Working
for America
National Conference |
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Strong
Unions in Strong Communities:
High Road Partnerships for Working Families
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Leaders
and activists from across the nation will gather at Caesar's
Palace in Las Vegas June 12-15 for the First National
Conference of the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute.
The theme for the gathering, "Strong Unions in Strong
Communities: High Road Partnerships for Working Families,"
is more than a conference title. It signals the Institute's
and the labor movement's commitment to the charge given
us by President John Sweeney: to work with unions and
communities to create high road partnerships that build
workers' skills, raise living standards and strengthen
unions and communities.
The conference will be a unique gathering, bringing together
union and community leaders, PIC and Workforce Board members,
program operators and union trainers and education activists. |
New
Workforce Investment Act
It is especially timely as states across the country are
moving to implement the Workforce Investment Act, the
most comprehensive workforce development legislation in
two decades that intends to transform JTPA and other programs
into a comprehensive employment training and education
system operating at the state and local level.
The stakes are high. The steps that will be taken over
the next year and a half will shape the training and employment
arena for years to come. |
High
Road Partnerships
The Institute is moving aggressively to educate people
about the Act and to promote "high road" economic
development strategies. The high road approach connects
the issues of training, education and job creation with
the new American workforce, the workplace, and strong
unions.
The 1999 conference will address these issues in an array
of plenary sessions and workshops designed to provide
the most up to date information, technical training, models,
and face-to-face dialogues with frontline thinkers, leaders
and practitioners. |
National
Leadership
Keynote speakers will include Tom Buffenbarger, President
of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace
Workers, and Rich Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO.
Bruce Herman, Executive Director of the Working for America
Institute, will speak to the new mission of the Institute.
The US Department of Labor will be represented by Ray
Bramucci, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment
and Training. |
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The
stakes are high.
The steps that will be taken over the next year and
a half will shape the training and employment arena
for years to come.
Union
Only Workshop
Building Union Strength Through High Road Education,
Training and Economic Development Strategies
Saturday, June 12, 10:00am-4:00pm
Co-sponsored by the AFL-CIO Field Mobilization Department
and the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute, this
workshop for union leaders, labor educators and
union trainers will examine how unions have designed
training and education programs to strengthen unions.
Join in an active discussion with other leaders
about some of the most creative labor-led initiatives. |
Pre-Conference
Sessions
On Saturday
and Sunday, before the conference as a whole kicks
off, the Institute is offering preconference training
opportunities in grant writing and common sense
economics, as well as an orientation to workforce
development for people new to the issue.
Labor
representatives handling policy issues such as
those serving on PICs and Workforce Boards or
operating programs will also have a chance to
meet prior to the conference.
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Building
High Road Community Partnerships
Understanding how unions can join with community groups
and employers in developing regional partnerships for
good jobs will be a major focus of the conference. Union
and community leaders from a number of the most successful
high road partnerships will be featured at both plenary
sessions and in workshops that will build in direct dialogue
with conference participants.
Plenary speakers will include one of the key union leaders
from the partnership in Seattle, Ron Judd, President of
the King County Central Labor Council and head of their
non-profit, the Worker Center, AFL-CIO, and Rick Bender,
President of the Washington State AFL-CIO. Katie Quan
of the Center for Labor Research and Education at U.C.
Berkeley will give a perspective on new workforce entrants
and immigrant workers.
Religious leaders who have been working in coalition with
labor will share their experiences from the state of Washington
and Las Vegas.
The tremendous success of the community-based skill development
projects in Las Vegas will highlighted by Hattie Canty,
President of the Las Vegas Hotel Employees and Restaurant
Employees Local 226 and by Marc Furman, the leader of
the Southern Nevada Carpenters. Using a strategy built
on skill development for new and existing members and
outreach to the broader community, the Las Vegas Carpenters
have more than doubled in size since the mid-1990s, while
HERE 226 has grown by nearly 20,000 members since the
end of the 1980s. Tours of the state-of-the-art training
centers of these two unions will be available to conference
participants who sign up early at the conference registration
table.
The concluding session of the conference on Tuesday, June
15, will bring together union and community high road
leaders and national strategists in a discussion of how
we can build on the lessons learned so far in moving forward
to effective new actions around the country.
- Amy Dean, Executive Officer of the South Bay Labor
Council and executive director of the SBLC's non-profit
arm, Working Partnerships USA, will share insights
based on her experience with regional initiatives
in Silicon Valley and the south end of the San Francisco
Bay Area.
- Bobby Haynes, President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO,
will draw on his federation's experience with DOL
programs and the high road initiatives in his state.
- Henry Nicholas, President of AFSCME 1199C in Philadelphia,
will draw on his experience of building broad links
with the community based on jobs and skills.
- Mary Ochs of the Center for Community Change, a
national nonprofit organization, will draw on CCCs
recent experience in supporting community development
initiatives that concentrate on building jobs and
skills in industries that are vital to local communities.
- Ron Blackwell, Director of the AFL-CIO Department
of Corporate Affairs, will provide the perspective
on skill development and regional partnerships from
the national AFL-CIO.
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High
Road Workshops
Conference workshops will bring together high road regional
leaders from a number of regional initiatives, including:
- The Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership
- The Garment Industry Development Corporation in
New York City
- The Training and Upgrading Funds for the Hospital
and Healthcare Workers in New York and Philadelphia
These workshop dialogues will focus on building regional
partnerships that focus on one or more economic sectors,
linking regional and sectoral activities, and using
strategic planning to launch or further advance these
partnerships.
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Building
a strong voice for working families in the new Workforce
Investment Act system throughout the 50 states will
be a major priority at the conference.
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High
Road Strategies
An innovative set of workshops will highlight avenues
for building, sustaining, and expanding high road partnerships.
Topics here will include economic development strategies,
setting standards for wages and economic development incentives,
rural and urban approaches to economic sectors, new initiatives
for raising standards for temporary and other contingent
workers at all rungs of the skills ladder, channeling
needed investment to small and medium businesses that
offer good jobs, and models for working with community-based
organizations. |
Tools
for the New Trade
All workshops will offer rich opportunities for learning
and exchange opportunities. Technical trainings, case
studies, and critical information will be available in
more than 25 separate workshops. Among the topics to be
examined are: The Workforce Investment Act, Work and Skills,
High Road Case Studies, New Strategies for Communities,
Workers and the Workplace, Capacity Building. Some while
others will provide a forum for frank discussions between
participants on specific subjects like School-to-Work,
Skill Standards or the Workforce Investment Act. |
Building
Union Capacity
Building a strong voice for working families in the new
Workforce Investment Act system throughout the 50 states
will be a major priority at the conference. We will have
a chance to hear from and talk with the country's best
experts. Union leaders will share their experience in
moving quickly for developing and implementing state plans.
Top officials from the US Department of Labor will field
questions from conference participants. |
Capacity
Building Workshops
All aspects of building union capacity for the new Workforce
Investment Act will be covered in workshops. Included
with general introductions to the new act are rapid response
and services to dislocated workers, one-stop delivery
systems, linking apprenticeship and training with the
new system, connecting economic development and workforce
development, and fiscal and administrative tools for successful
programs under the new law.
Workshops on skill development systems will provide best-in-class
presentations and discussions on strategies using public
and negotiated funds. Topics include basic skills, new
workforce entrants, school to work, connecting young workers
to unions, incumbent worker skill development, skill standards
initiatives, and bringing college credit to workers through
the National Labor College.  |
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