Two prominent American union activists, Teresa Conrow and Andy Banks, will conduct a strategic campaigning course for a limited number of union officials in Melbourne this month.

Teresa and Andy were in Australia last year and conducted strategic campaigning courses around Rio Tinto in Canberra for international delegates and a CFMEU course in Sydney. Teresa Conrow is a former SEIU (Los Angeles) organiser and has for many years been a labour educator, including the development of materials that have been used by the Public Sector International. Andy Banks is a former community organiser who has also been a labour activist for many years. Between 1995 and 1998 he was the international director of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in Washington (and played a crucial role in the UPS strike of 180,000 workers in the US in 1997). Since 1998 he has been a senior lecturer at the AFL-CIO George Meaney Centre for Labour Studies in Washington.

Teresa and Andy have worked on a number of campaigns, including the Rio Tinto campaign at the request of the International Chemical Energy and Mining Workers Union in 2000. All in all, they have a great deal of experience and knowledge which would be invaluable as Victorian unions organise campaigns and build alliances with communities around industrial issues.

Teresa and Andy will also be conducting a stream at the VTHC Campaigning Conference on 18 and 19 April 2002. They will be limited to two 2 hour sessions and the areas covered will be quite restricted. The seminar provides the best opportunity for you to develop your campaign skills.

The course cost is $390 (inclusive of GST).

For more information contact Leigh Hubbard at the VTHC – 03 9662 3511.