Join us as we explore history of Black workers in the United States during economic transitions. Hear perspectives from labor leaders on the impact of the pandemic, the unfolding economic crisis and climate change as well as the potential of the global uprising for Black lives to help shape a just, sustainable economic future for all workers and communities.

The webinar will include an interview with Jhacova Williams, economist for the Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy (PREE) of the Economic Policy Institute, and a roundtable discussion with Nia Winston, General Vice President of UNITE HERE, Tanya Wallace Gobern, Executive Director of the National Black Workers Center and others.

He has worked for several labor unions in addition to serving as a senior staffperson 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’ – And Twenty other myths about unions.” Fletcher is a syndicated columnist and a regular media commentator on television, radio and the Web.

In this capacity, she explores the role of structural racism in shaping racial economic disparities in labor markets, housing, criminal justice, higher education, and other areas that have a direct impact on economic outcomes. Williams’ research has focused on Southern culture and the extent to which historical events have impacted the political behavior and economic outcomes of Southern blacks. Prior to joining EPI, Williams served as an assistant professor at Clemson University and worked as a mathematics lab director and instructor at Xavier University of Louisiana.

Tanya began her career immediately following college graduation, when she joined the Organizing Institute of the AFL-CIO. Soon after that, her desire to organize Black workers led her to work for the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union (ACTWU — a predecessor union of Unite HERE) and move to the Southeast to help on their unionization campaign in that region. Later, she created the AFL-CIO’s Historical Black College Recruitment program in order to increase the number of Blacks among union leadership and staff. For the past 10 years, Tanya has been working for the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions including running their field operation.

She is also a member of the union’s Black Leadership Steering Committee. In addition to her roles with UNITE HERE, Winston serves on the Joint Employer Procurement Advisory Board for the City of Detroit, the subcommittee for the Mayor’s Workforce Development Committee for the City of Detroit, and the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau Board. In February of 2018, she was awarded Labor Leader of the Year from the Michigan African American Institute. Today, Winston continues to lead her staff in organizing new members and workplaces in order to maintain and improve standards for working people.