Labor Outreach Committee Meeting - Friday 16 December 2011

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Labor Outreach Committee Meeting

[improve]

Manifest Unity!

Purpose

Proposed Agenda
  1. Debrief on D12.
  2. Report back on People's Assembly.
  3. Organizing as a spoke (proposal).
  4. Relating to national Occupy Labor committees.
  5. Upcoming struggles? May Day 2012, education rally 2/20, other labor struggles locally.



Other details

Occupy and Organized Labor
GOAL/PURPOSE

To bolster solidarity between those who identify with Occupy Portland and those who identify with organized labor, and to identify bottom-up options for personally exhibiting that solidarity in our communities.

ISSUES TO RAISE
  • The ongoing media vilification of Occupy and unions; attempts to divide the two; and how to combat it from the grassroots
  • The fear of co-optation among some Occupy activists who distrust electoral politics and reformist agendas
  • The fear among some organizational leaders of becoming too tied to a movement that may or may not prove strategic and long-lasting
  • Differences between movements and organizations; the benefits that come from mutual respect; and thoughts on how that respect can be demonstrated
SUGGESTED FORMAT

A moderator/host introduces the event and agenda. If needed, the event then has brief presentations providing a basic overview of Occupy Portland and how it operates and organized labor in Portland and how it operates. Depending on the audience, this may not be necessary — but if there are lots of people in the audience who don't have much experience with one or the other, this could be useful. Then the moderator calls up a group of four-ish thoughtful individuals with different connections to Occupy Portland and/or organized labor for a "fishbowl discussion." They're given a few minutes each to share some prepared thoughts -- and then the moderator poses some pre-arranged questions to the fishbowl for them to answer and debate together. Ideally, there is more back-and-forth than on a panel. Also, there is no Q&A from the audience. About 45 minutes into the event, people break out into small group discussions -- and are given a list of several pre-written questions that help explore the "issues to raise" above -- and helps identify some things people can do in their own lives to help exhibit solidarity between Occupy and labor. After maybe 20 minutes, the moderator reconvenes everyone and asks each group to share their one or two best ideas. We list them up on a whiteboard and then email them around afterwards. The moderator makes some brief closing remarks and we depart.

POSSIBLE SPEAKERS
Moderator --
Dee Brown?
Megan Hise?
Occupy 101 & Labor 101 (is this needed?)
Labor in Portland Overview
Margaret Butler?
Occupy Portland Overview
Eliana Machuca?
Fishbowl
Kari Koch (said she would)
Chris Ferlazzo?
Heather Conroy?
Jamie Partridge?
Jennifer Sargent?
Barbara Byrd?
Tom Chamberlain?
Meredith Reese?
David Osborn?
Madelyn Elder?
SUGGESTED DATE AND VENUE
Monday January 30 * 6:30pm
JwJ/AFSCME Building
6025 E. Burnside
TURNOUT
Promoted through normal JwJ, ORFTC and Occupy channels throughout January.
If appropriate, cross-promoted with the Assembly/People's Budget events.
See Also


more information