On Saturday January 28th the Electrical Industry will host a conference addressing racism. This
day-long conference will highlight the history of
racism through a workshop titled, Building Unity through Fighting Racism!åÊ Acclaimed author
and activist Bill Fletcher Jr. will lead the discussion.
To register call the Educational and Cultural
Department at 718-591-2000.
Local 3 Business Manager Erikson and other industry leaders envision the objective of the workshop to be for the participants to learn the manner in which “race” and racism have been constructed; the reasons for the construction of race and racism and who was behind this. Their desire is to develop tools for identifying manifestations of racism in the industry and identify methods to build unity across “racial” boundaries that strengthen the industry and advance equality in and out of the workplace.
About Bill Fletcher Jr.
Bill Fletcher Jr has been an activist since his teen years. Upon graduating from college he went to work as a welder in a shipyard, thereby entering the labor movement. Over the years he has been active in workplace and community struggles as well as electoral campaigns. He has worked for several labor unions in addition to serving as a senior staff person in the national AFL-CIO.
Fletcher is the former president of TransAfrica Forum; a Senior Scholar with the Institute for Policy Studies; an editorial board member of BlackCommentator.com; and in the leadership of several other projects. Fletcher is the co-author (with Peter Agard) of “The Indispensable Ally: Black Workers and the Formation of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, 1934-1941”; the co-author (with Dr. Fernando Gapasin) of “Solidarity Divided: The crisis in organized labor and a new path toward social justice”; and the author of “‘They’re Bankrupting Us’ ‰ÛÒ And Twenty other myths about unions.” Fletcher is a syndicated columnist and a regular media commentator on television, radio and the Web.
