ITHACA, N.Y. -- The leader of the Los Angeles County Home-Care Workers Union, the second largest local in the nation, and a labor reporter for theChicago Tribune who was a Pulitzer prize nominee are part of Union Days 2002 at Cornell University.

This year's theme, "Unions, Democracy and Civil Society," looks at the role of the labor movement in achieving political and economic justice. Union Days, which aims to make students aware of the issues at the forefront of labor organizing, takes place at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), Ives Hall, April 10-12. Events are free and open to the public.

"The theme explores the importance of an active role for unions in striving for both economic and political justice for all members of society," said Risa Lieberwitz, Cornell associate professor of labor law and Union Days committee chair. "Our keynote speaker, Tyrone Freeman, is an exciting new leader in the labor movement, seeking to achieve justice for workers in jobs where issues of gender, race and low wages are central to their struggles. "

Freeman's keynote address, on Wednesday, April 10, at 12:30 p.m. in 305 Ives Hall, will launch the three days of events. He is general president and chief executive officer of Service Employees International (SEIU) Local 434B, which represents about 82,000 home healthcare workers in Los Angeles and adjacent counties. Since 1998, members -- who are predominantly Latina, African American and Asian women -- fought for and won the right to organize, be recognized as county workers and earn more than a minimum wage.

At Cornell, Freeman, who has criticized right wing groups for "using the excuse of nationalism since September 11 to do less for poor working people," will talk about the important role unions play in eliminating economic disparities and shaping society's domestic agenda.

On Thursday, April 11, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in 105 Ives Hall, a panel discussion titled "What is the role of the labor movement in the struggle for economic and political justice?" will feature Stephen Franklin, who has been the labor reporter at heChicago Tribune for more than a decade. Franklin was the runner-up for the Pulitzer prize in public service journalism in 1984 for a series of articles in theDetroit Free Press on failed car safety. Franklin also is the author of Three Strikes: Labor's Heartland Losses and What They Mean for Working Americans (Guilford Press, 2001). Other panelists are Muzaffar Chishti, director of the Migration Policy Institute at New York University School of Law, which looks at immigration, employment and civil liberties; and Francine Moccio, director of the ILR Institute for Women and Work, a national research and education center for working women.

Following that discussion, the panelists will talk with students and other attendees at a series of small-group workshops on unions, economic rights and civil liberties in 108, 112 and 116 Ives Hall.

On Friday, April 12, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., in Ives Hall's main lobbies, there will be a Social Justice Career Fair highlighting careers for interested students. At 1:30 p.m. in the ILR faculty lounge there will be a reception and panel discussion, "Careers in the Labor Movement," featuring ILR School alumni and others involved in the labor movement.

Union Days 2002 is sponsored by Cornell's ILR School, with co-sponsors: Cornell Organization for Labor Action; Minority ILR Student Organization; ILR Institute for Women and Work; ILR Office of Career Services; ILR Office of Student Services; Cornell Law and Society Program; Cornell Latino Studies Program; and Cornell Women's Studies Program. For more information, contact Lieberwitz at (607) 255-3289 or e-mail rll5@cornell.edu .

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