Organizers from labor unions, student and community groups, and worker centers will gather this weekend to discuss strategies and tactics for growing worker power. The convening will demonstrate that workers continue to find new and creative ways to exercise their collective voice even in the face of right-wing opposition in states like Wisconsin, unfair treatment of workers in major sectors such as the oil and gas industry, and rampant income inequality.
The National Organizers Workshop will be hosted by the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute, with over 600 participants coming from across the country and the world. Organizers developed the workshops, will lead the workshops and will address the challenges and opportunities facing them. Workshop sessions range from supporting organizing efforts of communities of color to adapting to an ‘Uber-model’ economy.
“This weekend was inspired by workers and organizers on the front line of our movement,” said Elizabeth Bunn, Director of the AFL-CIO’s Organizing Department. “Together we’re writing our future and planning together how to win justice for workers and communities.”
This year’s conference, comprised of unions from both the AFL-CIO and the Change-to-Win coalition, is held in the wake of a year of significant successes for organizing within the labor movement. Organizing campaigns have raised wages for Walmart workers, cable television workers, hotel and hospitality workers, legal services workers, nurses, port truck drivers and more. Over the last several months, workers in diverse industries and occupations are forming unions at their workplaces including, bike share workers, reality television writers, graduate teaching assistants, adjunct faculty, and Silicon Valley bus drivers.
To learn more about the AFL-CIO’s Organizing Institute, visit their website by clicking here.
Contact: Anthony DeAngelo (202) 637-5018