2026 Labor Notes Conference: Full Schedule

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10:00am CDT

Lessons from Health Care and Hospital Strikes

Friday June 12, 2026 10:00am - 11:45am CDT

Worsening conditions in medicine are inspiring militancy in health care unions around the country. Learn from recent examples of powerful strikes and their lessons learned about strike-worthy demands, inoculating co-workers, escalation in the contract campaign and during the walkout, and how crucial democracy and transparency are.

Moderators

Michelle Gonzalez

New York State Nurses

Speakers

Goodness Iheanachor

New York State Nurses

Beth Loudin

New York State Nurses

Gina Ottinger

Oregon Nurses

Kristen Perez

Illinois Nurses

Friday June 12, 2026 10:00am - 11:45am CDT
Vienna

Strikes Health Care Workers

1:00pm CDT

Chokepoints for Supply Chain Workers

Friday June 12, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT

London

(Part of the Railroad Workers United convention, but open to all.) By understanding production systems and supply chains, and drawing on our own experience, logistics workers can identify chokepoints and vulnerabilities that give us leverage to win. Historically workers have used this power to win better wages, benefits, and working conditions, and even to block arms from being shipped to war zones, such as to Central America in the 1980s or Gaza last fall. Lessons from those actions apply to the war on Iran today.

Moderators

Gifford Hartman

Peralta Federation of Teachers

Speakers

Peter Olney

Longshore (ILWU)

Sam Levens

Inlandboatmen's Union (IBU-ILWU) and International Transport Workers Federation (ITF)

Billy Randel

Truckers Movement for Justice

Friday June 12, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
London

Strikes Strategy

1:00pm CDT

Can Political Strikes Restore Labor's Power?

Friday June 12, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT

Grand Ballroom B

Strikes can demand a lot more than a raise. Minnesota unions and community organizations held a mass strike in January, demanding to kick out ICE, deny it further funding, and hold officers accountable for killings. The Chicago Teachers Union won a demand to make May 1 a day of civic action, allowing educators and students to participate in the national day of no, work, no school, no shopping. Hear from organizers who were on the front lines, pushing boundaries of what a fighting labor movement can win.

Moderators

Alex Han

May Day Strong

Speakers

Matt Bach

Massachusetts Teachers Association

Jackson Potter

Chicago Teachers Union

Kieran F. Knutson

Communications Workers Local 7250

Marcia Howard

Minneapolis Federation of Educators

Friday June 12, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Grand Ballroom B

Strikes Strategy Politics

3:05pm CDT

Immigrant Workers Unbossed, Rising Up and Organizing

Friday June 12, 2026 3:05pm - 4:50pm CDT

Florence

In these harrowing times, immigrant workers continue to fight for each other—and against the boss. Learn about their campaigns and tactics to overcome a climate of fear and build collective power.

Moderators

Sonia Singh

NewsGuild of New York

Speakers

Pablo Acuna

SEIU Local 26

Yolanda Barron Carmona

UNITE HERE Local 2

Walter Hernandez

New Labor

Friday June 12, 2026 3:05pm - 4:50pm CDT
Florence

Immigrant Workers Strikes Spanish-Language Workshops Overcoming Divisions

5:10pm CDT

Picket Signs that Pack a Powerful Punch

Friday June 12, 2026 5:10pm - 6:40pm CDT

United B

A good picket sign helps distill the core message of your campaign into a clear demand with a specific targets. It's also an opportunity for creativity and wit, with the ultimate goal of bringing supporters in and keeping members out one day longer. We'll be making signs in this workshop!

Moderators

Karen Sanchez

SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West

Speakers

Verraine Fritz

Starbucks Workers United

Friday June 12, 2026 5:10pm - 6:40pm CDT
United B

Arts and Culture Strikes

5:10pm CDT

Big Strikes, Big Power

Friday June 12, 2026 5:10pm - 6:40pm CDT

Grand Ballroom B

Three thousand Boeing Machinists in St. Louis, who build F-15 and F-18 fighter jets, struck last summer. Four thousand meatpacking workers in Greeley, Colorado, walked out in March on the industry’s first major strike in 40 years. And in 2023, nurses with the 80,000-member FIQ in Quebec struck after rejecting a contract offer. Hear how taking militant action has strengthened their unions.

Moderators

Barry Eidlin

Association of McGill Professors of the Faculty of Arts

Speakers

Joshua Arnold

Machinists District 837

Sebastien Bouchard

Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec, Canada

Kim Cordova

Food and Commercial Workers Local 7

Friday June 12, 2026 5:10pm - 6:40pm CDT
Grand Ballroom B

Strikes

5:10pm CDT

No Work, No School, No Shopping: Organizing for Mass Disruption

Friday June 12, 2026 5:10pm - 6:40pm CDT

Grand Ballroom C

Hear how unions got in gear to participate in Minnesota's January 23 strike and economic blackout. How did the rapid-response networks, the defensive side of the fight, and the workers' movement, the offensive side, relate to each other and help build power? What was the interplay between the 2020 George Floyd Uprising and the resistance to ICE? How did public schools become hubs of resistance?

Moderators

Strikes Political Education

2026 Labor Notes Conference

10:00am CDT

Michelle Gonzalez

Goodness Iheanachor

Beth Loudin

Gina Ottinger

Kristen Perez

1:00pm CDT

Gifford Hartman

Peter Olney

Sam Levens

Billy Randel

1:00pm CDT

Alex Han

Matt Bach

Jackson Potter

Kieran F. Knutson

Marcia Howard

3:05pm CDT

Sonia Singh

Pablo Acuna

Yolanda Barron Carmona

Walter Hernandez

5:10pm CDT

Karen Sanchez

Verraine Fritz

5:10pm CDT

Barry Eidlin

Joshua Arnold

Sebastien Bouchard

Kim Cordova

5:10pm CDT

Kip Hedges

Marcia Howard

Kieran F. Knutson

Dan Mendez Moore

Leah VanDassor

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