, UE

Ross Kinson, Teamsters Local 553

Murjani Rawls, Writers Guild

Sinder and Velveeta, Strippers United

Friday June 17, 2022 3:00pm - 4:45pm CDT
International Ballroom C

Strikes

3:00pm CDT

Building Worker Power through Peer Education

Peer education training models can forge stronger member leadership. How is your union or worker center training members and leaders? Learn how to do collaborative curriculum design, how to supervise and support trainers, and how to integrate training into your organizing strategies. Participants will leave with an action plan and tools to design their own peer education leadership lab—and a network of fellow organizers and educators who are doing it too.

Speakers

Zoe West, Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Arianna Shindle, Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Friday June 17, 2022 3:00pm - 4:45pm CDT
Heathrow A

Worker centers

3:40pm CDT

Using the Railway Labor Act to Our Advantage

Tech Workers Organizing across Divisions

The boss uses every available tool to divide us. In this panel discussion, tech workers talk about how they have built unity and overcome divisions within and across workplaces—like the divisions between job classifications, or between employees and freelancers.

Speakers

Christopher Colley, Alphabet Workers Union

Angela Guo, New York Times Tech Guild

Andy McCoy, MapBox

Facilitator: Dan Feder

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
Lambert

5:00pm CDT

Bring the Shop Floor to the Bargaining Table: Open Bargaining Techniques (S)

Open, transparent bargaining is one of the most effective paths to get members participating fully in union decisions and activities. How can we bring open bargaining to our contract fights? What are some of the complications and how can these be overcome? This panelists will speak to these questions and argue that open bargaining is a tool you should develop in your union.

Speakers

Chris Brooks, NewsGuild of New York

Morgan McFall-Johnsen, Insider Union, NewsGuild of New York

Brahim Kone, SEIU Local 26

Becca Roskill, Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD)

Consuelo Vargas, National Nurses Organizing Committee

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
International Ballroom B

Bargaining and contract campaigns

5:00pm CDT

Black Labor Struggles Over Time: An Intergenerational Panel

Black workers have been and are an essential force in building a powerful and transformative labor movement. They also face the specific challenges of organizing while Black within unions and workplaces. Panelists on this intergenerational panel will discuss how they have taken up this struggle, what has changed, what remains the same, and how best to move forward. This session will also be recorded as a special episode of the podcast Black Work Talk with Steven Pitts.

Speakers

Stacy Davis Gates, Chicago Teachers

Susan DeCarava, NewsGuild of New York

Amy Gebo, Boston Teachers Union

Tim Schermerhorn, Transport Workers Local 100, retired

Chris Smalls, Amazon Labor Union

Bianca Cunningham, Action Center on Race and the Economy

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
International Ballroom C

Black workers and Juneteenth

5:00pm CDT

Race and Labor

How does racism show up in our workplaces and our unions? What are some strategies to confront it and build solidarity for a stronger, multiracial labor movement? And what can you say to union siblings who aren’t convinced racial justice has anything to do with union politics? This is an abbreviated version of a workshop that’s sparking lots of conversation.

Steve Catanese, SEIU Local 668

Iuri Bauler Pereira, Student Workers of Columbia/Auto Workers Local 2110

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
Tegel

Democracy Is Power

5:00pm CDT

Tools for Action

Learn about and practice the planning, execution, and debriefing of several key tools for action. Great for folks new to direct action or those looking for better results from your petitions, marches on the boss, and more.

Speakers

Angela MacWhinnie, Maine State Employees Association

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
JFK

Direct action

5:00pm CDT

Educators Organizing in Charter Schools

While private interests have tried to use charter schools to undermine teacher union power, educators in charter schools will have none of that: they've organized. The charter teachers on this panel have been organizing strikes, aligning demands, and even winning a charter school back into the public school system. What are the challenges these workers face and how have they overcome them to build power? Come find out.

Speakers

Sarah Apt, Alliance of Charter School Employees, Pennsylvania

Jen Conant, Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff, Chicago

Justin Kim, Unite Summit, California

Facilitator: Erica Kouka, Boston Teachers Union

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
Capital

Educators

5:00pm CDT

7 Minutes: A Play

A portrait of unionized factory workers grappling in real time with the power imbalance they depend on for their very livelihoods, 7 Minutes scrutinizes the individual impact of the economic forces and labor practices currently under debate in the U.S., including ever-tightening productivity demands and decades of government policies and corporate attacks that have weakened the labor movement.

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
International Ballroom DEF

Great Labor Arts Exchange

5:00pm CDT

What is a Visual Strategy? Projecting Power in the Streets

How we look sways how much power bosses think we have, demonstrates and strengthens our unity, and helps demonstrate how amazing it is to be part of a union. But many times our movements don’t give more than a passing consideration to things like signage, staging, photographs, or slogans. In this workshop, you’ll learn practical tips and hear stories of inspiring examples. Whether sign-making parties are your favorite part of a campaign, or whether the sight of a paintbrush or a camera makes you run and hide—this is definitely a workshop for you!

Speakers

Josh Yoder, Look Loud

Rachel Schragis

Look Loud

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
International Ballroom A

Great Labor Arts Exchange

5:00pm CDT

Access to Mental Health

The second epidemic of the Covid era is the massive mental health crisis in the U.S. By every metric, workers need more mental and emotional health support, but providers are in short supply, seeking help is stigmatized, and care is often inaccessible or unaffordable. Hear from a health care union who campaigned to address the shortage of mental health clinicians with a member-driven legislative campaign, an educators' local that fought to prioritize the social and emotional health of their students and educators, and a transit union fighting for member resources after a terrible workplace tragedy.

Speakers

John Courtney, Transit (ATU) Local 265

Speakers

Andrew Pantazi, Communications Workers Local 3108, NewsGuild

Wendy Fox Weber, Suburban Chicago Tribune Guild

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
North Central

Nuts and bolts

5:00pm CDT

Inoculation: Fighting Union-Busting

When we build power on the job, we're taking power from those who already have it—so it's no surprise they tend to fight back! Learn how to "inoculate" your co-workers, that is, prepare them for a crackdown and help them interpret the boss fight as it goes along. This training is relevant for anyone who is forming a union, but also for anyone who is stepping up the level of activity in an existing union.

Speakers

Brianna Foraker, Detroit NewsGuild

Ben Mabie, Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
Private Dining (Lobby Level)

Nuts and bolts

5:00pm CDT

Maintaining the Energy After a Fight

You've mobilized in the workplace and won. Congratulations! How can you keep things going to leave the union stronger than it was before the fight? It’s time to organize a workplace structure for communication, education, and action.

Speakers

Joe Fahey

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
Narita B

Nuts and bolts

5:00pm CDT

Fighting Privatization

Business leaders and politicians sell privatization as the path to efficient, low-cost services. Unions need our own vision for improving public services, not just defending our jobs. Hear success stories from unions that are pushing back through bargaining, community outreach, and political organizing.

