The Berkeley Journal of Employment & Labor Law and

The Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security

present 

Paving the High Road:

Labor Standards and Procurement Policy

in the Obama Era 

UC Berkeley, School of Law

Boalt Hall, Room 105 

April 23, 2010, 9am - 5pm 

SINCE THE YEAR 2000, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING for goods and services has more than doubled, to over $526 billion per year. Federal grant-in-aid programs raise that total to approximately $1 trillion. These expenditures create millions of jobs—funded with federal tax dollars—that are under the control of private employers. However, unlike federal jobs, economic data show that many procurement- and grant-funded jobs pay low wages and offer few or no benefits. 

These dramatic increases in federally funded private employment raise important questions: How well do existing laws and policies ensure that taxpayer dollars create good jobs and raise standards in the broader labor market? What models can be drawn from the state and local level? How might policymakers develop new laws and policies to support the creation of good jobs in the federal contractor workforce? What are the legal implications of these tools? 

This symposium will consist of an all-day conference on April 23, 2010, including a lunch-time keynote by Patricia Shiu, director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance for the U.S. Department of Labor. Papers submitted as part of the symposium will be published in the Winter 2010-11 issue of the Berkeley Journal of Employment & Labor Law.

Speakers include:  

Christopher Edley, Dean, UC Berkeley, School of Law

George Faraday, Legal Director for Federal Initiatives, Change to Win

Fred Feinstein, Senior Fellow, University of Maryland, School of Public Policy

Tsedeye Gebreselassie, Staff Attorney, National Employment Law Project

Julian Gross, Director, Community Benefits Law Center

Ken Jacobs, Chair, UC Berkeley Labor Center

David Madland, Director, American Worker Project, Center for American Progress

Ann O'Leary, Executive Director, Berkeley CHEFS

Phillis Payne, Connerton & Payne, PLLC

Lynn Rhinehart, General Counsel, AFL-CIO

Patricia Shiu, Director, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, Department of Labor

Paul Sonn, Legal Co-Director, National Employment Law Project 

MCLE credit will be available, with a suggested donation of $20-50 per unit. 

Breakfast and lunch provided. Registration and breakfast begin at 8:30am.

To access the 2010 BJELL Symposium agenda, please click HERE

For directions to Boalt Hall, please click HERE

To access the 2010 BJELL Symposium registration page, please click HERE