Progressive Labor Summit 2025

Progressive Labor Alliance

A one-day event in San Diego bringing together the Labor community with left-of-center activists & leaders to empower all working people.

San Diego Convention Center

The Progressive Labor Summit is a one-day event taking place in San Diego, CA, bringing together members of the Labor community with left-of-center activists and community leaders to build stronger understanding, knowledge, skills, and partnerships in tackling the broader social challenges we are facing today.Featured Speakers Include:Julie Su, Former Acting Secretary of LaborCharmaine Morales, President, UNAC/UHCPLorena Gonzalez, President, California Federation of Labor UnionsProgram will include:Workers in Resistance: Rank and file workers who are fighting against corporate and governmental assaults on working people discuss what they're facing and the role of their unions in fighting back against exploitation and reckless management. Michelle Cuevas, NUHW; Meranda Fernandez, Roofers &amp; Waterproofers Local 45; Jimn Hernandez, IATSE Local 122; Stephanie Macceca, Grossmont Education Association; Robert Mack, AFGE; Moderator: Paloma Aguirre, City of Imperial BeachA Pro-Worker Economic Agenda in the Trump Era: President Biden led the most pro-worker, pro-union administration in our lifetimes. What do we need to do to defend the progress we've made, organize for resilience and solidarity in the Trump Era, and lay the foundation for an effective, durable pro-worker movement in the years to come? Veena Dubal, UCI School of Law; Lorena Gonzalez, California Federation of Labor Unions; Julie Su, Former Acting Secretary of Labor; Moderator: David Dayen, The American ProspectThe Cost of Living is Too Damn High: The cost of everything from eggs to housing has been spiraling up faster than wages can keep pace. Local experts and policy leaders discuss how to help our paychecks keep up, and reel in some of the worst abuses that are making it too hard for working families to make ends meet. Brigette Browning, San Diego &amp; Imperial Counties Labor Council, Sean Elo-Rivera, City of San Diego; Kyra Greene, Center on Policy Initiatives; Terra Lawson-Remer, County of San Diego; Moderator: Rudy Gonzalez, San Francisco Building Trades Council2024 in Review - Latinos and Trump: Much has been made of the swing towards Trump and Republicans in recent elections. What’s real, what’s hype, and how are Latinos actually thinking and voting, both here in San Diego and across the country? Robert Hernandez, SDSU; Arcela Nuñez, Universidad Popular; Christian Ramirez, SEIU-USWW; Emmanuelle Santillan, Somos Votantes; Moderator: Ansermio Jake Estrada, San Diego County Building &amp; Construction Trades CouncilSchools and Colleges as Sites of Refuge and Resistance: This panel will explore the various ways schools should serve as refuges in the face of assaults from the Trump administration and local manifestations of MAGA ideology. From sheltering undocumented students and trying to protect vulnerable trans children, to resisting the efforts of the Trump administration to impose an anti-DEI, ideologically “pro”-American curriculum, panelists from a wide range of perspectives will grapple with the historic challenges facing public education in San Diego right now. Geysil Arroyo, San Diego Community College District; Nicole Garcia Delgado, City College; Erin Tsurumoto Grassi, Alliance San Diego; Gregg Robinson, San Diego County Board of Education; Kyle Weinberg, SDEA; Moderator: Kelly Mayhew, AFT 1931The Economics of Climate Disaster: From fires to floods to heatwaves and beyond, the environmental risks of climate change have become the economic realities of climate disaster. How is our increasingly dangerous reality impacting the household economies of working families, and the larger public budgets of governments trying to prepare and respond? What are the infrastructure investments we need to make, the threats we need to plan for, and the challenges that communities face? Sandeep Aujla, SDGE; Jessica Calix, Resident of San Diego; Daniel Enemark, Policy &amp; Innovation Center; Darrell Roberts, CA Professional Firefighters; Moderator: Cristina Marquez, IBEW 569Our Budget, Our Values: We are facing significant local budget deficits, major threats to federal funding, and widespread uncertainty around the near-term health of the economy. Local leaders and policy makers will discuss how to establish priorities