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Labor Party's founding convention set
Plans are proceeding toward the founding convention for a Labor Party, organized
by Labor Party Advocates, to run June 6-9 in Cleveland.
LPA leaders have been encouraged by the response to the call for the convention.
"Now that the founding convention is a reality," said organizer
Tony Mazzocchi, "we're sensing that people are a lot more focused and
serious about working with us to bring off a very successful convention."
LPA's goal is to attract at least 1,000 delegates representing upwards of
one million people.
"We're encouraged and from everything I can see we're got a great chance
to achieve our goals and give birth to a new, exciting, and most important,
meaningful political movement in our country,:" said Mazzocchi.
The group will convene at 3 p.m. June 6 at the Sheraton Cleveland City Centre
Hotel.
Endorsers include the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union,
AFL-CIO; United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE); Brotherhood
of Maintenance of Way Employees, AFL-CIO; International Longshoreman's and
Warehousemen's Union, AFL-CIO; 35 union locals and area labor councils;
and numerous union leaders.
LPA chapters must submit the names of delegates to the national office in
application for credentials. Individual members of LPA wishing at-large
delegate status must apply in writing to the national office for credentials.
For more information call Labor Party Advocates' Convention Information
Line, (202) 234-5194.
New York Conference: Beyond Liberal and Conservative
Social Policy magazine and the Learning Alliance are planning a full-day
conference June 15 in New York City to address the question: "Is there
a politics beyond liberal and conservative?"
"We need to push beyond liberals, conservatives, and centrists to identify
a new formulation of our political philosophy," said David Dyssegaard
Kallick, Editor of Social Policy, in his call for the conference, which
the Progressive Populist is co-sponsoring. "We can learn from the experience
of the New Deal and the Great Society without either rejecting or uncritically
accepting it. We can learn from the experience of 30 years of political
movements. And we can build on the principles political writers have begun
to articulate, beginning to shape a clear and bold post-liberal political
framework."
The conference, which Kallick hopes will attract 200-300 participants, will
feature break-out sessions, performances, and open discussions, as well
as "a variety of people who represent truly mold-breaking thinking,"
Kallick said. "The day's sessions should bring a new dimension to our
approach, putting us closer in touch with how Americans are thinking about
politics today, and how we can craft a political philosophy that goes beyond
the stifling confines of liberalism and conservativism."
To get involved, contact David Dyssegaard Kallick at Social Policy, 212-274-1139,
or at socpol@igc.apc.org. Also check out the Social Policy web site at <HTTP://www.socialpolicy.org>.
Co-sponsors include the Center for a New Democracy, Center for Democracy
and Citizenship (Humphrey Institute), Center for Human Rights Education,
Center for Living Democracy, City Limits, Environmental Action, Institute
for Policy Studies, Institute for Women Policy Studies, National Center
for Economic and Security Alternatives, The Neighborhood Works, the Progressive
Populist, Third Force, The Union Institute's Office for Social Responsibility
and Who Cares?