Member Perspectives: #HotLaborSummer [Part 4]

In our Member Perspectives series, we ask our members to write about their union experiences. In Part 4 of this 4 part series, Lecturer Diane Aretz shares their key takeaways from the Labor Notes Conference in Chicago.

Diane Aretz

Ann Arbor | School of Education | Lecturer I

The Power and Importance of Coalition Building

Luke Amphlett from the progressive PODER teachers’ caucus in San Antonio, TX talked about the coalition of leftist organizations in San Antonio that PODER is a part of, and how highly mobilized they are to fight back against neoliberal politics in their city. I was really struck by the notion that developing broad coalitions is not just a way of building power, but it’s also an important way that leftist movement stays healthy. We leave no one behind; we fight for each other.

Bargaining for the Common Good

Will someone please give Stacey Davis Gates (CTU president-elect and member of the badass CORE caucus) alllll the roses? The CTU union, in their last contract fight, fought for and won things like sanctuary schools for immigrants, restorative justice practices, and housing for their students and their (students’) families.

I’m obsessed with bargaining for the common good as a tool for building solidarity and support and building not just the workplaces, but the communities that we dream of. I’d love to think about how a union like LEO can leverage common good bargaining around things like tuition rates, getting rid of SAT requirements, etc.

Social Media Strategies

A chance encounter with Mandi Jung, a middle school science teacher from the St. Paul School District in MN, left me thinking of the possibilities of using social media (TikTok, in her case) as a tool for educating members and the public on labor issues, and for building support. I’m thinking about what this work might look like (What’sApp chat? FB group?) even on a very small scale, as the steward of my unit, trying to build a sense of community and power amongst my members.

Labor Movement Resurgence

I’m one of the many first-time attendees that made up the record-breaking 4,000+ attendees at this year’s convention. That number alone is thrilling, and evidence that the labor movement is growing and gaining power. One of my favorite moments was hearing Michelle Eisen of Starbucks Workers United talk about how, just one year before successfully unionizing the first Starbucks store, she knew almost nothing about unions except that they were rare in the service industry. What an incredibly inspiring reminder of our power and potential as workers. Seeing Chris Smalls, the leader-organizer of the first unionized Amazon shop, be feted like a rock star was another sign that the labor movement is having a moment. The momentum is certainly on our side. Perhaps the most inspiring takeaway from the LN conference was the feeling of hope and power that I felt. Hope for the future of the labor movement, and a sense of our raucous, brilliant, joyful collective power.

This June, LEO was able to send four members to the 2022 LaborNotes Conference in Chicago, Illinois. The conference broke attendance records, with 4,000 attendees and a live-streamed component, and featured over 100 meetings and workshops. For more information about Labor Notes, visit: https://labornotes.org/