Speakers

Don Cohen

Executive Director, In the Public Interest

Donald Cohen is the founder and executive director of In the Public Interest, a national resource and policy center on privatization and responsible contracting. Donald is a founding board member of the Partnership for Working Families. He is the former Political Director of the San... Read More →

Paula Richardson, Transit (ATU) Local 1338, No Bus Cuts Denton

Edwin Morales, Teachers Federation of Puerto Rico (FMPR)

Raymond Jackson, Transit (ATU) Local 689

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
Lindbergh

Politics and connecting the dots

5:00pm CDT

Labor and Disability

One in 4 adults in the U.S. is disabled, yet people with disabilities are still disproportionately excluded from the workforce. Hear how disabled workers are organizing on the job, and how other workers are teaming up with their patients, clients, and students with disabilities to make demands that benefit them all. Get some ideas on how you could start making your union more accessible to all its members, too.

Speakers

Mallorie Evans, United Teachers Los Angeles

Mary Matthews, Institutional Rescue and Recovery Coalition

Jennifer Randall, AFSCME

Facilitator: Amy Banelis, SEIU Local 509

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
Gatwick

Politics and connecting the dots

5:00pm CDT

Union Workers Co-ops as the Basis of an Economy that Works for All

If we were to create an economy that works for everyone, what would it look like? One model is Spain's Mondragon network of hundreds of cooperatives employing 80,000 workers. Co-op Cincy is drawing on that example by creating a network of unionized co-ops (USW, UFCW) to foster social and economic justice in Cincinnati. In Chicago the workers at New Era Windows and Doors occupied their factory with the help of their union (UE) and turned it into a co-op when the current owner decided to shut the factory down. And in New York, the workers in the largest worker cooperative in the U.S., Cooperative Home Care Associates, brought in SEIU to help them improve standards across the sector. Join us to explore the power and possibilities of the union co-op model and practical tools for getting union co-ops launched in your community.

Speakers

Denise Hernández, Cooperative Home Care Associates, SEIU 1199

Armando Robles, New Era Windows and Doors Coop, United Electrical Workers Local 1110

Ellen Vera, Co-op Cincy

Flequer Vera, Sustainergy Cooperative, United Steelworkers

Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young, producers of the PBS documentary SHIFT CHANGE

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
Heathrow B

Politics and connecting the dots

5:00pm CDT

Secrets of a Successful Organizer: Assembling Your Dream Team

Your workplace may feel like an unorganized mess, but the truth is you’re not starting from zero. There’s organization there already—though it might have nothing to do with the union. Learn how to map out the existing networks in your workplace, identify the leaders in those networks, and then knit them together into an organizing committee. Based on the popular book Secrets of a Successful Organizer.

Speakers

Kendra

Asst. Exec. Director, Kenosha Education Association

Ryan Olds, Oregon Education Association

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
O'Hare Ballroom

Secrets of a Successful Organizer

5:00pm CDT

An Organizing Approach to Grievances

Regularly engaging in collective action builds power. This participatory workshop will discuss how to evaluate workplace problems to find which ones are ripe for organizing or grievance filing, how to write your own grievance, and how to involve more members and build union power whether or not the issue is grievable.

Speakers

Bryan Nelson, NewsGuild of New York

Facilitator: Lena Solow, NewsGuild of New York

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
United A

Stewards

5:00pm CDT

Class Struggle Unionism: A Conversation

In his new book, Joe Burns argues that a Class Struggle Unionism approach is essential if we are to build the power for radical transformation. Hear workers from different sectors discuss with Joe how the ideas in his book help to frame their work, and the challenges and possibilities that this model presents.

Speakers

Marsha Niemeijer

Labor Notes Board & USW Local 9544

Patrick Korte, Richmond Education Association, VCORE

Joe Burns, author, Class Struggle Unionism

Crystal Gardner, AFSCME Council 31

Gabriella Killpack, Teamsters Local 222

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
Florence

Strategy

5:00pm CDT

Labor's Upsurge: How Unions Can Make the Most of This Moment

From Amazon and Starbucks to Google and Apple, we’re in the midst of a wave of union organizing that is challenging longstanding assumptions and redefining the boundaries of what’s possible. Join a discussion with veteran labor strategists and organizers on the frontlines of current organizing efforts about how unions can make the most of this upsurge.

Speakers

Mark Meinster, United Electrical Workers

Facilitator: Stephanie Luce, Professional Staff Congress

Derrick Palmer, Amazon Labor Union

Facilitator: E. Tammy Kim, The New Yorker

Kylah Clay, Starbucks Workers United

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
Rosemont AB

Strategy

5:00pm CDT

Where's Our Leverage? Thinking Strategically About Power and Chokepoints in the Workplace

There’s an ongoing debate over what industries and jobs are the most strategic for the labor movement to organize. One key criterion is the impact that a strike (or the threat of one) by a particular group of workers could have on the economy as a whole. How do we identify these workers and activate their potential power? Come discuss these issues with a veteran labor historian and author of a new book, Labor Power and Strategy.

Speakers

John Womack, Harvard University

Glenn Perusek, Building Trades Academy

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
Hartsfield

Strategy

5:00pm CDT

Taking on Two-Tier

Two-tier contracts have divided workers for generations. How is it fair that workers who do the same work side by side get different treatment based on hire date, job classification, or race or gender? Recently at Kaiser Permanente, John Deere, Kellogg's, and elsewhere, union activists have fought to undo decades of divide-and-conquer, beating back new tiered contract proposals. Hear how they're taking on two-tier and changing their unions in the process.

Speakers

Pamela Stemberg

Vice Chapter Chair, PSC-CUNY

Adjunct organizer on CCNY Campus. Interested in organizing the alienated, disengaged, and disenfranchised. In my spare time...oh wait, I don't have any.

Jeremy Steffen, Auto Workers Local 838, John Deere

Sean Orr, Teamsters Local 705, UPS

Facilitator: Alex Press, Jacobin

Nick Eng, Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, Kaiser

Friday June 17, 2022 5:00pm - 6:30pm CDT
SeaTac

Strikes

5:00pm CDT

Gig Workers Fighting Back

Rideshare drivers and food delivery workers have been organizing to secure their employee rights against Uber, Lyft, Doordash, and Instacart. Hear about the fight against Proposition 22 in California and questionable compromises in New York, Massachusetts, Washington, and Connecticut. While some unions leapt at the chance to sign deals with the apps, workers who wanted to set their sights higher have built and organized their own independent organizations.

Speakers

Taje Gill, Rideshare Drivers United

Ernesta Galvez, Los Deliveristas Unidos

Carlos Gomez, Connecticut Drivers United

Saturday June 18, 2022 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
JFK

10:15am CDT

Amazon, UPS, USPS: Workers Fighting Back in the Age of E-Commerce

The package business is booming, as ordering everything online becomes the norm. Public and private parcel companies influence each other’s standards and sometimes even handle the same packages in a complex supply chain. Panelists will compare their workplace concerns—including workload and staffing, unsafe conditions, supervisory harassment, and growing temporary workforces—and discuss strategies to fight back, in bargaining and through shop floor action.

Speakers

Jamie Partridge, KBOO Labor Radio

Labor, Socialist Strategies, Immigration,

Steve Brown

Gabriella Killpack, Teamsters Local 222

Jonathan Bailey, Amazonians United

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
Vienna

10:15am CDT

Creating a Union Culture of Accountability for Harassment

How can we take on sexual harassment in our unions and workplaces? Hear about the development of sexual harassment training that builds from union values, and a winning contract fight that centered demands for transparency about—and accountability for—sexual harassment. We will discuss lessons learned and how to take these lessons back into our workplaces.

