Webinar-Confronting Police Unions and Institutional Racism in the Labor Movement
Confronting Police Unions and Institutional Racism in the Labor Movement
August 19, 2020
9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
The Labor Research & Action Network was formed out of need for scholars and unions to connect and confront the 2010-11 attacks on public sector collective bargaining. Once again we find our movement in crisis, not only from ongoing right wing and corporate attacks on workers’ collective activity, but from internal threats as well. Namely, we are faced with confronting the legacy of institutional racism within unions and our ability as a movement to stand up for Black Lives in the face of police violence. As a network deeply embedded in the labor movement, LRAN's leadership has organized this panel to engage in a candid conversation that tackles some of the following questions:
• What needs to happen for the labor movement to meet the moment and own up to its own history of institutional racism?
• Where do labor leaders stand on Black Lives Matter and how does that impact Black workers’ perspectives on unions?
• How can we reform police unions and communities’ approaches to policing? Should they be part of national and local unions and labor federations?
• What lessons can we learn from the Bargaining for the Common Good approach?
Featured speakers:
Bill Fletcher Jr., talk show host, writer, and former field services director, American Federation of Government Employees
Ruben Garcia, Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Workplace Law Program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas,
Tamara Lee, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations
Cedric de Leon, UMass Amherst Labor Center Director and Associate Professor
Javier Morillo, President Emeritus, SEIU Local 26
Linda Sarsour, Palestinian-American author, community organizer, award-winning racial justice and civil rights activist and co-founder of MPower Change & Until Freedom
John Taylor, National Field Director of the Property Services Division at SEIU and founder, Black Male Initiative, Georgia