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PAST CONFERENCES
Troublemakers
Song of the Month
Pat Wynne
When Rats Dream
by Pat Wynne, Bernard Gilbert
People at the Labor Notes conference
Main Session speakers at "Rebuilding Labor's Power"
Rose Ann DeMoro, Executive Director of the California Nurses Association.
"Labor must be in the forefront of the broad social movement we need to win single-payer health care reform. For unions, it is the only solution to the escalating employer demands for health care takeaways and cost shifting, and the best way to fight outsourcing of jobs to other countries. The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee is a longtime critic of corporate, insurance-based medical care and incremental reforms. We look forward to working with other labor activists at the Labor Notes Conference on this fundamental campaign."
Robert Whiteside, bargaining chair for UAW Local 3520.
The local represents workers at truck manufacturer Freightliner in Cleveland, North Carolina, and Whiteside is proud to be a Southern union member. He is one of five former local officers who were fired from Freightliner and now fight to remain members of their union after leading a one-day strike in the face of a concessionary contract. Whiteside and the other leaders in the "Freightliner Five" helped organize their plant into what is now one of the largest UAW locals in North Carolina.
Anita Chan, Contemporary China Center, Australian National University.
Chan, born and educated in Hong Kong, has worked in Hong Kong, the U.S.,
Canada, and the U.K., and now at the Australian National University. She is a
globally recognized expert on Chinese labor, with many articles and books on
Chinese workers' conditions, the union in China, and labor rights. Anita is
a committed campaigner in the struggle for labor rights to be recognized as
human rights.
Baldemar Velásquez, President of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO.
FLOC is both a social movement and a labor union of migrant workers in the agricultural industry. FLOC works with immigrant workers, Latinos, communities in Ohio and North Carolina, and national and international coalitions concerned with justice. Baldemar Velásquez is recognized as a national and international leader in many areas, including farmworker, immigrant, Latino, labor, and environmental affairs.
Sal Rosselli, President, SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West.
SEIU UHW-West is a 150,000-member union of hospital, nursing home and homecare workers in California. Sal has recently emerged as a leading voice for union democracy inside SEIU, challenging a move to centralize control of organizing and bargaining at the national level. He has been a long-time activist in the struggle for gay and lesbian rights and the fight for health care reform.
Richard Berg, President of Chicago Teamster Local 743
Berg forged the New Leadership Slate that ousted long time old guard officers who had stolen a previous election. Local 743 represents a range of non-traditional Teamsters in manufacturing, hospital, nursing home and clerical positions. The New Leadership team has initiated education and outreach efforts to put the membership at the center of the union. Berg credits Teamsters for a Democratic Union and events like the Labor Notes conference for helping him with the information, analysis, and tools necessary to launch a new day for working Teamsters in Local 743.
It's a tradition to celebrate the Labor Notes conference through the "I'll be there!" feature, charting a few of the labor activists that make the conference what it is.
"I'LL BE THERE!"
"Labor must be in the forefront of the broad social movement we need to win single-payer health care reform. For unions, it is the only solution to the escalating employer demands for health care takeaways and cost shifting, and the best way to fight outsourcing of jobs to other countries. The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee is a longtime critic of corporate, insurance-based medical care and incremental reforms. We look forward to working with other labor activists at the Labor Notes Conference on this fundamental campaign." —Rose Ann DeMoro, Executive Director, California Nurses Association |
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I'll be at the Labor Notes conference because after this year's contract talks with the Big 3 auto companies, it's more important than ever that auto workers, particularly newer members, have a chance to meet one another and strategize about how we can work together for better contracts." —Todd Jordan, UAW 292, Future of the Union Webmaster |
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"You bet I’ll be at the 2008 Labor Notes conference! Since the mad media looks at immigrants as scapegoats and unions as greedy and ineffective, it’s a great opportunity for workers centers to build ties with low-wage workers and union activists to stop this continued onslaught. Labor Notes is where the best ideas I’ve heard come from and where I am reminded why we’re still fighting!" —José Oliva, National Coordinator, Workers’ Centers Network |
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"We'll definitely be there! Sending a group from our local means we come back with a team ready to engage our membership and beat an arrogant university administration. The upcoming Labor Notes conference is the best place to train our new folks and make sure that we fight to win!" —Phyllis Walker, President of AFSCME Local 3800 |