Sanctuary Unions (S)

Just like “sanctuary cities,” safe places for immigrants where their immigration status does not rule their lives, some unions have set out to become "sanctuary unions" by advancing their treatment of immigrant members, particularly those without legal documents. How can your union follow their lead? This workshop will provide examples and specific contract language on issues like Social Security and IRS No-Match letters, I-9 Audits by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Affordable Care Act and the obligation of health insurance companies to verify immigration information, and the use of the E-Verify system.

Speakers

Jorge Mújica Murias

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
International Ballroom F

10:15am CDT

Using Data to Organize

Tracking engagement and workplace mapping are important tools for unionists—but what matters most is what you do with those things. How do you take data points and use them to build stronger organizations? Panelists will share the ways they've used the information at their fingertips to win strikes, build stronger steward structures, and more.

Speakers

Shay Culpepper

Harinee

New nurse, volunteer organizer with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee

Matt DeVilbiss, University of Illinois-Chicago Graduate Employees

Alan McAvinney, Alphabet Workers Union

Lindsay Ruck

Worker Organizer, Restaurant Opportunities Center

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
Barajas

10:15am CDT

Contract Campaigns

What you can win at the bargaining table depends on what you do away from it—on the job and in the streets. Panelists will share strategies, challenges, and how our unions have grown through some of our biggest current and recent fights.

Speakers

David Thornsberry, Teamsters Local 89

Angelina Cruz, Racine Educators United

Speakers

Crystal Gardner, AFSCME Council 31

Arrion Brown, Postal Workers (APWU), Nation's Capital Local

Ethel Everett, SEIU Local 509

Fareeda Mabry, Communications Workers

Facilitator: Paul Prescod

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
International Ballroom C

Black workers and Juneteenth

10:15am CDT

Speakers

Nick Bedell, NewsGuild

David Levin, Teamsters for a Democratic Union

Michelle Corbin, Massachusetts State College Association

Jon Schleuss, NewsGuild

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
Hartsfield

Democracy Is Power

10:15am CDT

Union Democracy Law: A Guide for Activists

The Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act provides union members a bill of rights, requires unions to publicly disclose certain details about their governance, and regulates union elections and trusteeships of local unions by international unions. Come learn about how to use the law to build rank-and-file power in your union, and how to defend that power once you’ve built it.

Speakers

Will Bloom

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
Dulles

Democracy Is Power

10:15am CDT

Vote No! Organizing for Better Contracts

Sometimes the best option members have is to vote down a bad deal. Panelists will share stories of how they used the fight against bad tentative agreements to connect with other activists, build a stronger union, and win more.

Speakers

Beth Breslaw

Leah VanDassor, St. Paul Federation of Educators

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
Lindbergh

Educators

10:15am CDT

Art for Mobilization

Parody and ridicule can be powerful tools to cut through the boss's baloney sandwich. Participants will learn about the 1st Amendment right to parody and ridicule the boss through cartooning, from a master of the trade: Mike Konopacki of Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons, syndicated in the labor press across the U.S. and Canada.

Speakers

Mike Konopacki, labor cartoonist

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
International Ballroom A

Great Labor Arts Exchange

10:15am CDT

Songwriting for Labor and Political Actions

Hitting the picket line? Want a song that's funny and customized to your campaign... but also, a song that everyone can recognize and sing along to? What you need is a parody song! Come to this workshop to learn how to write an effective parody and put it to use. What rhymes with Bezos?

Speakers

Paul McKenna, songwriter

Hali Hammer, songwriter

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
Heathrow A

Great Labor Arts Exchange

10:15am CDT

Confronting Employers' Blame-the-Worker Safety Programs (S)

This workshop will explore participants’ experiences with employer programs that are designed to blame workers when they get injured or sick, discipline them when they report injuries, provide rewards for “not having accidents,” and shift the focus away from identifying and eliminating hazards. This trend has continued during the Covid pandemic, as employers retaliated against workers who tried to get unsafe conditions corrected. We’ll examine the pitfalls of these programs, discuss strategies for preventing and ending them, and explore how to refocus health and safety efforts on finding and fixing hazards.

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
John Wayne

New organizing

10:15am CDT

Aligning Our Fights: Union and Community Coalitions that Last

This workshop will discuss different approaches to labor-community work. From developing long-term ties with local allies and doing joint political education, to bargaining for the common good of the whole working class, to building coalitions around big federal legislative pushes like the Green New Deal, we'll discuss how to build durable partnerships that can win.

Speakers

Samantha Winslow

Brahim Kone, SEIU Local 26

John Miles, United Electrical Workers Local 506

Tony Johnston, Cook County Teachers Union

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
International Ballroom B

Nuts and bolts

10:15am CDT

Assertive Grievance Handling

Speakers

Joe Moyer, PASNAP

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
United A

Nuts and bolts

10:15am CDT

Internal Organizing in Crafts and Trades

A strong network of communication among members is essential to building power: for organizing worksite actions, pushing for good contracts, winning elections, maybe even coordinating a vote no campaign. But how do we build these structures in an industry where our jobsites, bosses, and co-workers mostly change with each short-term job? This is an internal organizing workshop for those in craft and building trades unions.

Speakers

Glenn Perusek, Building Trades Academy

Melissa Shetler, Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
Logan

Nuts and bolts

10:15am CDT

You Can't Do All the Work Yourself: Learn It, Do It, Teach It

Leadership isn't about taking on everything ourselves—it's about developing others to participate by providing the resources and opportunity to do so. Using the "Learn It, Do It, Teach It" philosophy, this workshop will cover how to get more people involved and expand the capacity of your union.

Speakers

Rachel Farber, Alphabet Workers Union

Google

Katya Schwenk, Media Guild of the West

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
Ronald Reagan

Nuts and bolts

10:15am CDT

Beyond 'Saying Her Name': Unions Confronting Police Power

As Minneapolis lay smoldering in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, Black members at SEIU Local 26 launched an innovative union-driven program to confront the police's monopoly on "public safety" while creating union jobs for community members to protect their communities. Hear from them and other organizers across the country about how they've used the reckoning with police violence to seek community alternatives.

Speakers

isaura [they/them]

Cultural worker, abolitionist teacher, they/them femme

Michael Williams, Highline Education Association and HiCORE

Facilitator: Bettina Johnson, Liberation Library and DefundCPD Campaign

Armanda Shackleford and Regina Russell, SEIU Local 73

Frank McCrary, SEIU Local 26 and Community Safety Specialists

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
SeaTac

Politics and connecting the dots

10:15am CDT

Principles and Tactics of Industrial Organizing

Revitalizing the labor movement will mean organizing millions of workers at the country's biggest employers, something our labor movement hasn't done for a long time. In this interactive workshop, participants will take a critical look at the history of Congress of Industrial Organizations and industrial organizing tactics and brainstorm how to apply them to organizing on a large scale today.

