The Labor Notes Conference will have record attendance this year, but it’s showing its limits by opening with a speech from Chicago’s pro-cop Democratic mayor, Brandon Johnson. Instead of facilitating the Democratic Party’s co-optation of our movement, Labor Notes should be a space for workers and socialists to gather and fight for a class-independent alternative.
Who invited him to speak? I found the list of their staff by finding a small link at the bottom of the About page (https://labornotes.org/staff), but the board doesn’t even have pictures while the staff do. That feels weird, even if it’s supposed to be some kind of “anti-hierarchy” signaling. Not that anyone on the board seems bad or anything. I just get annoyed when a website doesn’t list something as obvious as who’s in charge of the org or where their funding comes from.
I will also point out that while he’s the opening speech, there’s also a bunch of events already going on earlier in the day.