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“Latin American Labor at a Crossroads: Obstacles and Opportunities in Times of Change”
April 13-14, 2023
Center for Global Workers’ Rights
Dr. Mark Anner Center Director, Center for Global Workers’ Rights
EMAIL: cgwr@psu.edu PHONE: +1 814-865-5425 FAX: +1 814-867-41698:30 AM: Registration of speakers and participants
9:00 AM: Opening of the symposium- welcome addresses by Mark Anner of the Penn State University School of Labor and Employment Relations
9:15 AM: Keynote address: Marcio Pochmann (UNICAMP, Brasil) – Labor rights and economic development in Latin America: Current perspectives
Prof. Pochmann will discuss the challenges to promoting sustainable development and decent work in contemporary Latin America, with a particular focus on Brazil.
Chair: Jana Silverman
10:15 AM: Roundtable: Changes and continuities in labor relations under the Pink Tide governments
In this roundtable, academic and practitioner experts on labor relations in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, and Honduras will discuss the possibilities for creating and strengthening pro-worker labor relations systems and promoting social dialogue in these countries currently governed by “New Pink Tide” administrations.
12:15 PM: Lunch
1:30 PM: Roundtable: Political polarization in the Americas and the role of labor in defending democracy
This panel will focus on the role of labor in strengthening democratic institutions both in the workplace and beyond, in countries such as the US and Brazil that are marked by significant social, economic and political inequalities.
3:30 PM: Roundtable: Building labor solidarity across borders
In this panel, labor leaders and advisors representing workers in the industrial, retail, commercial and public sectors in the US and in Latin America will discuss the role of transnational solidarity campaigns in strengthening labor democracy and labor rights compliance for both their members and for other workers in these sectors across the Americas.
8:30 AM: Roundtable: A return to developmentalism?: Development policy, sustainability and decent work in the new Pink Tide countries
In this roundtable, researchers and activists will discuss the labor impacts of developmentalist policies in previous Pink Tide governments as well as look ahead to see how current progressive governments in countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Colombia are combining new strategies for industrial upgrading and economic development with just transition policies.
10:30 AM: Roundtable: Who cares for the caregivers in Latin America?
This panel will address the impacts of the global care crisis on Latin America and specifically on Latin American women. Researchers and activists working in Colombia, Mexico, Brazil and Peru will talk about the role of women’s’ paid and unpaid reproductive labor in promoting economic and social development, and highlight policies being formulated and implemented in Latin America to construct better public policies to value care work and dignify care workers.
12:30 PM: Closing address: How can researchers contribute to strengthening the labor movement across the Americas in times of multiple crises and opportunities?
These closing remarks will highlight important research agendas for the Latin American labor studies field in the current political and economic context, and discuss how to better bridge the gap between practitioners and researchers.
1:30 PM: End of Symposium, Closing Lunch