Speakers

Christopher Zimmerly-Beck

Ryan Olds, Oregon Education Association

Cassio Mendoza, Amazon Labor Union

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
Lambert

Politics and connecting the dots

10:15am CDT

Taking Back Our Time

Workers across the country have been fighting against excessive and forced overtime, from UPS to the railroads to food production. Hear about how workplace activists are taking back their time and reviving the old labor slogan, "Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, and eight hours for what we will."

Speakers

Donna Jo Marks, Bakery Workers Local 364, Nabisco

Hugh Sawyer, Railroad Workers United and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen

Nick Perry, Teamsters

Central Region Education Coordinator, Teamsters

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
London

Politics and connecting the dots

10:15am CDT

Unions and Veterans: Fighting Privatization of the V.A., a Model for Single-Payer Health Care

Union members who served in the military and their caregivers are fighting privatization of the nation's largest public health care system. Activists involved in this struggle will explain why closing Veterans Administration hospitals and outsourcing veterans care threatens good union jobs and health care reform for all Americans. They will also report on joint work involving post-9/11 veterans groups like Common Defense and veterans caucuses within labor, like CWA's Veterans for Social Change network.

Speakers

Adam Pelletier, Marine veteran, CSEA/AFSCME

Co-facilitator: Ian Hoffman, Public Service Association of New Zealand

Carolene Hill, National Nurses United

David Lash, Navy veteran, AFGE Local 2107

Joanna Sweatt, Marine veteran, Common Defense

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
Tegel

Politics and connecting the dots

10:15am CDT

Workers Fight for Reproductive Rights

The ability to decide when and how to have a family is crucial for workers' dignity, economic stability, and health. Reproductive rights are worker rights and are necessary for our unions to take up. Hear perspectives from an abortion clinic that unionized during this uncertain year, a community clinic that serves the reproductive health of Black and Brown LGBTQ+ where workers are now organizing, and those bargaining for access to care.

Speakers

10:15am CDT

How to Find Leverage and Build Strategy by Analyzing Your Own Workplace

A "workers’ inquiry" is a method for understanding how the boss controls work, how workers are currently organized, and how to use this information to develop new organizing tactics, strategies, and objectives. Participants will practice doing a workers’ inquiry to assess the the credibility of a strike threat, and identifying and strategizing choke points.

Speakers

Gifford Hartman, Global Labour University and Railroad Workers United

Robert Ovetz, California Faculty Association

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
DaVinci B

Strategy

10:15am CDT

Get Strike-Ready

You want your picket line respected? Respect others! We'll take a long view on strike readiness, beginning with securing the right contract language and organizing a local strike fund. Learn how to confront the biggest reason your co-workers might vote no on a strike authorization, and how to build a culture of direct action in the workplace. We'll apply the lessons of the 1996-1997 UPS contract campaign as a model for today.

Speakers

Casey Sweeney

Norine Gutekanst, Chicago Teachers

Melissa Powell, CWA Local 1168

Saturday June 18, 2022 10:15am - 12:00pm CDT
Midway

Strikes

12:00pm CDT

Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance Meetup

Saturday June 18, 2022 12:00pm - 1:45pm CDT
Narita A

2:00pm CDT

Amazon Workers in Motion

Hear directly from rank-and-file Amazon workers from four different groups across the country about how they're organizing at the corporate giant—building independent unions and winning elections, organizing direct actions on the job, and launching campaigns to improve working conditions and demand wage increases.

Speakers

Chris Zamarron, Amazonians United

Rev. Ryan Brown, Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment

Bianca Cunningham, Action Center on Race and the Economy

Angelika Maldonado, Amazon Labor Union

Jennifer Bates, Retail and Department Store Workers (RWDSU), Amazon Bessemer

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Rosemont AB

2:00pm CDT

Building a Member Organizer Program

Even a well-resourced union can't rely on staff alone. This workshop will provide tips on building a program to train members as organizers, connect them across the union, and exponentially build our capacity to grow our movement.

Speakers

Veronica Serrano

Port Organizer, Texas Climate Jobs Project

Ron Kaminkow, Railroad Workers United, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen

Sarina Roher, Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
SeaTac

2:00pm CDT

Messaging Your Power

How do you use communications strategy and the media to support your campaigns? In this workshop, we will walk you through scenarios including building relationships with reporters, upending the boss’s media narrative, and cooking up creative campaign actions that journalists won’t be able to resist.

Speakers

Kim Kelly

Kim Kelly is an independent labor journalist, author, and public speaker. She has been a regular labor columnist for Teen Vogue since 2018, and her writing on labor, class, politics, and culture has appeared in The New Republic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Baffler, The... Read More →

Wen Zhuang

NewsGuild of New York, Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Charles De Gaulle

2:00pm CDT

Mexican Unionists Transforming Their Unions—And What It Means for U.S. Workers (S)

In the past few months, independent unions in Mexico have notched big victories at General Motors and other factories. Hopes are high that more genuine, democratic unions can displace the corrupt "protection" unions that dominate the country's labor scene and have worked hand in glove with multinational employers to lock in low wages, long hours, and poor working conditions. Hear from Mexican labor activists on the frontlines of this battle and discuss how we can strengthen cross-border solidarity.

Speakers

Israel Cervantes, Casa Obrera del Bajio, fired General Motors worker

Hector de la Cueva, CILAS Labor Center, Mexico

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
JFK

2:00pm CDT

Bargaining Tactics: Using Unfair Labor Practice Charges Strategically

Workers shouldn’t count on winning contracts by filing unfair labor practice charges. But thoughtful, strategic use of ULPs can play an important part in a contract campaign. This workshop will offer ways to incorporate ULP’s into your campaign plan in order to magnify your leverage, avoid impasse, and lay a solid foundation for a ULP strike.

Speakers

Don Taylor

Labor Educator, Professor, University of Wisconsin School for Workers

Vick Bouzi

owner, NATIONAL SOUND RENTALS, LLC

My parents came to this country from Haiti in the late 60s and moved to Jamaica Queens where I grew up. I am a father to HJ, six years old, I'm a worker, I'm an activist, I'm an organizer, I'm a rapper.I overstand this country was founded on stolen labor and stolen land, so as a Revolutionary... Read More →

Stephanie Deceus, SEIU 1199NE

Marcia Howard, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers

Facilitator: Rob Baril, SEIU 1199NE

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Rosemont CD

Black workers and Juneteenth

2:00pm CDT

Building Black Leaders: Lessons from the TDU Black Caucus

For years, Black Teamsters have fought for a stronger, more democratic, and more representative union with the rank-and-file reform caucus Teamsters for a Democratic Union. Hear from leaders of TDU's Black Caucus on how they've developed leadership from the bottom up, from workplace organizers to shop stewards to union officers.

Speakers

Facilitator: Paul Prescod

Antoine Andrews, Teamsters Local 804

Willie Hardy, Teamsters Local 667, retired

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Lambert

Black workers and Juneteenth

2:00pm CDT

Democracy Is Power: Contract Campaigns

When bargaining is done in secret or with limited input from members, rank-and-file activists can feel powerless to stop concessions or even make progress towards getting a contract. How can members influence their own bargaining representatives as well as their bosses? Hear from activists who have organized at the shop floor for a fair contract.

