The Future of Labor

The Future of Labor

Where is the Labor Movement Now? And, Where is it Going?

A One Day Mini-Conference Friday April 26 at the Graduate Center CUNY in Room 9206/9207 FREE

This conference responds to the widespread perception among activists and students of the labor movement that the US unions are in severe crisis. We will try to explore why many of the mainstream unions have been in a virtual free-fall for the past thirty years that seems to have no end in sight. We will pay attention to both the decline of union density in the private sector and the attack against public workers and their unions. At the same time we have witnessed signs of hope. The recent Occupy Wall Street movement can be described as, in part, a labor movement because many of its participants were unemployed, condemned to precarious, part-time or temporary labor, or chronically underemployed. There have been actions by workers centers, particularly domestic, restaurant and taxi workers in New York, and elsewhere. And do the nationwide minority strikes at WalMart and the brief walkout at fast food restaurants indicate new militancy among the working poor?

10am-Noon The Struggle over Technology With George Caffentzis and Stanley Aronowitz Moderator, Tom Buechele

1pm-3pm Accessing the Changing Nature of Work: Who are the New Labor Subjects? With Immanuel Ness, Sarah Jaffe, and Josh Eidelson Moderator, Karen Gregory

3:30pm-5:30pm New Developments in the Labor Movement: Can the Unions Survive/Revive or is a New Strategy for the Labor Movement Necessary? With Penny Lewis, Jane McAlevey, and Ed Ott Moderator, Stanley Aronowitz

Sponsored by The Center for the Study of Culture, Technology and Work (CUNY) https://csctw.commons.gc.cuny.edu/ http://whereislabornow.wordpress.com/