The CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies (SLU) hosts a variety of conferences that bring together scholars, practitioners, and community leaders to address critical issues in labor, urban studies, and social justice. These events foster meaningful dialogue, encourage collaboration, and highlight innovative solutions to pressing challenges. Explore this page to learn more about SLU’s conferences and how they contribute to advancing knowledge and promoting impactful change.

Upcoming Conference

Labor and the Crisis of Democracy: Working-Class Politics in an Age of Authoritarianism

Conference sponsored by the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. Co-sponsored by the Cornell Worker Institute

Thursday, May 8  &  Fri. May 9, 2025

CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies
25 West 43rd Street, 18th floor, New York, NY 10036 (map)

Register

Past SLU Conferences

How Workers Win: Rebuilding Labor’s Power for the 21st Century

Friday, May 5, 2023  

A day-long discussion of exciting new developments in the labor movement. We begin the day with an exploration of recent organizing efforts and strategies to establish or expand unions in a variety of settings, including some of the largest global employers as well as sectors where organizing is spreading rapidly.

Winning union representation is only one step towards building worker power. Beyond winning elections, workers must be able to bargain a contract, and potentially engage in successful strikes. As an alternative to elections, gains can be achieved through workplace direct action. Our second panel addresses workers’ efforts to build power through bargaining, contracts and strikes.

The third panel features presentations on how workers are building political power outside the workplace itself, through legislative campaigns, policy work, and electoral programs.

The conference also features a keynote address during the lunch hour by Jennifer Abruzzo, General Counsel of the National Labor Relations Board, who will offer her reflections on this important moment in worker organizing.

Speaker Information:  slucuny.swoogo.com/5May2023/speakers