PROGRAM                                                 RSVP

10:00 – 10:15
Welcoming remarks

·         Tefere Gebre, Executive Vice President, AFL-CIO

·         Shawna Bader-Blau, Solidarity Center Executive Director

10:15 – 10:30
Overview, Informal Workers and Collective Action: A Global Perspective

Sue Schurman, Distinguished Professor, Labor Studies and Employment Relations, Rutgers University

10:30 – 12:00
Panel 1: Perspectives on Fighting for Social and Economic Justice for all Workers

Facilitator: Wim Conklin, Cambodia Country Program Director, Solidarity Center

Panelists:

·         Janice Fine, Associate Professor of Labor Studies and Employment Relations, Rutgers University
Defending equal labor rights for Haitian migrant workers in the Dominican Republic

·         Miguel Conde, Vice-President, Sintrainagro, Puerto Wilches
Fighting for formal employment for palm workers in Colombia

·         Mary Evans, Labor Studies professor, Rutgers University
Formalizing employment for women beer promoters in Cambodia

·         Sahra Ryklief, Secretary General, International Federation of Workers’ Education Association, Rutgers 
Organizing informal retail and hospitality workers in South Africa

 

12:00 – 12:30: Lunch

 

12:30 – 2:00
Panel 2: The Impacts of Successful Organizing on Communities, Societies and Countries

·         Facilitator: Neha Misra, Solidarity Center Senior Specialist on Migration and Trafficking

Panelists:

·         Dan Hawkins, Research Director, Escuela Nacional Sindical, Colombia
Organizing, Afro-Colombian worker rights, and building sustainable peace in Colombia

·         Evangelina Chinchilla Argüeta, National Coordinator, CGT Honduras
Empowering women garment workers through union organizing in Honduras

·         Shawna Bader-Blau, Solidarity Center Executive Director
The struggle for economic inclusion and democracy in Tunisia

·         Bama Athreya, Senior Technical Specialist, Center for Democracy, Human Rights and Governance, USAID
Supporting worker rights to foster inclusive democratic development

 

2:00 – 2:45
Looking forward: The Future of Organizing for Worker Rights and Economic Justice

Facilitator, Molly McCoy, Solidarity Center Policy Director

Speakers:

·         Cathy Feingold, Director, AFL-CIO International Department

·         Adrienne Eaton, Acting Dean, School of Management and Labor Relations, Rutgers University

 

2:45 – 3:00  Closing Speaker

Pramila Jayapal, U.S. Representative, Washington 7th District