Register Now for National Single Payer Strategy Conference

Join us at the largest-ever national conference of single-payer advocates, including hundreds of union activists and leaders!

Labor for Single-Payer
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www.workerseducationsociety.org

Registration is now open for what will be the largest-ever national conference of single-payer advocates in Chicago from October 30 to November 1.

The conference is jointly sponsored by the Labor Campaign for Single Payer, Healthcare NOW and One Payer States and will be fully integrated with every workshop and event available to all attendees. On Friday night and Sunday morning, we will be joined by participants from the Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) Annual Meeting, which will be held just down the street from our conference location.

This conference couldn’t come at a more crucial time. The just-issued Supreme Court decision has made it clear that Obamacare—with all of its limitations and deficiencies—is the law of the land. This will be an opportunity for all healthcare justice advocates to come together, prior to the 2016 election season, and discuss how we can finish the job and make healthcare a right for everyone in America.

Don’t miss this chance to share our experiences, learn from one another and help shape the strategic direction of our movement. Register today.

The conference will convene at 7 pm on Friday, October 30 at the Hilton Chicago in downtown Chicago. United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard and National Nurses United Co-President Jean Ross will give opening keynotes. Labor troubadour Anne Feeney will be with us through the entire weekend.

We are also hoping to work with the local healthcare justice community to organize a major demonstration in front of a nearby notorious healthcare profiteer on Friday afternoon. Please plan to come early and join us if at all possible.

A full agenda will be released shortly and will include presentations by prominent labor and community leaders and PNHP Co-Founders Steffi Woolhandler and David Himmelstein as well as plenty of workshops and other events. Sunday morning’s program will include integrated small group strategy discussion sessions. This will be a chance to meet, debate and learn from a broad range of experienced activists. Please ask your union to register additional delegates who will surely return strengthened by the movement building emphasis of this event.

There will be an early registration fee of $75 in effect until September 1. Thereafter, the registration fee will be $85. Registration will include a Friday night reception and Saturday lunch. Scholarships are available. Contact  organizers@laborforsinglepayer.org if you wish to apply for one. Please note that our ally Healthcare NOW will be processing registrations and handling payments and their name will be on any credit card and other receipts. Contact Mark Dudzic at the below email or phone if you have any questions or problems with the registration process.

Take advantage of the early registration fee. Register today.

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A limited block of rooms has been reserved at the Hilton Chicago at a special rate of $159 per night. The cutoff date for room reservations is October 6. But don’t delay. These rooms will fill fast and very few other options will be available because the American Public Health Association convention will begin that weekend. You can reserve your room online or by calling 877-865-5320 and referencing NSC/Single Payer Strategy Conference (NSC is our group code).

In the coming months, we will post more information on the agenda, plans and participants in this historic conference. We ask that you register as soon as possible to aid in conference planning and that you share this information with others in the labor movement and your community who believe in the vision that healthcare must be a right for everyone in America.

For further information, please contact Mark Dudzic at organizers@laborforsinglepayer.org or 201-314-2653.

Conference Agenda

Friday, October 30th

  • 2:30PM-4:30PM – Early Registration at the Hilton (Outside the Boulevard room, Hilton)

  • 4:30PM-5:30PM – Single-payer rally targeting a healthcare profiteer (you will be informed of location and other details when you register)

  • 6:00PM-7:00PM – Registration resumes (Outside the Boulevard room, Hilton)

  • 7:00PM-8:00PM – Reception with live music from labor singer Anne Feeney (Outside the Boulevard room, Hilton)

  • 8:00PM-9:00PM – Opening Plenary (Boulevard room, Hilton):

    • ​Greetings: Chicago Alderwoman Susan Sadlowski Garza
    • Opening Remarks: Jean Ross, Co-President National Nurses United
    • Keynote: Leo Gerard, President, United Steelworkers;​

    Respondants: Richard Gottfried, Chair of the NY State Assembly Health Committee; Claudia Fegan, MD, Physicians for a National Health Program; Speaker on behalf of Senator Bernie Sanders

Saturday, October 31st

  • 9:00AM-10:30AM – Chair: Donna Dewitt, President South Carolina ARA

    Plenary: “Developing a Winning Strategy for the Single-Payer Movement”: Benjamin Day, Executive Director, Healthcare-NOW!; Mark Dudzic, National Coordinator, Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare; Donna Smith, One Payer States; Michael Lighty, Director of Public Policy, California Nurses Association/National Nurses United.
    Q&A and Discussion.

  • 10:30AM-10:45AM – BREAK
  • 10:45AM-11:45AM – First block of workshops:
  • Telling Your Healthcare Story
  • Workers Compensation & Healthcare Justice
  • New York: Behind the Breakthrough & Next Steps
  • Winning Support from the Business Community
  • National Legislative Initiatives
  • ​11:45AM-1:00 PM – Lunch (Serve outside the Boulevard room, Hilton)
    Interest Group Meetings
  • 1:05PM-2:05PM – Second block of workshops:
    • The Cadillac Tax and Attacks on Worker Healthcare Benefits
    • Progress Report on State Single-Payer Campaigns
    • When Your Legislator Says No
    • Organizing Students and Youth for Healthcare Justice
    • Two Lessons from the Most Successful Campaign in Modern History
  • 2:15PM-3:15PM – Third block of workshops:
    • Advancing Single Payer During the Election Season
    • Healthcare is a Human Right
    • The ACA at 5 Years: Medicaid Expansion and Immigrant Inclusion
    • LGBT Access to Healthcare: An Issue for All Single Payer Activists
  • 3:15PM-3:30PM – BREAK
  • 3:30PM-4:15PM – Chair: Dr. Paul Song, California Courage Campaign

    Plenary: “Getting Past the Finish Line: The Single-Payer Movements in Vermont and New York”.

  • ​4:15PM-5:25PM - Plenary: “Single-Payer and the Movements for Racial Equity and Immigrant Justice.”
  • 5:25PM-5:30PM – Film preview: “FixIt” – a documentary on business & the single-payer movement (Boulevard room, Hilton)

Sunday, November 1st
(All in the Boulevard room, Hilton)