Today, the following action sessions are taking place from 12:30-2 p.m. PDT. Check out the schedule below, and don't forget to live-tweet using the hashtag #aflcio13:

Anyone Can Join, Everyone Should: Models for Alternative Membership

Room 402-B

There are lots of workers who want raises, rights and respect on the job but aren’t able or ready to select a representative for collective bargaining or join an affiliate as a traditional member yet. We need to open our doors to anyone who wants to work with others to make their jobs better, raise standards in their industries or communities and fight for good jobs and economic democracy. We can do this through associate member and other nontraditional membership programs and through Working America. In this action session you will hear about several different approaches to associate member programs at the AFT, the Ironworkers (Ironworkers Associates of Working America) and IATSE (Reel Working America). Additionally, Working America will outline ways that state federations and central labor councils can use Working America to build the labor movement in their communities.The format will be interactive, and participants will have the opportunity to break out for more focused discussion depending on their area of interest.

Moderator: David Wehde, Organizing Director, Working America

Speakers:

• Phil Kugler, Assistant to the President for Organizing and Field Services, AFT

• Bernie Evers, Chief of Staff/Executive Assistant to the General President, Ironworkers

• Jon Hendry, President, New Mexico Federation of Labor; Business Agent, IATSE Local 480

• Debbie Reid, Assistant to the President, IATSE

Art and Activism 101: The Creative Power of Arts and Culture as a Catalyst for Action

Solidarity Stage 1

The creative power of arts and culture is a catalyst for action. Join a dynamic group of artists for this session on strategies and tactics for integrating visual art, music, dance and performance into rallies, marches and even meetings. This action session will include a participatory creative workshop—building and designing visual props for a Monday evening action.

Moderator: Ana Avendaño, Assistant to the President for Immigration and Community Action, AFL-CIO

Speakers:

• Michelle Miller, Arts & Democracy

• Ramiro Gomez, Arts & Democracy

• Caron Atlas, Arts & Democracy

Ask Me About the Future: Young Workers Speak Up!

Room 403-A

This action session will look at the question of how to engage more young people in the labor movement. What turns young people into labor activists? How do we use their ideas and energy to transform our work? Why is it important to develop young leaders? What are the dos and don’ts when engaging young workers in organizing and political action? And how do we adapt our strategies, partnerships and attitudes to meet young people where they’re at? The session will include:

• An honest and open dialogue about the opportunities and challenges of bringing young people into the labor movement.

• An action-oriented discussion to identify priorities and hone a plan to build capacity for local young worker groups and union initiatives, including policy and political programs; develop effective leadership training for young workers; and utilize creative organizing strategies to bridge the generation gap.

This session is for all ages! Prepare to take action and involve young people in the labor movement!

Speakers:

• Jennifer Gray, Organizer, IBEW Local 1245

• Carmen Berkley, Director, Civil and Human Rights Department, AFL-CIO; former Executive Director of Generational Alliance

• Galen Hooks, Dancer and Choreographer, Chair of Dancers’ Alliance, SAG-AFTRA

• Rosa Blumenfeld, Lead Organizer, Greater Boston Labor Council, AFL-CIO

Sponsored by the AFL-CIO’s national Young Workers Advisory Council (YWAC) and the AFL-CIO NextUp Young Workers Program.

Audacity Over Austerity: 10 Years of Raising Wages and Workers’ Rights in Brazil

Room 403-B

Between 2003 and 2013, 40 million Brazilians climbed out of poverty. Strong collective bargaining and minimum wage adjustments and legislation increased real wages for most workers, leading to strong consumer demand. At the same time, many workers—often women and people of color—who were previously excluded from formal employment and Social Security coverage, gained employment and fuller citizenship. In workplaces and broader political issues, unions have pushed democracy and development in Brazil in the right direction—even during the global financial and jobs crisis. As recent protests for a fairer tax system and quality public services show, this work is not done. Brazilians from major national organizations—CUT, Força Sindical and UGT—and AFL-CIO affiliates will discuss their model of social movement unionism and collaboration in organizing campaigns, enlisting participants to learn and join in.

Moderator: Brian Finnegan, Global Workers’ Rights Coordinator, AFL-CIO

Speakers:

• Vagner Freitas, President, CUT-Brasil

• Ricardo Patah, President, UGT-Brasil

• Miguel Torres, President of CNTM (metalworkers federation) and Vice-President of Força Sindical

• Bob King, President, UAW

• Larry Cohen, President, CWA

Deepening Faith Engagement: Best Practices for Collaboration

Room 406-A

How can labor and the faith community collaborate more closely together? This action session will look at the best practices around deep and meaningful engagement of faith communities in economic justice and labor issues. It will recommend ways to avoid short-term transactional relationships and move toward true long-term partnerships. Case study highlights include the Patriot Coal campaign.

