Timely recent essay: "Who is Un-American?"
1-3pm @ the Independent Media Center (IMC)
University of Illinois Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) founding organizers from the 1990s join current GEO collaborative leaders to discuss how young people in our city created and continue to lead a powerful union championing rights for workers. Learn how labor unions begin, and get involved!
These places work because we do.
Moderator:
· Loretta Gaffney is UC-AFT Co-chair and lecturer in Labor Studies at UCLA.
Panelists:
· Aaron Councilman is GEO’s current Co-president.
· Freddy Hancock is Co-chair of the GEO Stewards’ Council.
· After working as a staff organizer for nearly two decades at the Teaching Assistants' Association and then the American Federation of Teachers, Rob Henn is now Lead External Organizer for the Service Employee International Union- Wisconsin.
· Toby Higbie is Professor of History and Labor Studies and director of the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. He writes about the history of organized labor, social movement education, and immigration in the US.
· Elizabeth Majerus is longtime faculty member and current director of University Laboratory School, and founding member of the Un i Faculty Organization.
· Steve Vaughan is UniServ Director of Illinois Education Association, NEA.
(Members of other local labor unions will also be in attendance. They will share ways to stand in solidarity with them as they work to protect and advance local workers' rights.)
All SOS panels are free and open to the public.
The Summer of Solidarity (SOS) catalyzes uplift of community-minded efforts that make our world better for future generations, despite the odds.
For numerous reasons, not all impressive, important, or relevant members of CU's organizing histories and futures could take part in these volunteer-run, 4th of July weekend SOS panels. It is our hope that SOS catalyzes many more public discussions helping us love our neighbors, know our histories, and do what is needed to stand together to say no to thugs in the days to come. We look forward to attending them.
The SOS coalition invites us to stand together in celebrating our mighty, caring, visionary collaborative leaders who make all of us stronger by putting people before profit, and in challenging historical violence that targets, endangers, and criminalizes our communities.
Join in to honor our rich history of powerful anti-authoritarian collective organizing as we reflect upon who we are and who we want to be over our nation's birthday weekend.
Just say no to thugs.