April 20, 2000
RELEASE ON RECEIPT

"A Conference on Student Labor Solidarity " Two days of workshops, lectures, panel discussions, networking and talks. Presented by the Student Labor Action Coalition (SLAC) Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29 at Oberlin College.

Conference Schedule

OBERLIN, OHIO--Nearly 150 students from 20 colleges and universities throughout the Midwest and U.S. are expected to converge on Oberlin College's campus April 28 and 29 to explore the future of the growing nationwide student - labor alliance.

"The impetus for the 'Conference on Student - Labor Solidarity' is the phenomenal energy that was created over the last couple of years around the nationwide student anti-sweatshop campaigns--the largest student movement since the 1960s' anti-war movement," says SLAC member Jesse Kanson-Benanav, a first year from St. Paul, Minnesota.

SLAC member Katharine Cristiani, a junior from St. Louis, Missouri, adds, "The idea for the conference evolved after a regional labor conference last spring, where participants urged Oberlin students to play a key role in mobilizing Midwest schools to get involved in student labor activism and start really building the student portion of the movement. We thought that this would be a great opportunity to address larger questions such as what role is there for students in the labor movement; and how can we channel the energy created around sweatshop issues into other aspects of labor struggle?"

"At the conference we want to not only to engage students in celebrating the triumphs of the student labor movement thus far, but also encourage alliance building and networking among activists," says Cristiani. "We plan to examine how the anti-sweatshop movement fits into the larger labor movement, and open a dialogue between students about the movement's future and their participation in labor activism."

Midwest labor representatives will kick off the conference with a panel discussion on the future of student labor activism Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Room 306 of the College's King Building. Workshops will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday in the College's Wilder Hall, and a keynote address will be given at 2:30 p.m. in King 306. The program will conclude at 4:30 p.m. with a non-violent protest at a local supermarket against the exploitation of migrant farm workers by Mount Olive Pickles. The King Building is located at 10 N. Professor St. and Wilder Hall is located at 135 W. Lorain St.

The keynote speaker is Baldemar Valesquez, president of the Toledo (OH)-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC). Valesquez will discuss "Sweatshops in the US: the Conditions of Migrant Farm workers and Role of Student Labor Movement in Supporting Workers' Struggles" in Room 306 of the King Building. FLOC represents over 7,000 farm workers in the Midwest.

Throughout Saturday, representatives of other Midwest labor groups will lead discussions of such topics as grassroots labor organizing, domestic sweatshops, migrant workers, and the politics of union organizing as an alternative to the Democratic Party.

Among the labor representatives will be a representative from Union of Needletraders, Industrial and Textile Employees; Joe Alvarez, Northeast Regional Coordinator, AFL-CIO; Pat Coughlin, international vice president and president of local 274 of the Hotel Employee Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE); Jeffery Booth, shop steward in the Harvard Clerical Workers' Union and secretary of the Massachusetts State Labor Party; and Barry Eidlin OC '96, staff, Teamsters for a Democratic Union, Detroit.

Registration may be made in person the first night of the conference beginning at 7 p.m. in King 306. The conference will include a free lunch Saturday afternoon for all registered participants. To register in advance, telephone (440)774-9068 or email with the subject heading "REGISTRATION". Please include name, school, phone number, number attending, dietary needs (i.e., how many vegans, etc.).

Conference sponsors include the Student Labor Action Coalition, President's Office, Chaplain's Office, Fairchild Co-op, Tank Co-op, OC Democrats, Socialist Alternative and Student Finance Committee

Media Contact: Betty Gabrielli 4/20/00 #85 bg