Ideas at Work is the AFL-CIO’s ongoing series of panels, film screenings and other events that capture the activism happening in the workplace and around the country. These events are free and open to the public.
Upcoming Events
March 27, 2019 – Film Screening and Discussion: Trafficked in America
This important film investigates a child labor trafficking network in Ohio and the policies and practices that enabled it. Jion us for a screening and a panel discussion on migration and trafficking with writer and producer Andrés Cediel, Neha Misra from the Solidarity Center and Martina Vandenberg, president of the Human Trafficking Legal Center.
2018 Events
Sept. 20 – German and U.S. Unions: Shaping the Future of Work
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and German Trade Union Confederation President Reiner Hoffmann discussed the role of unions in shaping the work of the future.
Sept. 18 – Shifting the Power: Building Pro-Worker Policies From the Ground Up
A panel of union member elected officials will talk about why we need union members to hold public office, and how they have approached issues differently because they are union members. This Ideas at Work event begins at 12 p.m.
Sept. 13 – A Conversation with Earl Dotter
A discussion with photojournalist Earl Dotter on his latest book, Life's Work: a 50 Year Photographic Chronicle of Working in the U.S.A., along with an exhibition of selected work.
July 10 – Collective Action on the Rise: How the Labor Movement Can Sustain the Momentum of Change
A panel of workers and organizers discussed recent organizing victories and ongoing campaigns, and shared on-the-ground insights about what’s working and what comes next.
June 26 – What the Eyes Don't See
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, physician, activist and Flint, Michigan, water crisis whistleblower, discussed her new book, What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City with Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.).
June 18 – Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism?
Robert Kuttner, co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect, discussed his book Can Democracy Survive Global Capitalism? and argued that limiting workers’ rights, liberating bankers, allowing corporations to evade taxation and preventing nations from assuring economic security, allows raw capitalism to damage the very foundation of a healthy democracy.
June 5 – Film Screening and Panel Discussion: Bayard & Me
Bayard Rustin, civil rights leader and organizer of the March on Washington adopted his younger boyfriend Walter Naegle in 1980 to obtain the legal protections of marriage. In this intimate film by Matt Wolf, Walter reflects on his relationship with Bayard, intergenerational gay adoption and its connection to the civil rights movement.
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More Conferences and Events
Workers Memorial Day
On April 28, the unions of the AFL-CIO observe Workers Memorial Day to remember those who have suffered and died on the job and to renew the fight for safe jobs. It is a day where working people come together to call for action on hazards that cause unnecessary injury, illness and death. We will stand united against the ongoing attacks on workers' rights and protections and demand that elected officials put workers' well-being above corporate interests.
AFL-CIO Conventions
Every four years, the AFL-CIO holds a convention to democratically elect officers. Elected delegates representing working people from across the country and from every job category come together to choose their leaders and express their policy preferences. Our convention adopts resolutions that guide the labor movement and improve the lives of working people. Openness, transparency and democracy are key components of how we work.
The AFL-CIO 2017 Convention was held Oct. 22–25, 2017, in St. Louis.