2026 Labor Notes Conference: Full Schedule

10:00am CDT

From Israel’s Genocide to U.S.’s Deportation Sweeps: Workers Organize for a Better World

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

Companies like Palantir, Amazon, and Google have long used Palestine as a testing ground for surveillance tech. Now these militarized technologies are being exported globally—including to the United States to enable anti-immigrant violence. Hear how workers are taking on these tech giants, from nurses defending their co-workers and patients from ICE terror, to painters and tech workers calling for divestment.

Moderators

Muna Abhari

BDS Movement

Speakers

Dan Albright

Painters

Jeffery Dix

SEIU Local 1021

Ramah Kudaimi

Action Center on Race & the Economy

Alex Samburov

No Tech for Apartheid

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

Politics

10:00am CDT

Tax the Rich! State Campaigns and Success Stories

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

Rosemont CD

So you want to tax the rich in your state? Hear about successful campaigns in Massachusetts and Washington and campaigns-in-progress elsewhere. What does it take to win? What obstacles will you encounter?

Moderators

Max Page

Educators for a Democratic Union, Massachussetts Teachers Association

Speakers

Jackson Potter

Chicago Teachers Union

Ariana Jacob

American Federation of Teachers-Oregon

Jeron Mariani

Massachusetts Fair Share

Mike Yestramski

Washington Federation of State Employees

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

Politics

1:00pm CDT

Building a Tax the Rich Campaign: The Nuts and Bolts

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

Sky Harbor

Learn from the winning campaign in Massachusetts! Get practical advice and Q&A on building a coalition, developing legislation or a ballot proposal, raising money, building a grassroots campaign, making sure the tax money collected gets spent the right way, and defending a victory against billionaire blowback.

Moderators

Max Page

Educators for a Democratic Union, Massachussetts Teachers Association

Speakers

Colette Berard

Andover Education Association

Eve Weinbaum

Massachusetts Society of Professors

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

Politics

1:00pm CDT

Running Labor Candidates for Public Office—What it Takes to Win

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

Grand Ballroom H

Union members are often encouraged to run for office—whether as independents, third-party candidates, or progressive, pro-labor Democrats. But making the transition from labor activism to electoral politics is not easy in a two-party system dominated by big money, where few working-class people hold public office. We’ll address the challenges of recruiting candidates and campaign volunteers, raising money, getting endorsements, and winning elections, using the skills and experience of past local union leadership or staff. Hear about running inside and outside the Democratic Party, at the state, local, and federal level.

Moderators

Steve Early

Labor for Bernie activist

Rand Wilson

Labor for Bernie activist

Speakers

Aleena Starks

Ohio Working Families Party

Francisco Ortiz

United Teachers of Richmond, California

David Marshall

CWA Local 6215, Texas AFL-CIO

Scott Houldieson

UAW, Indiana state senate candidatenRepresentative, Working Families Party

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

Politics

1:00pm CDT

Untapped Pension Power

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

Int’l Ballroom D

Public pensions hold more $6 trillion, money that billionaires are using to raise your rent, intensify the climate crisis, and fuel ICE deportations. Learn how you can take back control of your retirement savings and use your pension dollars to help your community.

Moderators

Jay O’Neal

Pension Power

Speakers

Vicki Kurzydlo

Chicago Teachers Union

Dan Nicolai

Climate Finance Action

Mullissa Willette

SEIU Local 521

Friday June 12, 2026 1:00pm - 2:45pm CDT
Int’l Ballroom D

Politics

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

Fighting Against War from the Shop Floor

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

Grand Ballroom F

The wars waged by the U.S. are deeply unpopular at home and abroad, but workers are still testing out how to use shop floor power to bring them to a halt. Hear from worker activists who are challenging militarism. We'll discuss what strategies can succeed, what fails, and how these efforts relate to everyday "troublemaking" around working conditions.

Moderators

Ven

Speakers

Joshua Arnold

Machinists District 837

Rebecca Gross

United Auto Workers Local 4811

Nancy Lessin

Steelworkers, retired

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

Politics

5:10pm CDT

Winning Back Working-Class Voters

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

Vienna

In the U.S. and across the world, working-class voters are increasingly being won over by right-wing populist appeals. What are some possible elements of a labor political program that can both win back workers from the forces of reaction, and force elected officials to address the needs of working people? Hear about initiatives including the Maine AFL-CIO’s campaign to develop a Contract with the Working Class and the Grassroots Power Project’s Solidarity Wins member-to-member political education program.

