9:00 am Welcome: Morton Bahr, President, Communication Workers of America

9:15 am Session I: Training and Union Growth in a Global Economy

Chair: Penn Kemble, Consultant, New Economy Information Service; Senior Scholar, Freedom House

Discussion Initiators (10 minutes each)
Dr. John Lloyd, National Education and Development Officer, Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, UK
Morton Bahr, President, Communication Workers of America
Dr. Dieter Eich, General Director, DGB Bildungswerk, Germany
Pasquale Inglisano, Confederazione Italiana Sindacati Lavoratori, Italy

Discussion Questions:
In your view, what are the economic trends that require a new union response?
What kinds of responses has your union, or those you have studied, made and how are they working?
How does training fit into this new agenda?
What has been the reaction of union members? Employers? The general public?

10:00 am Discussion

11:15 am Break

11:30 am Session II: Training & Credentials: Key to New Professionals

Chair: Nancy Mills, Executive Director, Working for America Institute, AFL-CIO

Discussion Initiators (10 minutes each)
Christiane Benner, Trade Union Officer, IT-Branch, IG Metall, Germany
Dr. Richard Hurd, Director, Cornell University Labor Studies Department
Mark Smith, Deputy Executive Director, American Nurse Credentialing Center
Ed Sweeney, General Secretary, UNIFI (new UK finance union); Advisory Board, Trades Union Congress Partnership Institute, UK

Discussion Questions:
Describe your organization's role, or that of organizations you have studied, in setting qualifications for entry into the profession, craft or job of your members?
Do these authorize official licensure or certification? If so, how is this accomplished?
Are there other organizations, including associations, government organizations or employers that play this role? If so, how do they relate to your organization or to those you have studied?
How are these roles and relationships changing your organization or those you know about?

12:15 am Discussion

1:00 pm Lunch

1:45 pm Coffee: Sandra Feldman, President, American Federation of Teachers

2:00 pm Session III: Roundtable--Applying Skills Development to Organizing

Chair: Paul Almeida, President, Department of Professional Employees, AFL-CIO

Discussion Initiators (10 minutes each)
Jeff Grabelsky, Organizing Director, Building Trade Department, AFL-CIO
Philip Kugler, Organizing Director, American Federation of Teachers
Dr. Jeremy Waddington, Project Coordinator, European Trade Union Institute, Brussels

Discusion Questions:
What do you think prospective members want from unions or other representative organizations with respect to skill development?
How do you know?
What are you doing about it and has this worked to attract more members?

2:45 Discussion

3:30pm Session IV: Concluding Remarks/Observations of Participants

Chair: Sandra Feldman, President, American Federation of Teachers

5:00 pm Reception