New article by Gabriel & McDonald brings fresh perspective on cross-border migrant advocacy

In a new article published in Third World Quarterly, Christina Gabriel and Laura Macdonald bring a fresh social movements perspective to research migrant worker petitions filed under NAFTA's labor side agreement, the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC).

CDM and WCL

Published on August 6, 2020, New architectures for migration governance: NAFTA and transnational activism around migrants’ rights compares two migrant worker petitions filed under the NAALC - the 2001 Washington Apple case and the 2013 H-2B Carnival Workers case. The article discusses the different roots of the petitions (trade unions v. legal aid attorneys and cross-border allies) and shows how the petition processes contributed to the development and strengthening of new and existing cross-border advocacy groups.

The article is an important contribution to the growing literature analyzing the use of regional legal mechanisms to advocate on behalf of migrant workers in North America. Definitely worth the read!

Save the Dates! DC LERA has a great line-up of Webinars this fall

Following up on a star performance by AFL-CIO Chief Economist and Howard University Economic Professor William Spriggs back in May 2020, the Washington, DC Chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association (DC LERA) has a great line-up of speakers this fall.

Due to less than ideal circumstances as a result of the pandemic, the DC LERA community is unable to meet for its monthly lunch meetings - but this gives us the opportunity to share our great fall speaker series with the rest of the world through a series of webinars to be hosted by the Washington, DC Office of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

This fall, we've got:

September 9: Nancy Groce, Senior Folklife Specialist at the Library of Congress, speaking on The Occupational Folklife Project

October 21: Jeff Vogt, Director Rule of Law Department, Solidarity Center speaking on The Right to Strike in International Law

November 18: Wilma Liebman, Former Chair of the National Labor Relations
Board, President of National LERA, An Evening with Wilma Liebman

And for our sports fanatics,

December 16: Mark Hyman, Director, Povich Center for Sports Journalism, at the University of Maryland and Adam Richelieu, NFL Players Association, speaking on Labor-Management Issues in the NFL

Mark Your Calendar and Stay Tuned!

For more information, see our website at www.dclera.org or Follow us on Twitter at @DCLERA.