Learn from the past to build labor’s future

Register now for Pacific Northwest Labor History Association conference in Tacoma

PORTLAND — The Pacific Northwest Labor History Association’s (PNLHA) will hold its 2023 Conference under the theme “Labor Resurgence: Learning From the Recurring Conflict with Capital” on May 5-6 in Tacoma. Register today! Early registration is $50, but will be $60 after April 22.

The event begins Friday night at UW Tacoma with “Our Rebel Girls: A Talk with Jess Walter and Karl Marlantes,” where the authors join labor historian Heather Mayer to discuss their Pacific Northwest-based historical novels, The Cold Millions and Deep River, whose heroines are Wobblie organizers. It will be Friday, May 5 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public.

Saturday’s daylong conference will be held at the Washington State History Museum, 1911 Pacific Ave. in Tacoma, with keynote speaker Moon-Ho Jung, the Harry Bridges Endowed Chair in Labor Studies at the University of Washington. Other featured speakers will include Michael Honey, Dan Berger, Ragya Kaul, Sara Palmer, Aaron Goings, Jim Gregory, and Michael Goldfield. Workshops will be held on the history of labor on the waterfront, in timber and canneries, racial justice and the fight against restrictive covenants, migrant workers’ unions, Black liberation struggles and more Pacific Northwest working class history.

See the conference program for details.

The Murano Hotel, which is within walking distance of the conference, has a limited number of reduced rate rooms and reduced parking rates available for the conference. These must be reserved by April 14. Click here to reserve a room at the reduced rate.

The PNLHA is a non-profit association dedicated to preserving the history and heritage of workers in the Pacific Northwest (British Columbia, Oregon and Washington). Its members are trade unionists, students, academics, and others who share an interest in the history and heritage of workers in this region. The PNLHA believes the labor movement must know where it’s been to know where it’s going. It depends exclusively on memberships to sustain our activities. Become a PNLHA member today!