Star of new labor movement will visit March 2 and 3

Linda Chavez-Thompson, the daughter of cotton sharecroppers from Lubbock, Texas, who rose to prominence in the labor movement, will be on campus Tuesday and Wednesday, March 2 and 3, as the 1999 Alice B. Grant Labor Leader in Residence at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Chavez-Thompson was elected executive vice president of the AFL-CIO in October 1995, in a grass-roots campaign to reinvigorate the American labor movement, and in 1997 was reelected to a four-year term. In addition to being an outspoken champion of labor issues, she is a strong advocate for the disadvantaged and a much-admired role model for the U.S. Latino community. She serves on President Clinton's Initiative on Race and is vice chair of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities.

While on campus, Chavez-Thompson will deliver a public lecture, "The American Labor Movement: Organizing for Change," on March 3 at 3:30 p.m. in 105 Ives Hall. She also will be a guest speaker in courses taught by ILR faculty members Kate Bronfenbrenner, Jennie Farley, Michael Gold, Robert Hebdon and Lowell Turner, and she will meet with ILR students and faculty and local labor leaders.

"It's a chance for students to meet one of the top three officers in the American labor movement," Bronfenbrenner said, "and to see how it is changing. Chavez-Thompson represents a very different kind of leader than we've seen in the past. She is a dynamic Latina woman who has led an interesting life and knows the public sector well. She'll will engage the students and show them what the new labor movement is all about."

Chavez-Thompson began her labor career in 1967 as union secretary for the Laborers' International Union. She then became an international union representative of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, from 1971 through 1973. She also worked for both the San Antonio local and the Texas Council of AFSCME from 1973 through 1995, managing members' grievances and helping to educate legislators on labor issues.

She was an international vice president of AFSCME in 1988-96 and successfully directed the union's efforts in a district traditionally unfriendly to labor that spanned Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah. In addition she served as national vice president of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement in 1986-96.

The Alice B. Grant Labor Leader in Residence program, named for the former director of the ILR extension office in Rochester, N.Y., brings to campus annually a major figure in the labor world.

Past labor leaders in residence have included Lenore Miller, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, and Thomas R. Donahue and John Sweeney, former presidents of the AFL-CIO. For more information on Chavez-Thompson's visit, contact Professor Rick Hurd, director of labor studies, 255-2765, rwh8@cornell.edu.