The three are among more than 800 young workers taking part in the Next Up summit Thursday through Sunday in downtown Minneapolis. Organized by the national AFL-CIO, the goal of the summit is to provide opportunities for young workers to network, learn new skills and prepare to take the lead in a labor movement that faces many challenges.
Young workers interviewed at the summit don’t claim to have all the answers, but say they are ready to step up.
Said is one of several members of AFSCME Local 34 in Minneapolis, representing Hennepin County workers, attending the summit. “Before I joined my union, I had no idea what a union was,” she said.
Now, she and friends Ibrahim Farah and Fatuma Kassim are ready to take active roles in their local union.
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| Fatuma Kassim, Ibrahim Farah and Halima Said at the Next Up summit. |
As immigrants from Kenya and Somalia, they did not grow up in union households. But they embrace the ideals that formed the American labor movement.
“The union is for all working Americans,” said Kassim. “We want to have a better life for our kids, for our country.”
Farah said he decided to get involved because of June’s state government shutdown that threatened to affect public services at the county level. When asked what unions could do to encourage the involvement of young workers, he replied promptly, “Education!” Young people would like to know more about their rights on the job and how to organize and get active politically, he said.
Unions must do more to counter the negative messages coming through much of the media, especially television, Said said. “Media is a big factor. The unions and the AFL-CIO should get together and have their own media, their own TV channel.”
Reaching out to the unemployed
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| Michelle Kavanaugh |
“The folks who are unemployed are so hungry for a group that understands what they are going through,” she said.
Kavanaugh previously worked as an organizer for the American Federation of Teachers and credits her activism to growing up in a union household.
Her mom was a teacher who was involved in her union, Kavanaugh said. “She really instilled in me the fact that we have rights. You need to stand up for yourself.”
With the unemployment rate for young people twice the national average for all workers, Kavanaugh said it is important for the labor movement to demand action on jobs. Many people feel helpless and need to see that they can get active and make a difference, she said.
Mickey Mouse is union
Eric Clinton said he learned the importance of belonging to a union while working as a ride operator and custodian at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. Now he is president of UNITE HERE Local 362 and a member of the National Young Workers Advisory Council of the AFL-CIO.
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Eric Clinton
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The workforce in the hospitality and entertainment industry is generally very young, Clinton said. And while some complain that young people are apathetic, he begs to differ.
“I don’t accept the premise that young people don’t care,” he said. “I’m young and I care.”
What’s needed, Clinton said, are new approaches to reaching young people. “A focus on organizing young people is really what has to happen to get young people involved.” The summit is valuable because “we need to send people out with skills.”
While social media like Facebook and Twitter are important tools, Clinton said they respond best to face-to-face conversations.
“Building the union one person at a time is the only way to do it.”
 |
| Summit participants marched through the streets of downtown Minneapolis to demand jobs. |
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The three are among more than 800 young workers taking part in the Next Up summit Thursday through Sunday in downtown Minneapolis. Organized by the national AFL-CIO, the goal of the summit is to provide opportunities for young workers to network, learn new skills and prepare to take the lead in a labor movement that faces many challenges.
Young workers interviewed at the summit don’t claim to have all the answers, but say they are ready to step up.
Said is one of several members of AFSCME Local 34 in Minneapolis, representing Hennepin County workers, attending the summit. “Before I joined my union, I had no idea what a union was,” she said.
Now, she and friends Ibrahim Farah and Fatuma Kassim are ready to take active roles in their local union.
| |
| Fatuma Kassim, Ibrahim Farah and Halima Said at the Next Up summit. |
As immigrants from Kenya and Somalia, they did not grow up in union households. But they embrace the ideals that formed the American labor movement.
“The union is for all working Americans,” said Kassim. “We want to have a better life for our kids, for our country.”
Farah said he decided to get involved because of June’s state government shutdown that threatened to affect public services at the county level. When asked what unions could do to encourage the involvement of young workers, he replied promptly, “Education!” Young people would like to know more about their rights on the job and how to organize and get active politically, he said.
Unions must do more to counter the negative messages coming through much of the media, especially television, Said said. “Media is a big factor. The unions and the AFL-CIO should get together and have their own media, their own TV channel.”
Reaching out to the unemployed
|
| Michelle Kavanaugh |
Michelle Kavanaugh is focused on organizing unemployed workers in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she is a member of Working America, the community affiliate of the AFL-CIO.
“The folks who are unemployed are so hungry for a group that understands what they are going through,” she said.
Kavanaugh previously worked as an organizer for the American Federation of Teachers and credits her activism to growing up in a union household.
Her mom was a teacher who was involved in her union, Kavanaugh said. “She really instilled in me the fact that we have rights. You need to stand up for yourself.”
With the unemployment rate for young people twice the national average for all workers, Kavanaugh said it is important for the labor movement to demand action on jobs. Many people feel helpless and need to see that they can get active and make a difference, she said.
Mickey Mouse is union
Eric Clinton said he learned the importance of belonging to a union while working as a ride operator and custodian at Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. Now he is president of UNITE HERE Local 362 and a member of the National Young Workers Advisory Council of the AFL-CIO.
|
|
Eric Clinton
|
With 40,000 employees, Disneyworld is the largest, single-site workplace in the United States. Most of the workers are union, belonging to either UNITE HERE, Teamsters, IATSE or the United Food & Commercial Workers. And yes, the workers who portray Mickey Mouse are members of the Teamsters.
The workforce in the hospitality and entertainment industry is generally very young, Clinton said. And while some complain that young people are apathetic, he begs to differ.
“I don’t accept the premise that young people don’t care,” he said. “I’m young and I care.”
What’s needed, Clinton said, are new approaches to reaching young people. “A focus on organizing young people is really what has to happen to get young people involved.” The summit is valuable because “we need to send people out with skills.”
While social media like Facebook and Twitter are important tools, Clinton said they respond best to face-to-face conversations.
“Building the union one person at a time is the only way to do it.”
|
| Summit participants marched through the streets of downtown Minneapolis to demand jobs. |