National Law Students Workers' Rights Conference: September 28-29, 2001

Speech by Linda Chavez Thompson

Our third annual National Law Students Workers' Rights Conference was held on September 28-29, 2001 at the George Meany Center for Labor Studies in Silver Spring, Maryland. Even though a number of students and facilitators were unable to attend due to complications stemming from September's national emergency, this year's conference successfully brought nearly 100 law students from all over the nation together with experts and practitioners to network and discuss issues concerning workers' rights, labor law and its practice in the public interest community.

The program began Friday night with an informal buffet dinner and reception including students, facilitators, and PBF Board members. Fred Feinstein, former General Counsel of the NLRB, delivered the conference's opening address at this event. The substantive conference workshops were held on Saturday. These included four workshops designed and led by leading labor practitioners and professors. Linda Chavez-Thompson, Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO, was our closing conference speaker.

The sessions were structured to maximize student interaction and involvement. Each topic was presented in two concurrent sessions, and each session was subsequently repeated, to ensure that all students could attend each workshop.

Topics included:

I. Organizing: Real World Strategies and Legal Challenges.

Facilitators: Nancy Schiffer - Associate General Counsel with the AFL-CIO
Jorge Rivera - Director of Organizing, HERE Local #25
George Murphy - partner in the union-side labor law firm Davis, Cowell & Bowe
Chris Woods - Assistant Director, AFL-CIO's Organizing Department

II. Changing Face and Roles of the Labor Movement in the New Economy.

Facilitators: Renee Bowser - Assistant General Counsel, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, AFL-CIO
Patricia Campos - Washington Legislative Representative, Union of Needle Trade and Industrial Employees (UNITE)

III. Identifying Your Career Goals as a Lawyer: Finding One's Niche.

Facilitators: Dennis P. Walsh - Member, NLRB
Sandy McNair - Union-side Labor Law Practitioner
Celeste Mattina - Regional Director, NLRB Region 2
Judy Scott - General Counsel at the Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Sarumanthi Jayaraman - Attorney/organizer at The Workplace Project
Gary Shinners - Acting Chief Counsel to NLRB Member Dennis P. Walsh

IV. Possibilities and Limitations for Protecting Workers' Rights Outside the Union Framework.

Facilitators: Susan Carle - Associate Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law
Randy Rabinowitz - Private Practitioner representing employees, unions, and others on safety and health issues

Feedback from conference participants was highly favorable. As in previous years, the students appreciated the opportunity to gather with other students and labor professionals. To support the conference's networking opportunities, a student directory with contact information for each participant was made available at the conference, to make it easier for the students to stay in touch with each other.