Speakers

Margarita Hernandez

Grassroots Power Project

Cynthia Phinney

Maine AFL-CIO

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

Political Education Politics Overcoming Divisions

5:10pm CDT

Dismantling the War Machine: Lessons from Pro-Peace Organizing

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

LAX

Despite promising to be the “peace president,” Trump is using our tax dollars to wage illegal wars and regime change operations in Latin America and the Middle East, bringing suffering to our fellow workers abroad and endangering everyone’s future. Join a discussion with an intergenerational group of unionists who have been at the forefront of labor’s antiwar organizing at key moments in our recent history—from Reagan’s nuclear arms buildup to Bush’s invasion of Iraq to the ongoing Gaza genocide.

Moderators

Jeff Schuhrke

Speakers

Gene Bruskin

National Writers Union

Eugene Carroll

United University Professions, AFT Local 219

Arlette Jacome

SEIU Local 1021

Olivia Katbi

BDS Movement

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

Politics

9:00am CDT

How Is Labor Building Political Independence from the Democratic Party?

Saturday June 13, 2026 9:00am - 10:45am CDT

Grand Ballroom H

We’ll discuss labor-backed independent candidacies running both on and off the Democratic ballot line, what to do in areas where elections are completely dominated by Republicans, union political education in the face of bleak electoral choices, referendums on working-class issues, and lessons from the Labor Party of the 1990s.

Moderators

Jenny Brown

Labor Notes

Speakers

Mark Dimondstein

Postal Workers (APWU), retired

Les Leopold

The Labor Institute

Griffin Mahon

Democratic Socialists of America

Derrick Osobase

Communications Workers, District 6

Aleena Starks

Ohio Working Families Party

Saturday June 13, 2026 9:00am - 10:45am CDT
Grand Ballroom H

Politics

9:00am CDT

State and Local Policy Campaigns: Building Labor's Power

Saturday June 13, 2026 9:00am - 10:45am CDT

Capital

It's a natural step from building shop floor power to building campaigns for policy change. As organizers, we're often already engaged in campaigns beyond the workplace. How can we apply democratic unionism in these campaigns? How can we use them to expand membership and empower members to lead? Learn from organizers who have translated workplace power into policy campaigns that expand workers' rights.

Moderators

Dave Kamper

Speakers

Gloria Guerreros

New Labor

Martha Valtierra

New Labor

Ida Hoequist

United Campus Workers Virginia, CWA Local 2265

Ben Zucker

New Economic Justice Organizing Project

Saturday June 13, 2026 9:00am - 10:45am CDT
Capital

Politics

9:00am CDT

The Fight for the VA: Veterans and Union Members Organize

Saturday June 13, 2026 9:00am - 10:45am CDT

Mirabel

The murder of VA nurse and AFGE member Alex Pretti, during anti-ICE protests in Minneapolis, drew national attention to the role of federal workers in resistance to the Trump administration. This panel brings together VA caregivers and health care reform advocates to discuss union mobilization of vets within their own ranks, efforts to build cross-union unity among VA labor organizations currently stripped of bargaining rights, and “Save The VA” coalition-building.

Moderators

Mark Smith

National Federation of Federal Employees, Local 1

Speakers

Mae apGovannon

AFGE Local 2157, Federal Unionists Network

Suzanne Gordon

NewsGuild-CWA

David Marshall

CWA Local 6215, Texas AFL-CIO

Aimee Potter

AFGE Local 789, Federal Unionists Network

Latisha Thompson

AFGE Local 1793, Federal Unionists Network

Saturday June 13, 2026 9:00am - 10:45am CDT
Mirabel

Politics Health Care Workers Government Workers

2:15pm CDT

Doing Politics Differently

Saturday June 13, 2026 2:15pm - 4:00pm CDT

Vienna

Politics can feel exhausting and hopeless, but politicians hold many of the levers that could make our lives better. Hear how some unions are going all in at the local and state levels and chipping away at the changes workers need.

