Advancing Well-Being and Power Among Low Wage Workers

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PROGRAM

Session 1: Successes and Challenges in Organizing Low-Wage Workers: The Coalition of Immokalee Workers Model in Agriculture

Speaker: Lupe Gonzalo, Coalition of Immokalee Workers
(Translated from Spanish by Marley Monacello, Coalition of Immokalee Workers)

Discussant: Patrick Mason, PERI

Session 2: Approaches to Organizing, Policy-Setting and Action-Focused Research

Speakers:
Maggie Gray, Adelphi University
Jen Sherer, Economic Policy Institute
Thea Lee, U.S. Labor Department
Greg Asbed, Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Moderator: Patrick Mason

Session 3: Defending and Expanding Workers Rights in Organizing and on the Job

Speakers:
James Brudney, Fordham University
Laura Safer Espinoza, Fair Foods Standards Council
Claudia Quintero, Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers Project
Lily Huang, Massachusetts Jobs with Justice

Moderator: Lenore Palladino, PERI

Session 4: International Perspectives on Organizing Workers 

Speakers:
Seema Kulkarni, MAKAAM (Forum For Women Farmers’ Rights, India)
Lynda Pickbourn, Mt. Holyoke College, PERI
Jess Sparks, Tufts University
Liana Foxvog, Workers’ Rights Consortium & UMass Amherst

Moderator: Jayati Ghosh, PERI

Session 5: Perspectives on Fighting Inequality

Speakers:
Janice Fine, Rutgers University
Kyle K. Moore, Economic Policy Institute
Fernando Lozano, Claremont College

Moderator: Gerald Epstein, PERI

Session 6: Advances and Challenges in Organizing Campaigns

Speakers:
Claudia Rosales, Pioneer Valley Workers Center
Anna Canning, Worker-Driven Social Responsibility Network
Kate Paarlberg-Kvam, Vermont Milk with Dignity Standards Council

Moderator: Jeannette Wicks-Lim, PERI

Session 7: Wrap-up

Moderators: Patrick Mason and Robert Pollin, PERI