As many as 4,000 labor activists gathered in Chicago June 16-19 for the national Labor Notes conference. Founded in 1979, Labor Notes is a magazine, but also a nonprofit dedicated to “putting the movement back in the labor movement” through steward training and skills building.
This year’s conference was the best attended in 40 years. It drew sizable contingents of Starbucks and Amazon workers, as well as national labor leaders including Teamsters general president Sean O’Brien and Association of Flight Attendants president Sara Nelson. The Portland area sent 100 attendees from more than two dozen locals, including contingents from Oregon Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals (OFNHP) and Evergreen Education Association.
The conference ran morning to night for two and a half days, with over 250 trainings, workshops, panels, and industry meetups, plus a plenary address from U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders.