Speakers

Facilitator: Eric Blanc, Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee

Thomas Ham, Communications Workers Local 9588

Robert Kolstad

Lawyer, Hennepin PD

Lawyer in Hennepin County MN.

Kate Sannicks-Learner, Caucus of Working Educators, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Grand Ballroom A

Democracy Is Power

2:00pm CDT

Democracy Is Power: Facilitating a Democratic Union Meeting

If democracy is the key to union power, then a democratic union meeting is fundamental to that power. But what makes a meeting democratic? How can we facilitate meetings in which our fellow members participate, lead, and work through differences to make decisions and act collectively?

Speakers

Jia Lee, Movement of Rank-and-File Educators, United Federation of Teachers

Sam Sumpter, Auto Workers Local 4121

Carlos Perez, Durham Association of Educators

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Barajas

Democracy Is Power

2:00pm CDT

I've Been Elected—Now What?

Getting elected was the easy part—running the union brings a new set of challenges. Hear from experienced reformers about how to turn things around at your workplace, get members involved, and move a program. Learn what pitfalls to avoid and what steps are essential to lead effectively at your worksite and in your union.

Speakers

Barbara Madeloni, Labor Notes

Jon Schleuss, NewsGuild

Richard Hooker, Jr., Teamsters Local 623

Facilitator: Dan Russell, UPTE-CWA

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
International Ballroom C

Democracy Is Power

2:00pm CDT

What to Do When Your Union Breaks Your Heart

If you’re a union member, unfortunately the chances are good that you’ve had, or will have, your heart broken at least once by one of your own leaders. Whether you tried to get involved and there was nowhere to go, or the members got sold out, or leaders want to keep the union as their exclusive club, it can feel pretty harsh. In this workshop, we'll talk about how to recommit to your union and change the culture into one where leaders respect and serve the members.

Speakers

Ellen David Friedman

Claire Labrosa, Rochester Organization of Rank-and-File Educators

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
International Ballroom F

Democracy Is Power

2:00pm CDT

Taking Back Our Workfloor: Practice a Collective Action! (S)

Not for the participation-shy. In this interactive workshop, you and the rest of the group will practice collectively confronting a boss! Learn what can go wrong and how to make it go right. This is an excerpt from a very effective training program developed by Edmonton postal workers to make direct action, rather than grievances, the first resort to solve problems on the job.

Speakers

Roland Schmidt and Devon Rundvall, Canadian Union of Postal Workers Local 730

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
United B

Direct action

2:00pm CDT

Educators Fight for Autonomy and Against Censorship

The attacks on educators' free speech rights are reaching a fever pitch. It will take unions and collective action to push back. These panelist have all been engaged in that struggle. Hear what has worked, and discuss what more we can do.

Speakers

Luke Amphlett, San Antonio Alliance, Local 67

Cory Bernaert, Manatee Education Association

Cassia Mosdell, Piscataway Township Education Association

Brian St.Pierre, Port Jefferson Education Association

Facilitator: Andrew Kirk, Teachers (AFT) Local 2260

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
International Ballroom B

Educators

2:00pm CDT

Industrial Power in Higher Education: Organizing in Support Staff Unions

Higher education institutions run on the too often unseen work of support staff. This panel examines the organizing happening in support staff locals and the opportunities presented when they access their power within locals and across the university.

Speakers

Amanda Achin

Classified Staff Union (UMass Boston), Massachusetts Teachers Association

Facilitator: Hersch Rothmel, SEIU Local 888

Mike Kramer, UNITE HERE Local 26

Representative, AFSCME Local 3800

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Gatwick

Educators

2:00pm CDT

Paraeducators Fight for a Living Wage

Paraeducators (or education support personnel) are some of the lowest-paid workers in public education, but they've too often come in behind classrooms teachers in their contract fights. In these examples, paraeducators and teachers share how they are coming together local by local to demand a living wage for ESPs.

Speakers

Jake Anderson, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers

Aria Campbell, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT 59)

School Success Project Assistant, Minneapolis Public Schools

I've worked in the Minneapolis Public School system for 7 years as a Paraeducator and a Union Steward for MFT Local 59. I played a large role in organizing our site for the strike, and we had 100% YES votes. Please talk to me about what helped our site maitain solidarity and hold... Read More →

Holly Currier, Andover Education Association, Educators for a Democratic Union

Action Team Chair, Andover Education Association

Leah Wood, Caucus of Working Educators, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers

Facilitator: Hannah Allison-Natale, Personnel Association of Lawrence, Communications Workers Local 6400

President, CWA Local 6400

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Tegel

Educators

2:00pm CDT

Racial Justice Fights in Education

From contract demands, to curriculum, to a cross-union coalition to get cops out of the central labor council, educators have taken up the struggle to fight for racial justice. These panelists will speak to how they are making the fight for racial justice a union struggle—and winning.

Speakers

isaura [they/them]

Cultural worker, abolitionist teacher, they/them femme

Michael Williams, Highline Education Association and HiCORE

Ki-Jana Carter, MIT Graduate Student Union

Jukurious David, Boston Teachers Union

Speakers

Rafael Chavez, New Labor

Reynalda Cruz, New Labor

Luis Jimenez, Alianza Agricola

Facilitator: Jessica Martinez, National COSH

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
McCarran

Health and safety

2:00pm CDT

The Fight for Safe Staffing in Hospitals

Nurses have been sounding the alarm since before Covid about the dire consequences of cost-cutting through lean staffing (meaning the number of patients each worker is assigned), as hospital profits soared. Health care unions are tackling this issue with legislation, bargaining, and direct action. Hear from folks that have won improved staffing via legislation or at the bargaining table, and learn how they continue to enforce their wins.

Speakers

Elizabeth Lalasz

Marie Ritacco, Massachusetts Nurses

Jamie Banks and Bob Scime, Communications Workers Local 1133

Kathy Stormberg and Kim Reed, CRONA, Stanford nurses

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Grand Ballroom F

Health and safety

2:00pm CDT

Lessons from Trans and Gender Nonconforming Leaders

Hear how our movements are strengthened when we uplift trans leaders, and what it looks like for labor to be involved in the struggle for trans rights. Hear from trans and gender nonconforming leaders from different generations and industries: from a trailblazer at the New York Times, an Indiana Teamster, and new campaigns of tech and service workers.

Speakers

Facilitator: Lena Solow, NewsGuild of New York

Aimes Shunk, Starbucks Workers United

Zayn Silva, OPEIU

Elbe Lieb, Teamsters Local 135

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
International Ballroom E

LGBTQ+ workers

2:00pm CDT

Inoculation: How to Fight Union Busting

We can beat back union busters by getting out ahead of them. This workshop will cover how we can inoculate workers in advance of anti-union campaigns and deflate the boss's power. Presenters will cover both new organizing and already-unionized workplaces.

Speakers

Ben Mabie, Washington-Baltimore NewsGuild

Colin Cochrane, Starbucks Workers United

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Heathrow A

New organizing

2:00pm CDT

New Organizing

This year has seen an uptick in new organizing efforts, with prominent fights at big name companies: Starbucks, Amazon, REI, Delta, Apple, Alphabet, and more. Hear from workers who are taking on big employers and forming new unions across the country.

