The Challenge of Precarious Labor

Co-Sponsors:

AFL-CIO | American Federation of Teachers | The American Prospect
DISSENT | Center for Innovation in Worker Organization, Rutgers University
Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, Georgetown University | New Labor Forum 
United Association for Labor Education
with support from the 21st Century ILGWU Heritage Fund

#precariouslabor

Over the last four decades, precarious labor — unstable, contingent or part-time work that is poorly compensated and performed under difficult, exploitative conditions — has become increasingly central to the economies of the United States and other leading global powers. Entire sectors of the economy have been transformed by the growth and increasing dominance of these work arrangements. Today, precarious labor poses an immense challenge to the economic well-being of working people across the globe.

To address this challenge, this conference will bring together an international body of thinkers, analysts and activists to:

• develop a deeper understanding of changes in the political economy of global capitalism that have led the increasing prevalence of precarious work;
• share experiences among those involved in organizing precarious labor, from the service sector and domestic work to adjuncts in higher education;
• discuss how to address the rise of precarious work through law and public policy.

PROGRAM

INTRODUCATION AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS

INTRODUCTION: Leo Casey, executive director, Albert Shanker Institute

KEYNOTE ADDRESS:  Randi Weingarten, president, American Federation of Teachers and Albert Shanker Institute

Panel One: THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF PRECARIOUS LABOR

Arne Kalleberg, Kenan Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Guy Standing, professorial research associate, SOAS, University of London

Leah Vosko, professor of political science and Canada research chair, York University, Canada

Moderator: Cheryl Teare, Director, Union Leadership Institute, American Federation of Teachers

Panel Two: ORGANIZING ACADEMIC PRECARIOUS LABOR

               Angus Johnston, adjunct assistant professor, Hostos Community College; StudentActivism.net

 Hamilton Nolan, writer, Deadspin.com; former writer, Gawker.com

Moderator: Paul Dannenfelser, adjunct professor, Social Work, Temple University and Rutgers University

Panel Three: ORGANIZING PRECARIOUS LABOR

Janice Fine, associate professor of labor studies and employment relations, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University; director of research and strategy, Center for Innovation in Worker Organization, Rutgers University

Shannon Garth-Rhodes, communications coordinator, Fight for $15, western region, Service Employees International Union

Jose Garza, executive director, Workers Defense Project

Elly Kugler, director of policy, National Domestic Workers Alliance

J. J. Rosenbaum, Robina Fellow, Schell Center for International Human Rights, Yale Law School ; legal director legal director, New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice and the National Guestworker Alliance

Moderator: Paul Almeida, president, AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees

Panel Four: PRECARIOUS LABOR IN LABOR LAW AND POLICY

Sharon Block, principal deputy assistant secretary for policy, Department of Labor

Valerio De Stefano, researcher, BAFFI Center on International Markets, Money and Regulation; teaching fellow, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milan, Italy; technical officer, INWORK Branch of the Conditions of Work and Equality Department, International Labor Organization; author, “A Tale of Oversimplification and Deregulation: The Mainstream Approach to Labour Market Segmentation and the Recent Responses to the Crisis in European Countries”

David Madland, senior fellow and senior advisor, American Worker Project, Center for American Progress

Cathy Ruckelshaus, general counsel and program director, National Employment Law Project

Ben Sachs, Kestnbaum Professor of Labor and Industry, Harvard Law School

Moderator: Harold Meyerson, executive editor, American Prospect; member, Albert Shanker Institute Board of Directors

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