Center hosts convening for labor leaders and workers
The focus of the Real Reentry convening was on the practical: what’s working and what needs to change.
The Center for Political Economy hosted a one-day convening that brought together labor leaders, impacted workers, and funding allies to examine how the labor movement can expand access to stable, union employment for workers with records.
Organizers of the Real Reentry convening describe its focus as practical: what’s working and what institutional commitments are necessary to sustain and grow this work across the labor movement.
Held April 3, the opening plenary featured a panel discussion that explored the importance of seeing reentering the workforce as a core labor issue, given that mass incarceration has reshaped the labor market, concentrating workers with records in industries with weak standards. It was facilitated by Alex Han, field director with May Day Strong, and included Adam Reich, an associate professor of sociology and a faculty co-leader of the Center’s Work and Labor Idea Lab; Billy Pearson, a member Leader of the Waffle House Organizing Committee at Union of Southern Service Workers; Justice Favor, field representative with Mason Tenders’ District Council; and Maya Ragsdale, co-executive director of Beyond the Bars.
