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.
Stewards often find that regular conflict with supervisors is part of the job. But sometimes you come up against particularly difficult supervisors who try to undermine the union at every turn. Meet with stewards from a variety of industries to talk about strategies for handling bad management, and learn some new ones.
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.
Striking sounds exhilarating, but it's also scary and takes a lot of work. What are the building blocks for getting your union and co-workers ready to strike? Panelists in this interactive workshop will reflect on their strike experiences and share lessons from the picket line to the bargaining room.
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.
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.
When workers are divided, our bosses reap the benefit. Hear from hospital workers who have helped their co-workers build relationships and stronger unions by standing up to union-busting, racism, and anti-immigrant attacks.
Working for a union can seem ideal for people who want to build the movement, but any staffer can tell you that between democratic decision-making, power dynamics, and politics, it can be difficult to navigate. Hear from union staff in a variety of sectors, career paths, and perspectives on how they approach the task of building democratic unions and developing leaders, in supportive conditions or not.