Speakers

Megan Svoboda

Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee

Ahmed Akhtar, Auto Workers Local 2865, University of California

I am a head steward in Local 2865, representing teaching assistants in the University of California. I am also a bargaining team rep for the newly formed Student Researchers United. Talk to me about organizing!

Claire Chang, Retail and Department Store Workers (RWDSU), REI

Ricardo Rosario, Ironworkers Local 197

Jonnie Lane, Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA), Delta

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Paris

New organizing

2:00pm CDT

Effective Member Communications/Using Communications to Organize

Organizers need plans to reach workers, and those plans will work best if they're more than one-way sharing of information. Hear from activists who have used tech tools not just to reach more workers, but also to engage activists in building a stronger union and fighting the boss.

Speakers

Manny Ramirez, Los Deliveristas

James Sandoval, SMART 0023

Speakers

Fred Hatef

Vice President, UE Local 1008

Haley Shaffer

Shop Steward, DC37 Local 768

I’m a member of DC37 Local 768 where I’ve been a shop steward since 2021 and a delegate to DC37 and the NYC CLC since the start of 2024. In my day job I investigate labor law violations for the City of New York, such as Starbucks and ConEdison. I've been a part of the labor movement... Read More →

Paul Trujillo (he/him)

Director of Training & Grants, Teamsters

Robyn Saucier, Maine State Employees Association-SEIU Local 1989

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
John Wayne

Stewards

2:00pm CDT

Challenges of Organizing in Logistics

Logistics workers labor at key nodes and choke points of the capitalist economy. The pandemic has laid bare the vulnerabilities of the supply chain. This workshop will explore the strategic possibilities for building worker power in the supply chain and will emphasize the necessity of unity across the various legs of the chain: maritime, railroad, trucking and warehousing.

Speakers

Peter Butler Olney

ILWU

Organizing Amazon

Carey Dall, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees

Elliot Lewis, Teamsters Local 804

Howard Wurzeln, Amazonians United

Dean McGrath, Longshores (ILWU) Local 23

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
London

Strategy

2:00pm CDT

Get Strike-Ready

Striking sounds exciting but is really scary and takes a lot of work. What are the building blocks for getting your union and co-workers ready to go on strike? In this interactive workshop, you'll hear from presenters and then practice in pairs.

Speakers

Rand Wilson

Organizer, CHIPS Communities United

I've been an organizer and labor activist for 40 years. Talk with me about the Semiconductor Industry and the CHIPS Act, organizing Amazon or building rank and file power. I’m also active in electoral politics. More info in my bio here: link.medium.com/19C7MmlrsT... Read More →

Richard De Vries, Teamsters Local 705

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Midway

Strikes

2:00pm CDT

Holding the Line: Building Strike Solidarity and Power Inside and Out

It can be daunting to think about keeping up the energy and support during a strike against giant corporations and union-busting executives. Hear from leaders in the ongoing Warrior Met Coal strike in Alabama, the 10-month long St. Vincent's nurses strike in Massachusetts, and a Basque Country union that wages frequent open-ended strikes about how they build leadership, keep spirits high and rent paid, increase the pressure on bosses, and prepare for the next fight. With a picket line musical performance as well!

Speakers

Pam Galpern, Communications Workers Local 1101

Ben Grosscup, singer-songwriter

Kathleen Poselli and Carla LeBlanc, Massachusetts Nurses

Ana Zelaia, Basque Workers' Solidarity (ELA), Spain

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Grand Ballroom H

Strikes

2:00pm CDT

Laying the Ground for Unfair Labor Practice Strikes

When a strike begins having an impact on profits, the employer often threatens to hire permanent replacements. Of course, this may be a bluff. But if the employer is serious, the union must have a plan to resist. This workshop will explore replacement rules during economic strikes, unfair labor practice strikes, and lockouts. What measures can a union take to protect against massive job losses? How can it bolster workers' resolve to stay the course?

Speakers

Robert M. Schwartz, retired union attorney

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Grand Ballroom C

Strikes

2:00pm CDT

Food Supply Chain Organizing Roundtable

Join food worker leaders and organizers in a roundtable discussion on strategies for supply chain organizing. How do we build solidarity across the food chain and other supply chains? What are some ways that workers in different jobs can unite and increase their organizing leverage? This roundtable discussion will be a space to share examples and brainstorm strategies.

Speakers

Tommy Carden

Suzanne Adely, Food Chain Workers Alliance

Chris Ramsaroop, Justicia for Migrant Workers

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Mirabel

Worker centers

2:00pm CDT

Worker Protections for All: Defending Undocumented Workers in Building Trades and Worker Centers (S)

Like many communities living on the margins, undocumented workers in the U.S. are treated as a tool that politicos punt around and shady corporate entities exploit. Many work in the building trades, one of the most dangerous industries in the U.S. But unions in the building trades have the capacity to move political agendas. Hear from Tito Contractors workers who sought to organize with the Painters, faced retaliation, and waged an eight-year struggle to secure legal protections and compensation. Hear also from construction workers organized in pre-apprenticeship programs in worker centers.

Speakers

Rosa Ponce

International Union of Painters and Allied Trades

Rosa is from Arizona, but has lived in TN for over 18 years. She has been involved in the immigrant movement for years. Recently she joined the staff of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades as the community organizer.

Nadya Lucero, New Immigrant Community Empowerment

Aracelly Marmolejo, New Immigrant Community Empowerment

Charon Medina, Workers Defense Project

Adrian Ramirez Dominguez, Painters District Council 36

Michael Vazquez, Painters District Council 36

Saturday June 18, 2022 2:00pm - 3:45pm CDT
Liberty

Worker centers

2:00pm CDT

Worker-Driven Social Responsibility Models (S)

Secrets of a Successful Organizer: Turning an Issue into a Campaign

Everybody has complaints and frustrations, but an organizer has the power to turn problems into opportunities. Learn how to sort through the issues you hear from co-workers, bring people together, and make a plan to solve them. Based on the popular book Secrets of a Successful Organizer.

Speakers

Facilitator: Hannah Allison-Natale, Personnel Association of Lawrence, Communications Workers Local 6400

President, CWA Local 6400

Tyler Kissinger, National Union of Healthcare Workers

Saturday June 18, 2022 6:00pm - 7:30pm CDT
O'Hare Ballroom

Secrets of a Successful Organizer

9:00pm CDT

Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee Reception

Saturday June 18, 2022 9:00pm - 11:30pm CDT
DFW

8:00am CDT

Recovery Meeting

Sunday June 19, 2022 8:00am - 9:00am CDT
JFK

9:00am CDT

Organizing Against Private Equity

The private equity industry manages nearly $7.5 trillion in assets and owns companies that employ more than 11 million American workers, plus millions more around the world. They are expanding into more industries constantly, cutting costs and extracting value from their holdings while making workers' lives more precarious. Hear from an organization helping to empower unions to research and organize against PE firms, plus unions who have taken on private equity bosses.

