"Promoting the General Welfare"

Ninth Annual Labor Studies Conference

Saturday
April  05, 2008
9 am–5 pm
Registration to begin at 8:00 am

University of Nebraska Omaha
Milo Bail Student Center
6001 Dodge St.
Omaha Nebraska

 Registration Information
Registration is limited to the first 100 participants
Payment may be made via cash or check.

Early registration until
Friday, March 28
Students $20
General admission $30

After March 28
Students $30
General admission $40

TO REGISTER OR FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL
402-595-2344
 

Social Work CEUs
5 hrs are available!

The University of Nebraska is an equal opportunity / affirmative action institution.

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 A conference spotlighting selected social and economic justice issues bringing together representatives of the labor, academic, and social justice communities to explore issues and how much each group has in common with the others.

Who Should Attend:

• Members and leaders of community and faith-based organizations

•  Labor union members and their leaders

•  College faculty and students interested in expanding the boundaries of democracy

Promoting the General Welfare
Norman Hill is a long time civil rights activist and past president and former executive director of the A. Phillip Randolph Institute (APRI).
Mr. Hill will explain the role of unions and collective behavior in the drive to fully realize our inalienable human rights as spelled out in our Declaration of Independence and the U.N. 's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The following presentations will run 75 minutes and be repeated three times during the conference:

Working Alone and How it Undermines Solidarity and Community.
Charley Richardson, Director U. Mass Lowell Labor Education Program
The American Labor Movement is built upon a number of important values and principles among them are the notion of solidarity and community which are natural products of the common experience and regular interaction among employees as they work together. As a result of new technologies and ways that work is being reorganized, workplace interaction is being diminished - workers today are literally "working alone." This workshop examines trends like automation, monitoring, work intensification and outsourcing that are increasingly isolating workers at work, and it will look at the impacts on solidarity and community as well as possible responses.

Behavior-Based Safety's not so hidden message: blame the worker.
Nancy Lessin, Massachusetts State AFL-CIO health and safety expert
America is the richest country on the face of the earth and yet more Americans are working longer hours for less money than just 30 years ago. As a result, many workers are toiling with reduced alertness and employee health and safety suffers. Increasing insurance costs have driven employers to look for ways to reduce accidents and illnesses in the workplace. An employer strategy growing in popularity is "behavior-based safety." Learn how this strategy does nothing to reduce or mitigate workplace hazards and shifts the blame for injuries and illnesses squarely onto the shoulders of employees.

Taxes: the price we pay for a civilized society or an unnecessary burden on individuals and corporations?
Matt Gardner, Citizens for Tax Justice
Government exists at all levels to protect us and to promote the general welfare of the populace. It is our tax dollars that pay for government. How much is your fair share? How much is Warren Buffett's fair share? How haw the tax on work and the tax on dividends changed over the last 50 years? What is the difference between progressive and regressive taxation? What's the real cost of tax incentives to get business to relocate or expand? What is so fair about the so-called Fair Tax? Learn more about the underlying principles behind taxation at the local, state, and national levels.