Leading South African trade unionist Tony Ehrenreich is the keynote speaker at Union Days 2005. "Unions in the Global Economy" is the overall theme of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations events, which take place April 6-8 in Ives Hall.

Ehrenreich's talk is Wednesday, April 6, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in 305 Ives Hall. All Union Days events are free and open to the public.

"We want to highlight ways the labor movement is making connections across borders and is becoming an international phenomenon," said ILR Associate Professor Risa Lieberwitz, who heads the planning committee that organized the events. "In addition, we want to bring in labor leaders in high positions to enable our students to really get to hear them -- and show what a strong role trade unions can play in bringing about political, social and economic justice."

Ehrenreich is one such labor leader. He is the regional secretary, Western Cape, of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), the coalition of unions that helped defeat apartheid. COSATU was launched in December 1985 after four years of unity talks between unions opposed to apartheid in South Africa. Dedicated to non-racialism and worker control, the group currently represents more than 2 million workers and is among the fastest-growing trade union movements in the world. As regional secretary, Ehrenreich advocates for the interests of workers to governments, media and businesses worldwide and has been COSATU's labor representative to the World Trade Organization, international and South African labor groups.

Also as part of Union Days, there will be a panel discussion on international union campaigns, "Unions in the Global Economy," Thursday, April 7, from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in the Doherty Lounge, 280 Ives Hall. Panelists include Ehrenreich; Eric Dirnbach, UNITE HERE coordinator, apparel, distribution and retail industries; Neil Falcone, United Auto Workers area director, Region 9, New York; and Jim Blau, Service Employees International Union senior research analyst.

On the morning of April 7, students interested in careers in the labor movement can talk with a range of potential employers, including representatives of nonprofit organizations, at the Social Justice Career Fair in the lobbies of Ives Hall.

And in a related event Friday, April 8, Cornell Cinema will show "The Take," at 7 p.m. in Willard Straight Theatre. The film is about autoworkers in Buenos Aires who are part of a daring new movement of workers who occupy bankrupt businesses and create jobs -- facing off against the bosses, bankers and the law. The cost is $6 for general admission, $4.75 for undergraduates and senior citizens, and $4 for graduate students. The film showing is followed by a discussion led by ILR associate professor Maria L. Cook and assistant visiting professor Mark S. Anner.

In addition to his campus visit, Ehrenreich, who is the 2005 ILR Alice B. Grant Labor Leader-in-Residence at the ILR School, will deliver a talk, "South African Labor Unions: Alternative Models of Organizing For Effective Union Leadership," in the school's New York City offices, Tuesday, April 5, from 12:30 to 2 p.m.

Co-sponsors of Union Days are Cornell Organization for Labor Action (COLA), Minority ILR Student Organization, ILR Institute for Women and Work, Africana Studies and Research Center, Institute for African Development, ILR Office of Career Services, ILR Office of Student Services, Cornell Cinema, Cornell Students Against Sweatshops, Center for Inequality Studies, Asian Pacific Islanders Alliance for Action, Farmworkers Advocacy Coalition, Cornell Coalition for Trade Justice, Student Coalition Advocating Labor Education, Students Acting for Gender Equality, United Progressives, Committee on U.S.-Latin American Relations, the ILR Marketing Department and the Office of Labor Education and Research.