Speakers

Facilitator: Virginia Rodino, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance/Coalition of Labor Union Women

Jordan Ash, Private Equity Stakeholder Project

Caitlin Cruz, Writers Guild

Anthony Sanchez and Cesar Moreira, UE

Shirley Smith, United for Respect

Daniel Castellano, Resilience Force

Sunday June 19, 2022 9:00am - 10:30am CDT
Lambert

9:00am CDT

Postal Workers Meeting

Sunday June 19, 2022 9:00am - 10:30am CDT
LaGuardia

9:00am CDT

Stopping Workplace Violence

Bosses may tell you to just put up with the risk of violence, or learn to deescalate—but organizing gives you power to change the outcome. Learn about the hazards, the hierarchy of controls, and what you can do to prevent violence at work.

Speakers

Fadumo Elmi and Hawah Aminzason, SEIU 1199NW

David Pratt, New York State Nurses

Lilith, Strippers United

Sunday June 19, 2022 9:00am - 10:30am CDT
United A

9:00am CDT

Supporting Rank-and-File Unions as Staff

This training is for union staffers who believe in member-driven unions. How does that commitment shape your approach to everyday organizing work? How do you strike the right balance between challenging members and following their lead? What are the common pitfalls staff can fall into? What do you do when the long-term principle conflicts with urgent needs?

Speakers

Ellen David Friedman

Nat Anderson Lippert, Education Support Professionals-Minneapolis Federation of Teachers

Arsenia Reilly Collins, Writers Guild

Sunday June 19, 2022 9:00am - 10:30am CDT
SeaTac

9:00am CDT

Race and Labor

Speakers

Anna-Maria Magdalena, Teachers (AFT) Washington

Gissel Uribe, Teachers (AFT), Washington

Sunday June 19, 2022 9:00am - 10:30am CDT
LAX

Black workers and Juneteenth

9:00am CDT

Democracy Is Power: Leadership in a Democratic Rank-and-File Union

Once elected, how can leaders support the work of rank-and-file members who are continuing to push to transform the union? The leaders on this panel have all taken up this question and will speak to their strategies, struggles, and successes.

Speakers

Dan Kask, Longshore (ILWU) Canada

2nd Vice President, ILWU Canada

Facilitator: Jesse Sharkey, Chicago Teachers

Susan DeCarava, NewsGuild of New York

Paul Trujillo (he/him)

Director of Training & Grants, Teamsters

Alejandra Garza-Lopez, San Antonio Alliance Local 67

Sunday June 19, 2022 9:00am - 10:30am CDT
John Wayne

Democracy Is Power

9:00am CDT

No Tiers, No Concessions: Building a UAW that Can Take on the Automakers

Big things are happening in the Auto Workers, from a successful referendum for "one member, one vote," to the Big Three contract expiration next September. Find out how workers are taking on the automakers and the union establishment, calling for "no corruption, no tiers, and no concessions."

Speakers

9:00am CDT

Collectively Fabulous! Queer-Trans Labor Histories and Futures

Queer and trans workers have long been at the frontlines of intersectional solidarity, bridging identities and social movements. We’ll render visible histories and futures, toward building vibrant multiracial unions together across many lines.

Speakers

Annabelle Heckler, union researcher, comics, Painters Local 35

Secretos de un organizador exitoso 3: Convertir un problema en una campaña

Todo el mundo tiene quejas y frustraciones, pero un organizador tiene el poder de convertir los problemas en oportunidades. Aprenda a resolver los problemas que escucha de sus compañeros o compañeras de trabajo, reúna a las personas y elabore un plan para resolverlos de forma democrática a través de un esfuerzo de grupo. [Workshop for Spanish speakers only.]

Speakers

Rosa Ponce

International Union of Painters and Allied Trades

Sunday June 19, 2022 9:00am - 10:30am CDT
Hartsfield

Secrets of a Successful Organizer

9:00am CDT

Secrets of a Successful Organizer: Turning an Issue into a Campaign

Speakers

Samantha Winslow

Jay O'Neal, West Virginia Education Association

Sunday June 19, 2022 9:00am - 10:30am CDT
O'Hare Ballroom

Secrets of a Successful Organizer

9:00am CDT

The Lasting Power of Strikes

We strike. We win our demands. But the power of a strike goes beyond the contract wins in the agreement. How do we build strikes that will build lasting power, and later on, how can we draw on that power? The panelists will share their experiences.

Speakers

Arlene Inouye

secretary, UTLA

A proud fighter for public education and social justice.

Facilitator: Sal Rosselli, National Union of Healthcare Workers

Stefan Yong, Auto Workers Local 2865

Maria Miranda, UTLA

Sunday June 19, 2022 9:00am - 10:30am CDT
Tegel

Strikes

9:00am CDT

Farmworker Base-Building and Organizing (S)

Farmworkers are organizing in creative ways—getting co-workers to take direct action, forming independent unions, building worker committees, and mapping corporate supply chains. In this panel, farmworker leaders and organizers will share how they do base-building and organizing with farmworkers in the fields, greenhouses, and ranches.

Speakers

Alfredo Zeferino Juarez, Familias Unidas por la Justicia

Luis Jimenez, Alianza Agricola

Chris Ramsaroop, Justicia for Migrant Workers

Maria Martinez and Maria Carmona, Farmworker Association of Florida

Enrique Balcázar, Migrant Justice

Noemi Sanchez, Rural Migrant Ministry

Co-facilitator: Andrea Schmid, Pioneer Valley Workers Center

Co-facilitator: Jose Lopez, Food Chain Workers Alliance

Alvaro Juarez Zeferino, Familias Unidas Por La Justicia

Sunday June 19, 2022 9:00am - 10:30am CDT
Mirabel

Worker centers

10:45am CDT

Building Strong Unions in High-Turnover Workplaces (S)

When a workplace churns workers or high turnover is built into the job, maintaining a union structure can feel like trying to hold onto a fistful of sand. Learn from panelists who have developed strategies to keep their organizations active in spite of the challenge.

Speakers

Chris Baehrend

Ted Miin

Jennifer Gott, Teamsters Local 710

Isaiah Gutman, Union of Grinnell Student Dining Workers

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
International Ballroom B

10:45am CDT

If We're Essential, Treat Us That Way: Organizing in the Pandemic (S)

On the front lines of the pandemic, the workers who were called essential were often treated as disposable: understaffed, short on protective gear, and trapped in an intensified version of their old jobs under harrowing conditions with no end in sight. Hear how health care workers, educators, postal workers, and transit workers have stood up for their rights and built collective power in scary times.

Speakers

Sarah Jaffe, Belabored podcast, author of Work Won't Love You Back

Sultana Adams, Transit (ATU) Local 192

Travis Albert, Letter Carriers Branch 2

Kristen Perez, Illinois Nurses

Ilona Nanay, Movement of Rank-and-File Educators, United Federation of Teachers

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
Rosemont AB

10:45am CDT

Starbucks Solidarity Organizing Meeting

By the time you're reading this, Starbucks workers will have officially organized nearly 100 stores, with hundreds more in the works. Workers at multiple stores have gone on strike to win back fired workers’ jobs or get safety issues addressed. But winning a first contract at all 9,000 Starbucks stores will take a mass movement, with help from local labor activists supporting on the picket line and beyond. Join this organizing meeting to learn how you can plug in.

