Day Two Plenary Pacific Northwest Labor History Association 2021 Labor History Conference
Channel: Pacific Northwest Labor History Association
Date: 2021-08-05

Day Two Plenary 

Welcome and Introduction               
Presenters:
Tom Lux, PNLHA President               
April Sims, Secretary-Treasurer, WSLC

Keynote: Bill Fletcher Jr.: “The Rattle from the Rightwing Populist Snake: Trump, Jan. 6, and the Implications for Organized Labor” 

The election and administration of Donald Trump, followed by the post-2020 election chaos and the January 6, 2021 coup attempt, has been illustrative of the rise of a right-wing populist movement, with a neofascist core.  What are the implications for organized labor?  What does it mean that a right-wing populist movement has emerged that rejects reality, dismissed the COVID-19 pandemic, and has been apologetically racist and sexist?  These issues will be addressed by Bill Fletcher, Jr. in his remarks.

Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a longtime trade unionist, writer and the former president of TransAfrica Forum.  He has worked within organized labor as a rank & file activist and staff person.  He is the coauthor (with Fernando Gapasin) of Solidarity Divided.  He is the author of “They're Bankrupting Us" - And Twenty Other Myths about Unions.

Author of the mystery novel The Man Who Fell from the Sky from Hardball 
Co-editor of Claim No Easy Victories:  The Legacy of Amilcar Cabral
Author of "They're Bankrupting Us” - And Twenty other Myths About Unions
See: http://www.beacon.org/Theyre-Bankrupting-Us-P916.aspx
Co-author of Solidarity Divided:  The Crisis in Organized Labor and A New Path Toward Social Justice

Follow on Twitter @BillFletcherJr, Facebook Bill Fletcher Jr., and billfletcherjr.com 



Panel Discussion: Essential Voices of Frontline Workers
Presenters:
Jane Hopkins, SEIU 1199NW
Martha Elana Sonato, PCUN
Melody Gramley, UFCW Local 555
Andrea Torres, UNITE-HERE Local 8
Joey Hartman, BC Labour Heritage Centre, Vancouver & District Labour Council
Conor Casey (mod.), Labor Archives of Washington, UW; PNLHA 
COVID-19 has changed our work life in dramatic ways: blurring distinctions between home and work, casting low-wage workers on the frontlines as “essential” without attendant safety measures and forcing women out of the workforce in record numbers. Though the pandemic is often described as “unprecedented”, there is a great deal of continuity in the workers who were most harmed by it with those who are most often negatively impacted in hard times: women and workers of color. COVID-19 has highlighted existing racial and gender disparities in pay, access to healthcare, and stable jobs. Labor unions have been on the forefront of the efforts to protect worker rights during the pandemic, advocating for health and safety measures to hazard pay. Join us for a panel conversation that draws from our regional past to consider the long-term impacts that the pandemic will have on labor.
Jane Hopkins is the Executive Vice President of SEIU Healthcare 1199NW. As a frontline nurse, she understands the unique challenges of caring for patients and fighting for better staffing. She previously worked at Harborview Medical Center for 12 years, and was an active delegate and bargaining team member. In 2020 Jane was appointed to Governor Inslee’s Safe Start Washington: Public Health and Health Care System Advisory Group and served on the Biden-Harris Transition’s COVID Advisory Board. 
Martha Sonato was born in Michoacán, Mexico. In 2000, Martha migrated with her family to Hood River, Oregon where her parents are currently farmworkers. In 2015, Martha became the first in her family to earn a Bachelor’s degree from Willamette University.  Marta is the Political Director of PCUN, Oregon’s farmworker union, where she advocates for the state’s agricultural workers and other underserved communities.  PCUN started in 1985 as a union for farm workers, fighting to gain collective bargaining rights and has advocated for Oregon farmworkers and working Latinx families, working tirelessly to empower these communities to understand and take action against systematic exploitation and its harmful effects.

Melody Gramley has worked in the grocery industry for 25 years.  A Salem resident and member of UFCW #555, Melody serves as a steward and a Vice President of the union.  She has testified on behalf of her members in the state legislature in their struggle to win their share of federal hazard pay. 


Andrea Torres is a 15-year UNITE HERE Local 8 Union member at a cafeteria in the Boeing campus and is currently on leave organizing full-time. She identifies as Mexican American and lives with her family in West Seattle.

Joey Hartman serves as chair of the BC Labour Heritage Centre and is the past president of the Vancouver & District Labour Council (Mayne Island, BC). The Labour Heritage Centre works to preserve, document and uplift the history of BC’s workers and labour organizations.  The Vancouver & District Labour Council represents 60,000 workers from over 100 affiliated unions.

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