A Labor Conference By and For Young Workers

JOURNAL: ISSUE 2 - 2015

AFL-CIO’s 2015 Next Up Young Worker Summit was held March 19th-22nd in Chicago. More than 1,000 young workers and activists from across the country were in attendance including an eight-person delegation from BAC (see photo at bottom). 
The summit included plenary sessions and over 80 workshops on subjects submitted and conducted primarily by young workers. Topics ranged from collective bargaining to organizing, to labor history, to women in the trades, and dozens more.
Conference attendees were called to action on March 21st to raise awareness on immigration reform, student debt reform, and the impact of low-wage policies. Actions included leafleting a Nissan Dealership in the Chicago suburbs to support the right of the workers to form a union and run an election at the Nissan plant in Mississippi.
“One of the best parts of the Next Up Summit was the fact that it was all-inclusive. It brought together not only delegates from all unions, but also student groups and community activists,” said Summit attendee Brett Gierak of Local 2 MI. “Attendees of the summit were representative of real world communities: white, black, Latino, Asian, heterosexual, and LGBTQ. We all have the same goal: to better the world for everyone.  We can't make the world a better place when we only work with the people in our inner circles; we must break out and expand, and that is exactly what this conference accomplished.”

From left, BAC Organizer and Local 1 MD/VA/DC member Francis Jacobberger, Charles Winchester III of Local 21 IL, Prairie Wells of the AFL-CIO and former Local 2 NY/VT organizer, Tyler Simpson of Local 3 CA, Glenn Kelly of Local 8 Southeast, AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre and Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler, Brett Gierak of Local 2 MI, BAC Director of Collective Bargaining and Local 3 NY member Mike Di Virgilio, Government Relations Director Jean-Paul Itz and Education Coordinator Kiehl Christie.