Moderator: Rabbi Laurie Coskey, Executive Director, Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice of San Diego

Speakers:

• The Rev. C.J. Hawking, Executive Director, Arise Chicago

• Phil Smith, Communications Director, UMWA

• Kim Bobo, Executive Director, Interfaith Worker Justice

Don’t Be a Stranger: Labor–Management Partnerships in the Global Age

Room 402-A

This action session will highlight three studies of cases that have been successful at meeting the needs of employers, employees and communities by creating effective and innovative partnerships. These partnerships link the very best of unions, employers and academia to build new business models that work. Participants will engage in a discussion about labor-management partnerships on the job site, citywide coalitions for reviving manufacturing and labor-academia partnerships that provide manufacturing start-ups with skilled union labor.

Moderator: Amanda Pacheco, Education Director, IBEW

Speakers:

• Paul O’Connor, President, Portsmouth Metal Trades Council

• Jorge Ramirez, President, Chicago Federation of Labor

• Dan Swinney, Executive Director, Manufacturing Renaissance Council

• Rick Bloomingdale, President, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO

• Frank Snyder, Secretary-Treasurer, Pennsylvania AFL-CIO

• Timothy McNulty, Associate Vice President, Carnegie Mellon University

Expanding the Pie: How Unions Can Partner with Foundations

Room 404-A

This session will give participants a general overview of how foundations work and focus on three partnerships between labor unions and foundations. These partnerships are: The New York Education Justice Fund, the Labor Innovation for the Twenty-First Century (LIFT) Fund and Wall Street Accountability. We will have ample time for the audience to ask funders questions about how foundations work.

Moderator: Anna Fink, Senior Adviser for Philanthropy and Innovation, AFL-CIO

Speakers:

• LaToia Jones, Assistant Director, Human Rights and Community Relations Department, AFT

• Oona Chatterjee, Founder, New York Education Justice Fund

• Dania Rajendra, Program Director, Neighborhood Funders Group

• Laine Romero-Alston, Program Officer, Ford Foundation

• Anna Lefer-Kuhn, Executive Director, Arca Foundation

• Damon Silvers, Policy Director, AFL-CIO

Gearing Up for the Fall Budget Battles

Room 408-B

This session will give participants a preview of what to expect in budget battles this fall and equip them with the information and understanding they need to make a difference for working people in this fight. The key issues in the coming debate are the same core demands that union members have been making for the past two years—end budget austerity and focus instead on the real crisis of unemployment and stagnant wages; repeal sequestration cuts that are strangling our economy; stop any benefit cuts to Medicare, Medicaid or Social Security; and ask Wall Street and the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share in taxes. The session will feature a lobbying training session with participants playing the roles of a member of Congress and a constituent. Throughout the conversation, successful strategies around communications, social media and mobilization will be highlighted.

Moderator: Kelly Ross, Deputy Policy Director, AFL-CIO

Speakers:

• Bill Samuel, Director of Government Affairs, AFL-CIO

• Jacque Simon, Policy Director, AFGE

• Dani Pere, Field Director, Alliance for Retired Americans

• Ross Eisenbrey, Vice President, Economic Policy Institute (EPI)

Infrastructure, Jobs and Reducing Emissions: Upgrading Natural Gas Distribution Systems

Room 406-B

This action session is a workshop to discuss our national effort to fund long-term upgrades of natural gas distribution systems and get participants started on building the local coalition needed to be successful. Upgrading natural gas distribution systems can create tens of thousands of jobs over a decade or more, mostly in the construction occupations but also in manufacturing. These upgrades would reduce fugitive methane emissions that cost consumers millions and contribute to climate change. The AFL-CIO and the Blue Green Alliance have formed a partnership to work across the nation helping unions and utilities build the case for these upgrades. Come see if we can help you start a project in your hometown.

Moderator: Brad Markell, Executive Director, Industrial Union Council, AFL-CIO

Speakers:

• Dave Foster, Executive Director, Blue Green Alliance

• Roxanne Brown, Assistant Legislative Director, USW

• David Barnett, Special Representative, UA

• Carl Wood, National Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs, UWUA

Lessons from the State Battles

Room 404-B

Since the 2010 election, unions have been the top target of the resurgent right wing. There are plenty of lessons from both our wins and our defeats, lessons we’ll need to appreciate as the state battles continue. Veterans of the battles will share reflections, including what we’re learning from message-testing this year.