that reflect our community values, needs, and shared dangers as we weigh potential cuts and opportunities to increase revenue. LaShae Sharp-Collins, CA Assembly; Henry Foster, City of San Diego; Chris Hoene, CA Budget &amp; Policy Center; Crystal Irving, SEIU 221; Moderator: Corinna Contreras, City of VistaLGBTQIA+ Issues Are Worker Issues: With a renewed attack on the LGBT+ Community broadly and the trans community specifically, it’s more critical than ever to stand up against efforts to divide us, and remember that these attempts to break our solidarity are also attempts to break worker power. How can we continue mobilizing to be mutually supportive as a community and as allies, and where are the areas most in need of support? Pam Miller, Pride at Work; Cori Schumacher, IBEW 569; Ryan Trabuco, CA Democratic Party LGBTQ Caucus; Moderator: Gloria Cruz Cardenas, The San Diego LGBT Community CenterHousing Is Dignity: The nation, the state, and San Diego are all dealing with major homelessness and housing crises with little sign of easing. Our efforts to expand homeless shelter and service capacity is struggling to keep up with the continuing flow of the newly homeless, and even the most aggressive efforts to increase housing supply have not produced enough to bring down prices. And wages are struggling to keep up even with the basic inflation for cost of living, much less any dream of saving for a home. How did we arrive at this place where poverty is treated as a moral failing that someone deserves instead of a policy outcome that can be deliberately fixed? How can we break down the long-held underlying misconceptions that are continuing to drive our housing and homelessness challenges, and what would a policy response look like that isn’t hamstrung by moralizing? Max Disposti, North County LGBTQ Resource Center; Kokayi Kwa Jitahidi, CA State Building Trades Council; Lisa Jones, San Diego Housing Commission; Kent Lee, City of San Diego; Monica Montgomery-Steppe, County of San Diego; Moderator: Eric Joyce, City of OceansideFree the Toothpaste: Who’s Really Robbing Who?: There’s been a significant swing towards cracking down on low-level retail theft, with toiletries and other basic items being locked away and criminal penalties increasing. At the same time, wage theft remains the largest source of theft in the nation, by several orders of magnitude. Why is there such a gap in how seriously these are treated in policy making and public discussion, how did we allow wage theft and exploitation to become normalized to the point of invisibility, and how can we shift our focus and priorities to ensure that stealing from working people is treated at least as seriously as stealing from their corporate bosses? Branden Butler, County of San Diego; Heather Ferbert, City of San Diego; Jane Kim, CA Working Families Party; Peter Zschiesche, Employee Rights Center; Moderator: Cesar Fernandez, City of Chula VistaBuilding Solidarity in Action: During these exceptional times, it's more important than ever that we invest in cross-issue solidarity and prioritize a dynamic movement that stands together against common enemies and structural deficiencies. How have these coalition efforts succeeded or failed in the past, and what lessons can we apply to our advocacy and power-building now to ensure that we are not divided and weakened by self-interest? Khalid Alexander, Pillars of the Community; Johanna Hester, UDW; Joe LaCava, City of San Diego; Mat Vasilakis, Building Electrification Institute; Moderator: Carol Kim, San Diego County Building &amp; Construction Trades Council Within the context of the current political climate, it is more important than ever that we are able to build strong, authentic relationships that allow us to move forward together in solidarity, as we strive towards greater justice for the communities we serve and represent. While many of us have collaborated and interacted tangentially, the current political landscape requires us to be more intentional and strategic than ever in order to create the changes we seek.The eighth annual summit will occur in-person and help us strengthen our foundation for vital progressive work.***Scholarships are available. Please email lucas@progressivelaboralliance.org to request a scholarship for the 2025 Progressive Labor Summit.***

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Progressive Labor Summit 2025

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