Labor Education Conference
The labor movement in the Upper Peninsula is coming together for the next several days.
The U.P. AFL-CIO Labor Education Conference started late this afternoon at Northern Michigan University.
It’s examining the possibility of Michigan becoming a right–to–work state and other topics affecting organized labor.
Some labor history is also part of the weekend–long conference.
A Saturday afternoon session will have to do with the 1913 Italian Hall disaster in Calumet.
Marquette County Labor Council treasurer Kathy Carlson says two men from New York have made a documentary film about the tragedy and will show it at the conference.
One of the U.P.’s largest employers of unionized workers will have contract talks later this year.
The current labor agreement between Cliffs Natural Resources and United Steelworkers Local 4950 of Negaunee expires at the end of August.
Cliffs officials say talks between the two sides will likely start at the beginning of August.
Posted by: Mike Hoey