An orientation to the weekend’s events. Hear from EWOC conference planners and Labor@Wayne about the direction and vision for the conference and a guided overview of the program that highlights all the sessions you’ll want to attend!
DOGE got you down? Good news: Federal workers across the country are coming together, standing up, and fighting for better working conditions — and you have the opportunity to learn from two of them how to do it! You’ll learn how to talk to your co-workers about your right to organize and practice “unilateral unionism” where you act like a union even if the law says otherwise.
Workers and those organizing in the federal sector are especially welcome to attend.
How do you work to bridge racial divisions in your workplace? Why is this work so central to labor organizing? Come hear from organizers who have been at the heart of organizing their workplaces and what they did to build unity despite the challenges they faced. Spend time workshopping the challenges you yourself must overcome in your campaign and what steps you can take to advance.
Taking collective action requires trust, unity, and a whole lot of logistics. A spin on an EWOC fundamentals session, this training is a place to workshop the arc of your campaign and make a plan to win. It's also an opportunity for volunteers looking to better support their campaigns through taking risks to confront the boss.
There are two core building blocks of any organizing effort: understanding your workplace and talking to your coworkers. Come to this EWOC fundamentals session to hear from workers and organizers about building an organizing committee and practice the organizing conversation. If you haven't taken the fundamentals course and want to participate in the popular education training on Sunday (formerly "train the trainers") to join the training team as a facilitator, this is your chance!
Have you ever thought about fighting climate change while organizing your workplace? Climate demands can help push a campaign forward (even if your coworkers aren't all politically aligned on the issue). Come hear from salon worker-organizers who are incorporating climate and environmental health issues to boost their organizing, bring coworkers on board, and design creative tactics to leverage up worker power against the boss. After hearing from these workers, participants will workshop how making climate connections in your own organizing might supercharge your campaigns!
Meet other conference attendees who are part of regional and local formations within EWOC - learn about their successes, challenges, and how to connect to EWOC volunteers near you!
Saturday June 28, 2025 12:00pm - 1:30pm EDT McGregor Room J495 Gilmour Mall, Detroit, MI 48202
Stop by to ask questions and get into the weeds of labor law. There will be human and written resources to provide information about the state of the NLRB, what type of organizing is protected by law, and what legal avenues can (and can't) provide in this political moment.
Saturday June 28, 2025 12:00pm - 1:30pm EDT McGregor Room B495 Gilmour Mall, Detroit, MI 48202
Learn about organizing in remote workplaces! Workers who have organized their remote workplaces will speak to their experiences and answer your biggest questions. How do I talk to someone I’ve never spoken to about organizing? How do I branch out of my team to other teams? How do I build relationships? What kind of collective action can we take online?
Join us for a portion of Labor Notes "Secrets of a Successful Organizer" workshop, focusing on engaging members in the union, how the boss disorganizes us, identifying an organizing issue, and why we need escalating campaigns to win.
Even as millions of workers crave union representation, for most, this dream has been elusive. Some are taking things into their own hands and, rather than waiting for established unions to make this dream a reality, they're forming independent unions. There are many challenges to independent unionism, but also opportunities. Come hear workers discuss what it takes to build worker-run unions.
Pre-majority unionism can feel like starting from nothing, but there is always power to tap into and history to learn from. Historians will discuss what it has taken for workers to organize in new sectors and find leverage in new places and how a few dedicated organizers bring in their co-workers to build movements.
Under the Trump administration, federal workers face an unprecedented attack on their right to organize, but these workers are fighting back. Come learn how federal workers are central to the movement for the expansion of public services and democracy and to the right for all workers to organize.
The South has been the breeding ground for the most anti-union tactics in the country, from gutting public sector unions to brutal private sector boss fights. Despite the uphill battle that workers face in states like Florida and the Carolinas, organizers have been experimenting with new tactics to fight back. These lessons and insights can provide a vision for how our organizing models across the country can shift and expand as these anti-union tactics pick up strength nationally under the Trump administration.
Want to know the secret to winning a strong first contract? You wont find it at the bargaining table... Learn how to build a successful contract campaign and harness the power of the rank-and-file membership to win the strongest possible contract.
This training will focus on preparing for and executing a potential strike or work stoppage. Participants will hear from workers who have recently organized successful strikes and learn how to democratically and effectively identify issues that are widely and deeply felt; set bottom lines for triggering a strike; talk with co-workers about the conditions and impacts of striking, learn about and respond to any concerns or questions they have, and ask them to commit to voting "yes" in a strike vote; track strike commitments; hold a strike vote; organize picket lines; decide when to end, and more!
From trans rights to Palestinian freedom, labor is central to every fight for liberation. Instead of seeing these as separate issues and demands, how do we make the question of solidarity central to our fellow workers and our unions? How can we use our shared struggle as workers to overcome the prejudices and hatred that have seeped into the fabric of our society? Hear from workers who are answering these questions in their organizing and join discussions as we wrestle with the big topics of our time.
Detroit once served as the industrial beating heart of the nation. Despite changes in the labor landscape, organizing and solidarity remains strong. This panel brings together local activists to share challenges, successes, and new campaigns on the horizon. Moderated by Jeremy Milloy.
Building a union is always hard work. But in certain workplaces, winning union certification and a contract may not be viable for many years to come. This panel focuses on an age-old model of unionism we're calling “pre-majority" unionism—something that workers will increasingly need to turn to during this second Trump presidency.
Conference day one: in the books! Mingle with your fellow conference attendees at Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit and get a chance to catch an after-hours peak at exhibits like “Code Switch: Distributing Blackness, Reprogramming Internet Art.” We’ll provide the cash bar, you bring the camaraderie. Food will not be served. Galleries will be open 8–10 p.m.
