Conference is free but registration will be required.

Click here to register starting Tuesday, 2/23 at 9am.

Organizers: Ruth Milkman and Frances Fox Piven
The Murphy Institute
25 W. 43 St, 18th Floor

Co-sponsored by:
The Murphy Labor Institute,
CUNY The NYC Scholars Strategy Network
CUNY Graduate Center’s Advanced Research Collaborative

This one-day conference focuses on the right-wing attack on public sector labor as well as efforts to counter those attacks.  Speakers include academic researchers as well as labor and community leaders.  The conference is divided into three sessions.

The opening session features perspectives on recent attacks on public sector unionism.  Speakers will analyze the history of public sector unionism, the anti-union efforts of right-wing organizations like ALEC, the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision in the Friedrichs case, and the ways in which austerity policies are being used to undermine organized labor.

The second session will examine recent efforts to fight back against these attacks, including the cases of Wisconsin and Ohio in 2011, the 2012 Chicago teachers’ strike, and local struggles in New York.

The closing session will feature a series of broader strategic perspectives on how to confront these challenges.

9am Continental breakfast
9:30am Welcome and Introduction: Ruth Milkman

Session 1 – ATTACKS ON PUBLIC SECTOR LABOR
9:45am – 12pm
Moderator:  Josh Freeman

Speakers:
Joseph Slater, University of Toledo Law School
Gordon Lafer, University of Oregon
Jennifer Laird, University of Washington
Saqib Bhatti, Roosevelt Institute
Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect
12pm – 1:30pm LUNCH

Session 2 – CASE STUDIES: FIGHTING BACK
1:30pm – 3:30pm
Moderator:  Ruth Milkman
Speakers:
Stephanie Luce, Murphy Institute, SPS CUNY
Jesse Sharkey, Vice President, Chicago Teachers Union
Pierrette Talley, Secretary-Treasurer, Ohio AFL-CIO
Barbara Bowen, President, PSC-CUNY
3:30pm to 4pm BREAK

Session 3 – STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES
4:00pm – 5:30pm
Moderator:  Frances Fox Piven
Speakers:
Joel Rogers, University of Wisconsin and COWS
Bob Master, CWA
Stephen Lerner, labor organizer
Adolph Reed, University of Pennsylvania
CLOSING RECEPTION  5:30pm – 6:30pm