The more than 400 participants in the Next Up conference, the AFL-CIO’s first-ever Young Workers Summit, developed a game plan for the future that focuses on making sure young union leaders and activists are taken seriously and their ideas are heard at all levels of the union movement.
In reports to the conference’s closing session, the breakout groups recommended and called for increased mentoring programs to help young union members grow into leadership roles and establishing a national youth mobilization effort as an AFL-CIO priority.
The young workers also called for:
Organizing a Next Up constituency group.
Holding a national youth summit each year.
Opening up seats for the Next Up generation on national, state federation and central local body boards.
Creating an internship website with information on national, state and local opportunities.
Creating blogs that highlight best practices for involving young workers.
Re-branding the union movement to appeal to a wider audience.