Moderators

A.J. Zydzik

Racine Educators United

Speakers

Cynthia Davis

SEIU Local 509

Beyoung Yu

Portland Association of Teachers

Saturday June 13, 2026 2:15pm - 4:00pm CDT
Vienna

Politics

2:15pm CDT

Power in the NYC Mayor’s Office: What Can Labor Win?

Saturday June 13, 2026 2:15pm - 4:00pm CDT

Grand Ballroom G

Zohran Mamdani won the mayorship in New York City promising free childcare, free buses, and a rent freeze. Now he's in office, childcare and the rent freeze are underway, and there’s a huge battle to tax the rich. Hear why a few brave unions backed him when he was a long shot, how city politics changed when he got in, and what else NYC unions and the working class could potentially win under a Zohran administration.

Moderators

Alex Han

May Day Strong

Speakers

Nina Bruckenthal

United Federation of Teachers

Jane Fox

UAW Local 2325

Jen Gaboury

Professional Staff Congress-CUNY

Jerome Sloss

Amazon Teamsters

Honda Wang

AFSCME DC 37

Saturday June 13, 2026 2:15pm - 4:00pm CDT
Grand Ballroom G

Politics

2:15pm CDT

Industrial Policy: Union Visions for Our Jobs

Saturday June 13, 2026 2:15pm - 4:00pm CDT

Capital

To shape a pro-worker economic future, we'll need industrial policy: coordinated goverment action to plan what our economy produces and how. Learn how some unions and community organizations are beginning to do this at the state and federal levels.

Moderators

Dustin Guastella

Teamsters Local 623, Center for Working-Class Politics

Speakers

Kassie Beyer

Jobs to Move America

Patrick Crowley

Rhode Island AFL-CIO

Brenda Rodriguez

CHIPS Communities United

Morten Thaysen

New Economy Organisers Network

Saturday June 13, 2026 2:15pm - 4:00pm CDT
Capital

Strategy Politics Climate

4:30pm CDT

Defending and Expanding Public Sector Collective Bargaining Rights

Saturday June 13, 2026 4:30pm - 6:15pm CDT

Vienna

Public sector bargaining laws are highly uneven across the U.S.—from states with union shop to states with absolutely no bargaining or union recognition rights for public workers. Hear how fights to win back collective bargaining rights are reinvigorating unions and empowering members.

Moderators

Jayanni Webster

CWA Local 3866

Speakers

Eyklipse Baca

Denver Public Library Workers United, CWA Local 7799

Dane MacNeil

AFSCME Local 47

Ivy Smith

AFSCME Local 1004

Harry Szabo

United Campus Workers Virginia, CWA Local 2265

Saturday June 13, 2026 4:30pm - 6:15pm CDT
Vienna

Government Workers Strategy Politics

9:00am CDT

Fighting for Good Health Care for Working People

Sunday June 14, 2026 9:00am - 10:30am CDT

Int’l Ballroom F

Our worsening national health care crisis is bankrupting workers, impeding bargaining, draining union funds, and causing misery for the entire working class. So unions have to be fighting on two fronts: to win good health insurance in our contracts, and to upend corporate control of health care. Learn how to put the boss on defense in bargaining while simultaneously building the capacity of members to fight for single-payer universal health care (Medicare for All).

Moderators

Chuck Pennacchio

One Payer States

Carl Rosen

United Electrical Workers

Sunday June 14, 2026 9:00am - 10:30am CDT
Int’l Ballroom F

Politics

9:00am CDT

Veterans and Military Families Meetup

Sunday June 14, 2026 9:00am - 10:30am CDT

Midway

Share experiences in our local, national and international unions, and with organizations now organizing veterans and military families against fascism and unjustifiable wars and military actions.

Sunday June 14, 2026 9:00am - 10:30am CDT
Midway

Politics

10:45am CDT

Tenants and Labor: Unions Teaming Up

Sunday June 14, 2026 10:45am - 12:30pm CDT

Int’l Ballroom D

In Spain, the long and militant tradition of tenant unions is now being reshaped by the influence of bottom-up teacher union practices, and converging into a movement of workers resisting exploitation by landlords. In the U.S., solidarity organizing between teacher unions and tenant unions is also emerging. Both will be explored here.

Speakers

Politics International

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