Moderator: Paul Booth, Executive Assistant to the President, AFSCME

Speakers:

• Will Robinson, President, The New Media Firm

• Tom Russell, Consultant

• Jan Schaffer, Northeast Regional Campaign Coordinator, AFL-CIO

Pop Ed 101: Using Popular Education for Social Change

Solidarity Stage 2

This interactive, activity-based workshop will demonstrate tools used by the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON) to analyze immigration and worker issues and build leadership skills based on the principles of popular education and experiences from Latin America and the United States. Come learn about the guiding principles of popular education and explore the tools and techniques that organizers and educators can apply directly to what you already are doing.

Speakers:

• Nadia Marin-Molina, Worker Rights Program Coordinator/Staff Attorney, NDLON

• B. Loewe, Communications Director, NDLON

Power Partnerships: Labor–Community Campaigns That Build Worker Power

Room 308-A/B

This session will focus on how to engage in policy campaigns that build the base. It will focus on three examples: carwash campaigns, paid sick days campaigns and the AFT’s transformational partnerships with community. Participants will learn about these campaigns and best practices.

Moderator: Carol Joyner, National Policy Director, Labor Project for Working Families

Speakers:

• Tony Perlstein, Lead Organizer, Center for Popular Democracy

• Lorretta Johnson, Secretary-Treasurer, AFT

• Deb Axt, Co-Director, Make the Road New York

• Dave Mertz, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, UFCW

Privatization: Collaborative Strategies for Fighting Back

Room 405

The session will give a brief overview of the larger threats of privatization to the economy, the labor movement and democracy in the United States. We will look at successful strategies and messaging that have worked in cases to educate and recruit community allies, train members and win privatization battles.

Moderator: Donald Cohen, Executive Director, In the Public Interest

Speakers:

• Ruby Newbold, Vice President, AFT Michigan

• Ken Allen, Executive Director, AFSCME Council 75

• Cliff Guffey, President, APWU

• Additional representatives from unions engaged in anti-privatization campaigns

What’s Digital Strategies?

Boots Online Digital Booth

Curious about digital? Not sure where to get started? We’ll demystify how digital organizing works, and how to get you or your organization started, so you can join the conversation. This session will give a basic overview of why you should invest in digital, how to talk about it to your employees or supervisors and how to measure its impact so you get results.

Speaker:

• Rachel LaBruyere, Deputy Director, Digital Strategies

Who Is Trying to Steal Our Democracy and What We Can Do to Stop Them?

Room 306-A/B

Our democracy is under attack. Voting rights are being eroded as state legislatures nationwide pass voter suppression laws under the pretext of preventing voter fraud and safeguarding election integrity. These voter suppression laws take many forms, and collectively lead to significant burdens for eligible voters trying to exercise their most fundamental constitutional right. This session will seek to showcase how the labor movement and our allies are fighting back. It will highlight the strategies and tactics that have been successfully used to win back our democratic rights and how we can work together in the future to stop the attacks.

Moderator: Fred Redmond, International Vice President, USW

Speakers:

• Judith Browne Dianis, Director, Advancement Project

• MaryBe McMillan, Secretary-Treasurer, North Carolina State AFL-CIO

• Claude Cummings, Vice President, Region 6, CWA

• Peggy Shorey, Deputy Director, Government Affairs, AFL-CIO

Winning for Texas Workers

Room 408-A

In this century, the population of Texas has grown more than twice as fast as the rest of the country, as the state has added 5 million residents since 2000. The two metro areas with the highest growth in the country are both in Texas: Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, which each added 1.5 million residents. The state also has seen the greatest growth in GDP and is home to 52 Fortune 500 companies. Democrats have not won statewide office since 1994, but Texas has been a majority-minority state since 2005, and two-thirds of its growth has been Latino. Overall union density is only 5.7%, but Texas is one of a few states that has seen its density increase in recent years. However, Texas has the lowest voter turnout in the country and has cleverly drawn legislative maps that allow very few competitive races for state and congressional seats. Clearly Texas cannot be ignored, yet its size can seem overwhelming. There is a congressional and Senate district that are each larger than France. How can labor organize significant numbers of new members in a giant “right to work” for less state? How can labor turn out the vote to shift politics in this state, and thus the whole country? Some efforts by the Texas AFL-CIO and affiliates already are under way. This session is an opportunity to hear about these efforts and to brainstorm together about more ways to successfully combine political and organizing work to win the Lone Star State for workers.

Moderator: Becky Moeller, President, Texas AFL-CIO

Speakers:

• Richard Shaw, Secretary-Treasurer, Harris County (Texas) AFL-CIO Council

• Linda Bridges, President, Texas AFT

• Marvin Ragsdale, Ironworkers

• Cristina Tzintzun, Executive Director, Workers Defense Project

• Mike Cunningham, Texas Building Trades

Check out aflcio2013.org for a full convention schedule.