8:30 a.m.   

Coffee and Registration

9:00 a.m.   

Welcome: Morton Bahr, President, Communication Workers of America

9:15 a.m.    

Session I: Training and Union Growth in a Global Economy
Chair: Penn Kemble, Senior Scholar, Freedom House & Consultant, New
     Economy Information Service

Discussion Initiators (10 minutes each)
Morton Bahr, President, Communication Workers of America
Dr. Dieter Eich, General Director, DGB Bildungswerk, Germany
Pasquale Inglisano, Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori, Italy
Dr. John Lloyd, National Education and Development Officer,
     Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, UK

Discussion Questions:

In your view, what are the economic trends that require a new union response?

What kinds of responses has your union (or those you have studied) made and how are they working?

How does training fit into this new agenda?

What has been the reaction of union members? Employers? The general public?

10:00 a.m.    

Discussion

11:15 a.m.    

Break

11:30 a.m.     

Session II: Training & Credentials -- Key to New Professionals
Chair: Nancy Mills, Executive Director, Working for America Institute,
     AFL-CIO

Discussion Initiators (10 minutes each)
Christiane Benner, Trade Union Officer, IT-Branch, IG Metall, Germany
Dr. Richard Hurd, Director, Cornell University Labor Studies Department
Mark Smith, Deputy Executive Director, American Nurse Credentialing
     Center
Ed Sweeney, General Secretary, UNIFI (UK finance union); Advisory
     Board, Trades Union Congress Partnership Institute, UK

Discussion Questions:

Describe your organization's role (or that of organizations you have studied) in setting qualifications for entry into members’ profession, craft, or job?

Do these authorize official licensure or certification? If so, how is this accomplished?

Are there other organizations (including unions, associations, government agencies or employer organizations) that play this role? If so, how do they relate to your organization(s)?

How are these roles and relationships changing the organization(s)?

12:15 a.m.

Discussion

1:00 p.m.

Lunch

1:45 p.m.

Coffee: Sandra Feldman, President, American Federation of Teachers

2:00 p.m.

Session III: Roundtable -- Applying Skills Development to Organizing
Chair: Paul Almeida, President, Department for Professional Employees,
     AFL-CIO

Discussion Initiators (10 minutes each)
Jeff Grabelsky, Organizing Director, Building Trades Department,
     AFL-CIO
Poul Hansen, Specialarbejderforbundet i Danmark, Denmark
Philip Kugler, Organizing Director, American Federation of Teachers
Dr. Jeremy Waddington, Project Coordinator, European Trade Union
     Institute, Brussels

Discussion Questions:

What do you think prospective members want from unions or other representative organizations with respect to skill development?

How do you know?

What are you doing about it, and how has this worked to attract more members?

2:45 p.m.

Discussion

3:30 p.m.

Session IV: Concluding Remarks/Observations of Participants
Chair: Sandra Feldman, President, American Federation of Teachers

5:00 p.m.

Reception