Labor Notes 2024 Recap

By Chris Litchfield, LNS Actions and Logistics Coordinator

Labor Network for Sustainability joined thousands of rank-and-file workers, organizers, and union leaders at the 2024 Labor Notes conference last month to seize upon both the hard-won momentum of the past two years and emergent opportunities for a sustainable future. That momentum could be felt in every standing room only panel, workshop, and caucus meeting of the sold-out event, and it was a true honor to spend a weekend with some of the finest labor organizers in our movement.

LNS organizer and IBEW Local 11 member Celina Barron moderated a panel with workers in the renewable energy sector about challenges they face as they push for better safety practices, retention through better pay and equitable benefits, and to form unions! Across the solar and wind fields poor training, turnover, and lack of commitment to safety have been a breaking point to a sector plagued by low pay and isolated workplaces divided by both distance and specialized contractors. Renewable workers are getting organized – to improve their conditions and ensure our transition to sustainable energy is truly sustainable.

LNS also helped facilitate a Climate Change and Labor meetup building on conversations from the last Labor Notes conference, and LNS’s Transit Equity Network joined the Railroad Workers United convention to strategize around a publicly owned, sustainable rail sector. We also coordinated a contingent of climate organizers in attendance to continue to prepare for and deepen cross-movement solidarity.

For those unable to attend (and even those in attendance as there was so much going on) below are video recordings of the main sessions:

Full event report from Labor Notes: https://www.labornotes.org/blogs/2024/04/pulsing-life-2024-labor-notes-conference