Labor Notes 2024
The CWA meetup at Labor Notes drew 150 members.
This year marked the bi-yearly Labor Notes Conference in Chicago, where over 4,500 registered unionists gathered to learn, connect, and encourage each other on strategies to keep fighting the boss and grow working class power. Labor Notes has been somewhat of an anomaly since its inception. It’s a non-profit monthly publication, book publisher, a network of rank-and-file unionists, education and organizing programs on revitalizing the labor movement in America, and also hosts a large conference in Chicago every other year.
Started by a group of militant socialists that were sick of the path unions had been taking, they started preaching about reform, militancy, and rank-and-file power. They’ve had influence in the massive reforms at the Teamsters and UAW through the caucuses TDU (Teamsters for a Democratic Union) and UAWD (Unite All Workers for Democracy) that have shaken the union landscape for the first time in decades.
The Labor Notes Conference started on Friday 4/19 and ended on Sunday 4/21 with a jam-packed schedule of over 200 meetings, workshops and panels ranging from the quintessential “what to do when your union breaks your heart” based on the article written by Ellen David Friedman, to detailed explanations of “UAW’s New Organizing Drive” and into the minutia of “How to Use Conventions to Organize Reform”.
There are meetups of rank-and-filers from federal workers unions, labor lawyers, union staff, and many of the major unions; in attendance were representatives from IBT, UAW, CWA as well as satellite organizations such as DSA Labor and EWOC. There were also meetups of reform caucuses such as TDU, UAWD, and Essential Workers for Democracy (EWD).
The author, left, with National CWA VP for Public, Healthcare and Education Workers Margaret Cook
Like-minded individuals
As important as all the workshops are, the real strength of the conference is in letting us join with like-minded individuals who want to see a militant, democratic, and international labor movement in the United States. The networking and conversations between sessions, during meals, and for some, the occasional smoke break outside of the hotel, are some of the most uplifting and revitalizing interactions you’ll have. Unifying our unions, pushing for change, seeing there’s hope when you feel there’s not, are some of the most important discussions to be had.
In the past two conferences, the most inspiring element for me has been the direct interaction with others who are in the same situation—members who felt their union was unchangeable. Each time I walk away, I feel refueled and ready to continue on the road to building a more democratic, militant, and member-run union, with more resources than I had before landing at O’Hare on Thursday evening.