Pacific NW Labor History Assoc. conference is May 3-5

PORTLAND, Ore. (April 8, 2019) — All are invited to attend the 2019 conference of the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association on May 3-5 at the University Place Hotel & Conference Center in Portland.

PNLHA conferences are a unique gathering of workers, unionists, scholars and community activists. Its May gathering will be an opportunity to connect with old friends and make new ones, to learn about our labor heritage, and to exchange ideas about labor strategies past, present and future. Check out the full conference program with registration information.

This year’s conference highlights the centennial of the historic Seattle and Winnipeg general strikes:

●  Opening Reception with music from the rock opera, “Seattle 1919.”

●  Two Plenary Sessions: first, a distinguished panel will revisit dramatic events of 1919; second, labor organizer turned historian, Lane Windham, will headline a conversation connecting past and present organizing strategies. Local activists from the Powell’s Books campaign of the 1990s, and the current Burgerville campaign will bring local experience and insight to the conversation.

●  Saturday Awards Banquethonoring 2019 PNLHA History Makers, the Burgerville Workers Union; and the PNLHA Persons of the Year:  Alice Dale, SEIU 503, and Norm Diamond, labor educator and author of “The Power in Our Hands.”  With labor music from David Rovics.

Conference sessions are planned on labor and work in the Pacific Northwest past, present and future; art and protest; women in labor; Indian labor; farm work; cannabis workers; labor and international trade; labor post-Janus; local community histories; current teacher movements; plus three documentary films on workers and organizing in the PNW (women in the trades; the transformation of home health care in Oregon; and labor wars in early 20th century Washington); and more.

Conference speakers and presenters from diverse walks of life — labor organizers, social justice activists, musician-activists, labor educators, labor historians, undergraduate and graduate students.

Registration is now open, with special early registration rates through April 20. A full conference program, on-line and mail-in registration, and lodging information can be accessed at the PNLHA website. Students attend for free if they pre-register by April 20.