A One Day Mini-Conference
Friday April 26 at the Graduate Center
Room 9206/9207
FREE
Livestream at:
http://videostreaming.gc.cuny.edu/videos/
This conference responds to the widespread perception among activists and students of the labor movement that the US unions are in severe crisis. We will try to explore why many of the mainstream unions have been in a virtual free-fall for the past thirty years that seems to have no end in sight. We will pay attention to both the decline of union density in the private sector and the attack against public workers and their unions.
At the same time we have witnessed signs of hope. The recent Occupy Wall Street movement can be described as, in part, a labor movement because many of its participants were unemployed, condemned to precarious, part-time or temporary labor, or chronically underemployed. There have been actions by workers centers, particularly domestic, restaurant and taxi workers in New York, and elsewhere. And do the nationwide minority strikes at WalMart and the brief walkout at fast food restaurants indicate new militancy among the working poor?
10am-Noon: The Struggle over Technology
With George Caffentzis and Stanley Aronowitz
Moderator, Tom Buechele
1pm-3pm: Accessing the Changing Nature of Work: Who are the New Labor Subjects?
With Immanuel Ness, Sarah Jaffe, and Josh Eidelson
Moderator, Karen Gregory
3:30pm-5:30pm: New Developments in the Labor Movement:
Can the Unions Survive/Revive or is a new Strategy for the Labor Movement Necessary?
With Penny Lewis, Jane McAlevey, and Ed Ott
Moderator, Stanley Aronowitz
