Lots More Union Events at Netroots Nation

by Tula Connell

Lots more great labor involvement to report at the upcoming Netroots Nation conference June 16-19 in Minneapolis, in addition to the highlights we noted a few days ago.

• The California Labor Federation is taking part this year with a panel on the strategies behind its 2010 electorial victories. In Microtargeting to Win: Lessons from California, panelists discuss how progressives in California used the most sophisticated microtargeting program in the country to identify swing voters and communicate with them using a convergence of online, field, direct mail and traditional media. As a result, Jerry Brown defeated Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman by 13 points, even though Whitman ran the most expensive campaign in state history, spending more than $170 million.

• AFT President Randi Weingarten will speak at the opening session on June 16, which begins  at 7 p.m. CST. AFT also is sponsoring the panel, ”Bullies and the Blogosphere: Creating Safe Spaces in Our Schools and Online.”  The panel brings together organizations and activists to explore how the Netroots can help raise awareness of bullying in schools and online–and in turn push back against the right-wing framing that demonizes issues like LGBT rights and immigration. AFT also is co-sponsoring the Education Strategy Session, and Wisconsin AFT member and Teaching Assistants’ Association co-president Alex Hanna is a panelist on “Reclaiming Our Middle Class State by State.” The new Netroots Nation app is sponsored by AFT, which also is hosting an interactive booth where attendees can sign the online “Listen to Our Teachers” petition to show their support for educators’ to have a voice at work and in educational decision.
• AFSCME Secretary-Treasurer Lee Saunders will participate in the Saturday morning keynote session: The Attack on America’s Middle Class, and the Plan to Fight Back. AFSCME also is sponsoring the opening reception on Thursday and hosting an exhibit booth where visitors can get a replica of the “Collective Bargaining is the American Way” sign from the 1968 AFSCME Memphis sanitation workers’ strike.
• The Laborers (LIUNA) are sponsoring a  Fight Back for Good Jobs rally featuring LIUNA President Terry O’Sullivan, Van Jones, Sen. Ben Cardin, Rep. Keith Ellison, Rep. Tim Walz, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and other political, business and community leaders. LIUNA will provide bus transportation to and from the event for Netroots attendees. Buses will begin taking people over after the conclusion of the lunch keynote, which features AFL-CIO Secretary Treasurer Liz Shuler. (You can RSVP by visiting www.liuna.org/nn11 or by texting NN to 69866.) Also, LIUNA’s exhibit booth will be a source for the latest on the Fight Back for Good Jobs rally and will provide Netroots attendees with information on the men and women who build America.
• Communications Workers (CWA) is again sponsoring the wireless connection for the conference, as well as offering free “Delta: Stop Union Busting stickers” for your luggage, laptops, backpacks and personage. The stickers will be available at the popular AFL-CIO/Working America exhibit booth, “Take an Action, Taste a Union Beer.”

Follow Netroots Nation with the Twitter hashtag #netrootsnation and watch the AFL-CIO Now blog for live webstreaming of select events throughout the conference.

Connell is managing editor of the AFL-CIO Now blog.