"We'll be there because sending a group to the last Labor Notes conference was invaluable to us. Labor Notes has helped us develop leaders and create a better model that works for our members. Nowhere today is there a space like the Labor Notes conference to bring together people that are invested in organizing and building a more vibrant labor movement." —United Workers of Baltimore |
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"Labor Notes is an internationally recognized organization of great importance in the development and education of workers. In collaboration with CILAS, Labor Notes exposed the truth of NAFTA to workers in Mexico and the U.S.—even before it was ratified." "We'll be at the 2008 conference to continue this collective work between CILAS and Labor Notes with our sights on re-evaluating the economic realities and policies that are bringing down the conditions of workers on our continent." —Héctor de la Cueva, Centro de Investigación Laboral y Asesoría Sindical/Labor Research Center, Mexico |
"Undocumented workers are under an unprecedented attack. And what many people do not realize is that an attack on undocumented workers is an attack on working people in general. That's why it's necessary to attend the upcoming Labor Notes conference, so we can discuss this issue." “Actualmente los indocumentados están sufriendo un hostigamiento sin precedentes. De lo que mucha gente no se da cuenta es que atacar a los indocumentados es atacar a la clase trabajadora en general. Por eso es necesario asistir a la próxima conferencia de Labor Notes, para discutir esta problemática.” —Jorge Mujica, Movimiento 10 de Marzo, Chicago |
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"Voces de la Frontera's defense of immigrant workers and activism on worker and immigration issues has put Milwaukee on the map and now we're the target of the conservative media. What an honor! The Labor Notes conference is a wonderful opportunity for us to exchange strategies with other activists from around the country and the world." "“En Voces de la Frontera estamos constantemente educando a la comunidad sobre la necesidad de hacer hincapié en la defensa de los derechos de trabajadores inmigrantes. Nuestra labor a puesto a Milwaukee en la mira nacional y ahora somos el blanco de los comentaristas de noticieros conservadores. ¡Que gran honor! La conferencia de Labor Notes nos dará una gran oportunidad de compartir e intercambiar estrategias con otros activistas nacionales e internacionales.” —Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Director, Voces de la Frontera Workers' Center |
"FLOC is constantly fighting for farmworkers’ rights here and across the border. We’ve already given the cucumber farm owners a big lesson, and now we’re targeting the tobacco owners in North Carolina. The message that we’ll bring to the Labor Notes conference is that the farmworker movement is not the illegitimate child of unionism. Let’s do this together!" “FLOC esta constantemente luchando por campesinos aquí y más allá de las fronteras. Ya le dimos una buena lección a los rancheros del pepino. Ahora siguen los del tabaco en Carolina del Norte. El mensaje que llevamos a la conferencia de Labor Notes es que el movimiento de trabajadores campesinos no es hijo ilegitimo del sindicalismo. Ya basta, ¡hay que estar juntos!” —Baldemar Velásquez, Presidente del Comité pro Organización de Campesinos/Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO (FLOC) |
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"I'm encouraging CWA locals to send members to the Labor Notes conference because it's a great opportunity to share resources among our locals and with other unionists in similar industries including the public sector and health care. For our brothers and sisters in the telecom industry, we'll be meeting to strategize about the big contracts that are up this year and next. Don't miss it!" —Steve Early, Labor Notes Policy Committee Member, former CWA organizer |
"My local is planning to send delegates to the upcoming Labor Notes conference. We believe it is important to build solidarity among all workers and this conference is the place to do that! Our goal is to strengthen our collective voice so we can fight for all workers, whether they are in a union or not." —Leonard Riley, International Longshoremen's Association Local 1422, Longshore Workers' Coalition Co-Chair |
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"We are organizing a delegation of building trades workers from the carpenters, plumbers and pipe-fitters, electricians, sheetmetal workers, and ironworkers to go to the Labor Notes conference because it's a great opportunity to build cross-trade solidarity—locally and nationally." —Portland Cross-Trade Solidarity Committee |
"I always attend the Labor Notes conference—it is inspiring. You hear stories from and meet people who not only talk about making labor a fighting movement—they live it. "As a postal worker who is well aware that the top leadership of various postal unions are often squabbling with each other, it is always refreshing to get together with progressive brothers and sisters from the APWU, NALC and NPMHU for a friendly and fruitful discussion of postal union issues." —Paul Felton, Executive Board Member, 480-481 Area Local, APWU |
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