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
Grand Ballroom B

10:45am CDT

Race and Labor (S)

Speakers

Ethel Everett, SEIU Local 509

Kim Moore, United Domestic Workers of America, AFSCME Local 3930

Director of Education & Training

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
LAX

Black workers and Juneteenth

10:45am CDT

Climate Action: Creating 21st-Century Jobs and Justice

From wildfires across the U.S. West to arctic blasts in Texas, from lives lost to heatstroke to jobs lost to the transitions away from fossil fuels, most of our unions and communities are already being affected by changes in our climate. Find out how you can get involved to establish more equitable and resilient workplaces, better jobs, and a more just society while also addressing our climate crisis directly. Learn activities and ideas you can bring back to your union or organization.

Speakers

Kari Thompson

Director of International Strategies and Co-Director of Education, UE

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
Midway

Climate

10:45am CDT

Building a Caucus and Transforming Your Union

Rank-and-file caucuses are key to transforming our unions to become more democratic, transparent, and militant. Hear from union members building caucuses at the local, state, and national level about how they got started and how they are pushing their unions from the bottom up.

Speakers

Shira Cohen

Kristen French and Claire LaBrosa, Rochester Rank-and-File Educators

Mary Nowocien, Communications Workers Local 1168

Director of Organizing/Mobilizing, CWA 1168

Martha Grevatt, Unite All Workers for Democracy

Tom Modica, Rank-and-File Caucus, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
Paris

Democracy Is Power

10:45am CDT

Democracy Is Power: Fighting for One Member, One Vote

The year 2021 was marked by two great victories for national union reform efforts that have been in the making for decades: the Teamsters for a Democratic Union-backed slate sweeping into national office, and Auto Workers winning the right to directly elect their national officers. Hear from two leaders of these movements on how they won the "one member, one vote" rule in the Teamsters and in the Auto Workers, and why the ability to directly elect national union leaders matters.

Speakers

Scott Houldieson, Auto Workers Local 551, Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD)

Ken Paff, Teamsters for a Democratic Union

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
International Ballroom C

Democracy Is Power

10:45am CDT

Educator Member Organizers: Making It Work

How can educators find time to do the work of the union? Given that the paid workyear for educators is often 10 months long, it can be logistically challenging for a union to pull members out of their regular jobs for extended periods on union business leave. This workshop will explore different models that unions can use to engage leaders and activists in longer-term internal organizing efforts using a combination of union business leave and stipends.

Speakers

Heather Carroll-Fisher, Montgomery County Education Association

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
Narita B

Educators

10:45am CDT

Educators on Strike

Strikes are our most powerful weapon. Hear educators from the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and the Chicago Teachers Union discuss how to build power towards a strike and sustain power through it, the complexities of agreements, and then how to assess the strike's success and determine next steps.

Speakers

Gillian Russom

Ma-Riah Roberson-Moody, Greta Callahan, and Dan Trocolli, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers

Debby Pope and Tamica Berry, Chicago Teachers

Maggie Canniff, Justin Brown, Jessica Wender-Shubow, Brookline Educators Union

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
International Ballroom E

Educators

10:45am CDT

When We Fight: Film Screening and Discussion

When We Fight is a short documentary about the Los Angeles educators strike of 2019, highlighting the stories of some of the women who led it. The film will be followed by a discussion led by Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of United Teachers Los Angeles.

Speakers

yoni golijov

Yael Bridge, director/producer

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
Heathrow B

Educators

10:45am CDT

LGBTQ+ Workers Meeting

Education Coordinator, SEIU

I'm a longtime labor educator and organizer, trying to take my skills into the virtual space!

Ivan Pardo, Rideshare Drivers United

Alli Carlisle, Auto Workers Local 2865

Kindre Batliner, IUE-CWA Local 83761

Karen Buchen and Catina Taylor, Minneapolis Federation of Teachers

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
Grand Ballroom A

Nuts and bolts

10:45am CDT

Maintaining Density in a Right-to-Work State

Open shop conditions don't have to be a death sentence. This workshop will cover strategies for building and maintaining stronger unions even under so-called "right to work."

Speakers

Bryan Trafford, Teamsters Local 89

David Thornsberry, Teamsters Local 89

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
United B

Nuts and bolts

10:45am CDT

Making Meetings Better (S)

Union meetings are essential for strong, democratic organizations—but everyone has experienced bad meetings that make people feel worse. In this workshop you'll learn techniques to keep meetings constructive and on track, and give everyone a chance to participate.

Speakers

Joe Fahey

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
Lambert

Nuts and bolts

10:45am CDT

Using Social Media to Organize

Social media can be great for sharing information, agitating, and educating. The examples on this panel do all that and will delight you with their cleverness. But the panelists will also consider the limitations of social media for organizing.

Speakers

Harinee

New nurse, volunteer organizer with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee

Sofya Aptekar

CUNY PSC & Rank and File Action

Mandi Jung, Saint Paul Federation of Educators

Teacher, SPFE

Maybe you’ve seen me on TikTok? I can be found @sabocat 🐈‍⬛I used my platform to share information about the recent historic strike by Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and to talk about labor issues, specifically lean production in education.Catch me presenting about my... Read More →

Billiam Rodgers, Meow Wolf Workers Collective, Communications Workers Local 7055

Facilitator: Aparna Gopalan, higher ed union organizer and researcher

Selena and Reagan, Strippers United

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
London

Nuts and bolts

10:45am CDT

Building Municipal Working-Class Power

How can working people build independent political power? Hear from activists involved in projects across the country about their efforts to fight for working-class interests in struggles for affordable housing, police reform, diverse city hiring, union organizing, and more.

Speakers

Facilitator: Stephanie Luce, Professional Staff Congress

Jeff Crosby, New Lynn Coalition

Claudia Jimenez, Richmond Progressive Alliance

Emma Tai, United Working Families

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
Florence

Politics and connecting the dots

10:45am CDT

Secrets of a Successful Organizer: Turning an Issue into a Campaign

Speakers

Kendra

Asst. Exec. Director, Kenosha Education Association

Bo McClung, Pacific Environment

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
O'Hare Ballroom

Secrets of a Successful Organizer

10:45am CDT

Assertive Grievance Handling

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
DFW

Stewards

10:45am CDT

Contract Enforcement Toolkit

This workshop will explore rights and tools that stewards and rank-and-file union members have, and how you can use them to investigate grievances, make information requests, and defend members during interviews and hearings.

Speakers

Dustin Roach, Teamsters Local 135

Sunday June 19, 2022 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT
Logan

Stewards

10:45am CDT

Latino Workers Going on Offense (S)

Learn about the dynamic organizing that Latino workers have led across the country and get some ideas about how to wage similar struggles for dignity on the job and in the community. We’ll hear from poultry workers organizing for health in safety at Tyson in Arkansas; construction workers fighting abusive landlords in gentrifying Nashville; gig workers from Mexico and Guatemala organizing to fight their app-based bosses across New York City for access to bathrooms and better wages; and construction workers in Queens banding together to help their communities recover from a devastating hurricane.

Speakers

Worker centers