National Student Labor Pre-Conference 2011: Looking back
By Jeremy Hedlund, of University of Oregon SLAP.
After 9 hours of flying and 3000 miles traveled, the University of Oregon delegation arrived in Washington, D.C. for the Student Labor Pre-Conference and the Jobs with Justice National Conference. What brought the three of us here? For me, it was the knowledge that our classified staff on campus were preparing to strike, ready to dig in their heels and fight for a living wage. I was eager to learn what I could do to stand in solidarity with them back home, and excited to get more involved with the Student Labor Action Project by learning from fellow SLAPatistas about starting and running a new chapter.
The first day of the conference was dedicated solely to students, teaching us tactics and educating us on the issues that the working class face. Our very first plenary was on the history of SLAP, which allowed us to view the student movement as more than just a four year period in our lives. Hearing SLAP’s first coordinator, Treston Davis-Faulkner, tell us the story of security guards on his campus unionizing, and the backlash they faced from the school administration allowed me to see the parallels between their story and the SEIU workers on my campus were uncanny. Many of the fights students face today are the same ones we’ve been facing for decades.
Then students participated in Student Labor Action Project’s analysis of the economy through an interactive plenary called “WTF (Where’s the Funding?!): When did we go broke?!” lead by National SLAP Coordinator Chris Hicks and DC SLAP Coordinator Isaiah Toney. This plenary dispelled the myths that funding was unavailable for education and basic social services, because for every budget cut that’s been forced upon the working class, a tax cut for the rich has met the cut almost dollar for dollar.
After lunch, the first workshop block began, which focused on skills. Fortunately for the UO delegation, there were three workshops: developing successful campaigns, choosing an issue and building coalitions. I headed for the Issues to Movements workshop, which helped me to understand the things that should be taken into consideration when choosing an issue to run for a campaign at my campus and how we develop the messaging around it.
The next workshop block was focused on issues: Connecting students and campus workers, migrant rights, and fighting back against budget cuts. I attended was one centered around the struggles of the migrant community. The workshop was presented in both Spanish and English, with translators available, which helped to create an inclusive space where everyone felt comfortable speaking in their native tongue. I came out of the workshop with a newfound appreciation for the hardships faced by migrants, and how their struggle overlaps with both students and the working class.
The rest of the week was a blur of hard-hitting workshops and trainings. At the conference, students in particular were challenged to build up institutional power on their campus, to create a sustainable and ultimately victorious working class movement. Whether this meant taking over the campus student government, joining (or starting) a statewide student association, or just building lasting coalitions on campus, we realized that we must find ways for our fights to continue past when we graduate. We were also called to stand side by side with labor unions in their struggles against a wave of privatization and union busting, which I am more than ready to do with our local SEIU campus workers union. Ultimately, the three of us from UO returned to Eugene, Oregon ready to fight, but more importantly, ready to win.
