The Future of American Labor: Initiatives for a New Era

Sponsored by the Albert Shanker Institute, The Century Foundation and the Harrison Institute for Public Law
Co-Sponsored by: The American Prospect, Dissent, Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor Georgetown University, Center for Innovation in Worker Organization in the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations

In the face of the most concerted anti-union campaigns in more than a century, U.S. labor movement has shown resiliency and new energy. Far from being the knock out blow that its far right backers hoped, the Supreme Court’s Janus decision has been met with a ‘Teacher Insurgency,’ a series of powerful strikes that have taken up the defense of public education. Public sector unions have embarked on greater membership engagement and involvement, leading to growth in their ranks. Union activists and leaders, labor scholars and elected officials discussed the strategic lessons of the ‘Teacher Insurgency,’ the post-Janus work of public sector unions, the potential of sectoral bargaining, organizing among millennials and federal government legislative and policy initiatives on behalf of labor organizing.

Feb. 8, 2019, DAY 1

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WELCOME:

Conference Sponsors

A Legislative and Policy Agenda for American Labor

Introduction: Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers

Rep. Pramila Jayapal;(D-Wash.), Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus

Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY)

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Sectoral Bargaining Internationally: What Are The Lessons for American Labor?

Harvey Bischof, President, Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, Canada

Karen Curtis, Deputy Director, International Labor Standards Department, ILO

Keith Ewing, Professor of Law, King’s College London

John Hendy, General Counsel, UK Institute for Employment Rights

Carolyn Jones, Director UK Institute for Employment Rights

Cecilia Nahόn, Executive Director, Model G20 Initiative, American University School of International Service; Former Ambassador of Argentina to the United States

Moderator: Sandra Polaski, Independent Expert; former Deputy Director General, ILO

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Sectoral Bargaining: America’s Past, Present and Future

Kate Andrias, Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School

Craig Becker, General Counsel, AFL-CIO

Sarita Gupta, Co-Executive Director, Jobs with Justice

Bob King, Former President, The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America 

Chris Shelton, President, Communications Workers of America

Moderator: Larry Cohen, Former President, Communications Workers of America

Tom Perez, former U.S. Secretary of Labor; Chairman, Democratic National Committee

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Feb. 9, 2019, DAY 2

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Public Sector Unionism Moves Forward in the Wake of Janus

Mary Kay Henry, President, Service Employees International Union

Becky Pringle, Vice President, National Education Association

Lee Saunders, President, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees

Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers

Moderator: Harold Meyerson, Executive Editor, The American Prospect

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Teacher Insurgency: What Are The Strategic Challenges?  

Mary Best, President, AFT-Oklahoma

Leo Casey, Executive Director, Albert Shanker Institute
Link to Leo Casey's presentation

Elizabeth Davis, President, Washington Teachers’ Union

Juan Ramirez, Vice President, United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA)

Moderator: Kate Bronfenbrenner, Director of Labor Education Research, Senior Lecturer, Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations