Puffin Panel Discussion"Laborin the GlobalMarketplace":10/14 7PM

Today's global economy has been called by some a “race to the bottom,” meaning that eventually workers will be left with no protection from exploitation or unfair treatment by unregulated corporations. In conjunction with the art exhibit The Human Element: The Art of Labor, the Labor of Art, on Friday, October 14th at 7:00 PM at the Puffin Cultural Forum, a panel discussion entitled The Race to the Bottom: Labor in the Global Marketplace with special guests Hetty Rosenstein, “Organizer of the Year" at the AFL-CIO New Jersey State Convention; Amanda Teckman of the National Labor Committee and Sondra Youdelman of Community Voices Heard, will explore the future of the laborer in today's globalized economy.

Panelist Amanda Teckman works for the National Labor Committee which has been an advocate for higher wages and better working conditions in third world countries. The NLC tries to put a human face on the global economy by reporting gross violations of labor law and basic human rights in factories around the world. Their most recent campaign involves the He Yi factory in China, where workers are paid less than the minimum wage, with mandatory overtime, obligatory seven-day work weeks, and 18-20.5 hour shifts, producing "Bobblehead" dolls of major league players produced under licensing agreements with the NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAA, Nascar and the Collegiate Licensing Company.

Sondra Youdelman is currently the Policy and Research Director of New York City-based Community Voices Heard (CVH). CVH is a membership organization of low-income individuals, mostly women who have been recipients of public assistance, working together to empower their families and communities. They use a multi-pronged strategy which includes community organizing, public education, public policy work, coalition building, leadership development, training low-income people about their rights, political education and direct-action issue campaigns.

Hetty Rosenstein is the President of Communications Workers of America (CWA) and founding member of the advocacy group New Jersey Citizen Action. CWA is America's largest communications and media union. It represents over 700,000 men and women in both private and public sectors.

The Puffin Cultural Forum is a project of the Puffin Foundation, Ltd. and is located at 20 East Oakdene Avenue in Teaneck (off of Teaneck Road). For directions or other information about Puffin Cultural Forum events, please consult the Puffin Cultural Forum section of the foundation's website at http://www.PuffinFoundation.org or call us at 201-836-8923.

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