Third Annual Labor Spring Teach-In Set for March 8

By Walter Hinojosa, President
Northwest Arkansas Labor Council, AFL-CIO

Under the theme “Addressing Labor’s Troubling Times,” the Northwest Arkansas Labor Council, in collaboration with the 965 Local of the Arkansas Education Association, will hold its third annual Labor Spring Teach-In on Saturday, March 8, 2025. The event will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. in the Ziegler Reception Room of the Fayetteville Public Library.

The program is free, and the public is welcome. The schedule below is subject to change.

1-1:10 p.m.	Walter Hinojosa, NWA Labor Council president, as emcee will introduce the program.
1:10-1:30	Ike Mills, president of Local 667 of the American Postal Workers Union. He will speak about the future of postal workers.
1:30-1:45	Joey Cornelius, general chairman of the SMART-Transportation Div-GCA 569. He will speak on how the Trump agenda will impact our railroad workers.
1:45-2:15	Diana Hicks, international vice president for Region 9 of the American Federation of Government Employees. She will speak on the efforts her union is taking to protect federal employees and their jobs. Local 2201 represents area members.
2:15-2:30	The Rev. Clint Schnekloth, pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Fayetteville. The reverend will also speak on the impact of the Trump agenda is having on the migrant community.
2:30-2:45	Break
2:45-3	Irvin Camacho is a Latino activist based in Northwest Arkansas. He is the creator/host of the District 3 Podcast.
3-3:45	Andrea Provins, a Rogers immigration lawyer. She will also speak about the current migrant situation.
3:45-4	Wrap-up led by Michael Pierce, U of A associate professor of history specializing in labor and race.

Labor Spring events are held nationwide, a concept coordinated by the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor of Georgetown University and the Labor & Working-Class History Association.

The purpose, states the initiative, is to bring “together students, workers, unionists, allies, environmentalists, elected leaders and more to support workers’ organizing efforts in a broad range of events, anchored on college campuses and in the community. Each unique event is organized by local committees, crossing institutional silos and ideological divides, and uniting workers and campuses to bolster workplace justice, racial equity, and the public good.”

A teach-in is an informal forum developed in the mid-1960s to educate on a complex contemporary topic.

For more information, contact uarkansas965@gmail.com. Any event changes will be posted here as updates.