May 21: 2004 Pacific Northwest Labour History Association Conference

Reform, Revolution and Reaction: Workers and the Quest for Social Change in the Pacific Northwest

Knight Law Center, University of Oregon Campus, Eugene, Oregon, May 21 – 23, 2004

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> Conference Schedule<!--[endif]-->

Friday, May 21, 2004

4:30-5:30 pm - Walking tour of WPA era art on the University of Oregon Campus

5:30-7:00 pm - Registration

7:00-7:15 pm - Welcoming Remarks

7:15-8:00 pm - Keynote Address: Judy Darcy, former President, Canadian Union of Public Employees

8:15-9:30 pm - Performance by Casey Neill, Singer/Songwriter

Saturday, May 22, 2004

8:00-9:00 am -Registration continues

9:00-9:15 - Welcome and Introduction to Day’s Events

9:15-10:30 am - Plenary Panel: It Can Happen Here: The Politics of Health Care Reform
Lynn-Marie Crider, Oregon AFL-CIO
Steve Early, CWA International Representative and Labor Journalist
Megan Sweeney, SEIU Oregon State Council
Terrie Hendrickson, British Columbia Health Care Coalition

10:30-10:45 am - Break

10:45 am-12:15 pm - Workshops

Working Lives: Labor History and Biography
Susan Starbuck, Antioch University, Seattle, Chair
Sandy Polishuk, Portland State University, author: Julia Ruuttila: An Unconventional Life in the Labor Movement
Roger Stonebanks, journalist and author: Labor History, Fact and Fiction: The Ginger Goodwin Perspective
Peter Buckingham, Linfield College, author: Reclaiming the ‘Golden Age of Socialism’ One Life at a Time: ‘Red’ Tom Hickey of Texas

Whose History Is It Anyway? The Clash Between Art and Politics in the Making of “Verona: The Story of the Everett Massacre”
Daniel Pope, Department of History, University of Oregon, Chair
Denise Ohio- independent film maker

Child Labour: Realities and Policy Dimensions
Dr. Rajeev Sharma, director of Child Labour Projects, International Federation of Building Wood Workers, South Asia office, New Delhi: The Role of Trade Unions in Curbing Child Labour in India
Dr. Shantha Sinha, Political Science Department, Hyderabad University: Child Labour and Education Policy: The Indian Experience
Dr. Pravin Sinha, Friedrich Ebert Siftung Foundation, India: The Role of International Organizations in Combating Child Labour
Dr. Alakh N. Sharma, Director of the Institute for Human Development, and the Editor of the Indian Journal of Labour Economics: The Impact of Social Labeling on Child Labour in India's Carpet Industry
Anita Sheth, Save the Children Canada: Children Still in the Chocolate Trade: The Buying, Selling, and Toiling of West African Child Workers in the Multi-Billion Dollar Industry

Bosses and Workers Testify: The 1914 US Industrial Relations Hearing on Labor Unrest in Seattle
Annette Talbott, Deputy Commissioner, Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, Chair
Professor Dan Jacoby and students from the University of Washington, Bothell

12:15-1:45 pm - Lunch

1:45-3:00 pm - Plenary Speaker- Elizabeth Jameson, University of Calgary

3:00-3:15 pm - Break

3:15-4:45 pm - Workshops

Rethinking the IWW
Morgan Miller, former chair, General Executive Board, Industrial Workers of the World: Rethinking the Free Speech Fights
Jon Bekken, Professor, Albright College and editor, Industrial Worker: Labor Media and the Rank-and-File Voice: Lessons from the Wobblies
Norm Diamond, former president, Pacific Northwest Labor College and co-author The Power in Our Hands: The Use and Abuse of History: An Organizing Perspective

Workers’ Struggles in Post World War II Seattle, Portland, and Alaska
Laurie Mercier, Washington State University, Vancouver, Chair
James Dexter, ILWU Local 5, Powell’s Bookstore: Organizing at the Counter: The History and Continuing Struggle of Retail Workers in the Pacific Northwest
Trevor Griffey, University of Washington, Department of History: No Separate Peace: Militant Protest, Civil Disorder, and the Origins of Affirmative Action in the Seattle Building Trades Unions, 1969-1972
Alex Morrow, University of Oregon, Department of History: Laboring for the Day: The Post-War World of Day Laborers in Seattle, Washington
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> Kraig Schwartz, Seattle Community College: The Civil Rights Revolution: Political Empowerment and Murder: Silme Domingo, Gene Viernes, and the Remaking of the Cannery Workers Union

Teaching Labour History Through Song
Regina Brennan, Public Service Alliance of Canada
Earle Peach, Musician
Paul McKenna, SEIU Local 503

6:00-8:00 pm - Banquet and Awards

8:00-10:00 pm - Play: Time Out of Mind performed by Bay City Arts Center Theater. Discussion

Sunday, May 23, 2004

9:00-10:30 am - Plenary Panel: Looking Backward, Looking Forward: The Portland Experience and Its Implications for the Labor Movement and Reform Politics
Gerald Berk, Department of Political Science, University of Oregon
Robert Johnston, University of Chicago-Illinois and author of The Radical Middle Class: Populist Democracy and the Question of Capitalism in Progressive Era Portland, Oregon
Dick Harmon, Regional Representative, Industrial Areas Foundation

10:30-10:45 am - Break

10:45-12:00 – PNLHA Business Meeting: Where Do We Go From Here?