2011 Philadelphia Labor NotesTroublemakers SchoolSeptember 17 Commun - PDF document

1 2011 Philadelphia Labor NotesTroublemake
2011 Philadelphia Labor NotesTroublemakers SchoolSeptember 17 Community College of Philadelphia 8:00 am-9:15 am Registration/Light BreakfastOpening Plenary 9:15 am-10:20 amJohn Braxton (MC), co-president AFT Local 2026, USLAWMark BrennerKathy Black, Coalition of Labor Union Women, USLAWWorkshop Block A: 10:45 am-12:30 pm (see back for details)Part 1 of 2: Contract Campaigns & Bargaining Table TacticsBeating Apathy (in English with Spanish translation)Labor Law for the Rank and FileStudents and StaTelling Our Story through Video and Photography Organizing Undocumented Workers (in Spanish)Workshop Block B: 2:00 pm-3:45 pm (see back for details)Part 2 of 2: Strike Prep - When and How?Assertive Grievance HandlingLabor and Single-Payer Health CareLessons From MLK’s Poor People’s Campaign (in English with Spanish translation)Move the Money!Organizing Workers Using Health and Safety (in Spanish)Closing Plenary 4:00pm-5:00pm Pat Fahy, Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 827, Verizon StrikerMary Adamson, RN, Temple Hospital Striker, PASNAPNelson Carrasquillo, coordinator, CATA Farmworkers Support CommitteeCo-sponsors: Philadelphia Jobs With Justice Temple Allied Professionals CLUW (Coalition of Labor Union Women) AFSCME DC 47 Temple University Allied Health Professionals Temple University Hospital Nurses Association United Steel Workers Local 10-1 PASNAP (Pennsylvania Association of Sta Nurses and Allied Professionals). Workshops WORKSHOP BLOCK A 10:45 am-12:30 pm1. Part 1 of 2: Contract Campaigns and Bargaining Table TacticsYour contract is coming up—how can you mobilize members for a comprehensive contract campaign? Learn practical steps from good examples that any local or rank and le members can take.Tony Perlstein, Longshore Workers Coalition Co-chair.2. Beating ApathyAre you beating your head against the wall trying to get other workers involved? Hear success stories from workers who turned their workplaces around. Learn practical strategies for mapping your workplace, taking action, and getting results.Dan Lutz, Teamsters for a Democratic Union;Dynnita Bryant, Philadelphia Security Ocers Union steward;Mary Adamson, trauma nurse and PASNAP member.3. Labor Law for the Rank and FileA practical guide for workers, from organizing under the NLRB, to negotiating collective bargaining agreements, to handling grievances.Lance Geren (Freedman and Lorry law rm).4. Students and StaWhat are the most eective ways to engage student activists in union work? is workshop will discuss the challenges of partnerships between workers, student activists, and union staers, as well as successful collaborations in Philadelphia and beyond.Paul Prescod, Temple Student Labor Action Project (SLAP); Ryan Nissim-Rabat, organizer with UNITE HERE; Gwen Snyder; executive director of Philly Jobs with Justice, Dani NobleSwarthmore SLAP; Nantina Vgontzas, UPenn SLAP alumnus.5. Telling Our Story through Video and PhotographyUnions and working people are increasingly under attack in the media. But new technology from cell phone cameras to YouTube makes it easier than ever to tell our own stories. is workshop will cover basic techniques for still photography

2 and video. Learn how to cover your union
and video. Learn how to cover your union’s demonstrations and create powerful images.Harvey Finkle, documentary still photographer;Milena Velis, Media Mobilizing Project organizer.6. Organizing Undocumented Workers (In Spanish / En Espanol)CATA (Farmworkers Support Committee) organizes farmworkers and low-wage workers in their communities and workplaces. Organizers will share lessons learned and discuss the eect of the anti-labor and anti-immigrant environment on the willingness to organize. Nelson Carrasquillo and Jessica Culley, CATA (Farmworkers Support Committee).WORKSHOP BLOCK B 2:00 pm - 3:45 pm1. Part 2 of 2: Strike Prep - When and How?When and how? Case studies, history, context, nuts and bolts.Bill Zoda, PASNAP sta rep; Mary Adamson, trauma nurse and PASNAP member; Ray Martinez, SEIU Local 668.2. Assertive Grievance HandlingFighting grievances isn’t only about how well you argue your case. It’s about organizing members to build pressure on management. is workshop will focus on how to win without going to arbitration–or sometimes without even ling a grievance. We’ll discuss the dos and don’ts of settling grievances as well.Dave Cohen, United Electrical workers Representative, retired.3. Labor and Single-Payer Health Careis workshop will explain how a single-payer system would work and compare it to the current state of health care, including the most recent reforms. In the light of recent victories, it will advocate for the role of labor in ghting for universal and guaranteed health care.Tom Knoche, Health Care Now!4. Lessons From MLK’s Poor People’s CampaignIn 1968 caravans of poor and working people converged on Washington, D.C., to demand housing, jobs, education, and health care for all as part of Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision for a Poor People’s Campaign. How have the conditions for poor and working people changed since then and how are workers today taking up the ght for people’s human and economic rights? Desi BurnetteChris WillisCharles B. Clarke, and Amendu Evans, Media Mobilizing Project Labor Committee; Emily Brooks Randle, PASNAP.5. Move the Money!See U.S. Labor Against the War’s excellent short lm, “Why Are We in Afghanistan?” Learn about the New Priorities Project, designed to raise awareness about the true costs of military spending and call on elected leaders to “Move the Money.” We’ll discuss how to build a local education campaign and get Philadelphia City Council to pass a resolution.Kathy Black, Coalition of Labor Union Women, U.S. Labor Against e War; John Braxton, U.S. Labor Against e War, co-president, AFT Local 2026.6. Organizing Workers using Health and Safety (In Spanish/ En Espanol)Every day 12 workers die from work-related injuries. e majority of these deaths could have been prevented. As troublemakers, we demand a safe and healthy place to work and ght the anti-regulatory climate in our jobs. As the eyes and ears of our workplaces and our communities, we can use our rights to organize for better working conditions. Javier Hernandez, Philadelphia Area Project on Occupational Safety and Health (PHILAPOSH).