The president of a migrant farmworkers union and a leader of a community organization helping poor and moderate-income families in post-Katrina New Orleans are among the featured speakers at Union Days 2006. The annual event, slated for April 5-7 at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), Ives Hall, is free and open to the public.

The event aims to make students aware of the issues at the forefront of labor organizing today. This year's theme, "Workers on the Move: Migrant and Immigrant Labor in the Americas," looks at the role of the labor movement in developing innovative organizing campaigns for migrant and immigrant workers.

"The active role of the labor movement is more important than ever to protect the rights of the most vulnerable workers -- as shown by the current mass protests against proposed federal legislation restricting immigrant rights," said Risa Lieberwitz, Cornell associate professor of labor law and Union Days committee co-chair. "Our keynote speaker, Baldemar Velasquez, is a dynamic labor leader who has led successful organizing campaigns for farmworkers and other U.S. migrant and immigrant workers."

Velasquez is president and founder of the AFL-CIO-affiliated Farm Labor Organizing Committee, which represents migrant farmworkers at such companies as Campbell Soup and Heinz. His keynote address on Wednesday, April 5, at 4:30 p.m. in 105 Ives Hall will launch the three-day series of events.

Velasquez, who also is a folk singer, will present a concert, Canciones Por La Causa -- Songs for the Cause, from his CD of that title, Thursday, April 6, at 7:30 p.m. in the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room.

Also on Thursday, a Social Justice Career Fair will take place in Ives Hall's main lobbies from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., during which students can meet and talk about career options in labor organizing and work-related nonprofits with professionals in those areas.

In addition, Velasquez will take part in "Innovations in Organizing Migrant and Immigrant Labor," a panel discussion Friday, April 7, from noon to 2 p.m., in 280 Ives Hall, that will look at the struggles of New Orleans workers, Midwestern farmworkers, day laborers on Long Island and East Coast construction sites. Other panelists are Nadia Marin-Molina, executive director of the Workplace Project, Hempstead, N.Y., which seeks better working and living conditions for low-wage Latino immigrants; Wade Rathke, founding director and chief organizer of ACORN, which is aiding displaced New Orleans workers, among other projects; and Byron Silva, staff member at Laborers International Union of North America, which represents more than 800,000 U.S. and Canadian workers.

The ILR School is Union Days 2006's key sponsor, with co-sponsors Cornell Migrant Program, Cornell Organization for Labor Action, Minority Industrial and Labor Relations Student Organization, ILR Office of Career Services, Farmworker Advocacy Coalition, Latino Studies Program, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan, Department of City and Regional Planning, and the Student Union Board. For information, contact Lieberwitz at 255-3289 or rll5@cornell.edu.