Chicago Area CBA Conference

Workshop Descriptions
9:00am

Introductions

Description: Hear about Chicago area CBA efforts. Coalitions & organizations from
across the Chicago area share their campaigns.

Facilitator: Amalia NietoGomez, Executive Director from the Alliance of the SouthEast
(ASE) & coordinator of the Coalition for a Lakeside CBA

9:45am

Morning Panel

CBAs: What is possible? What we are winning and how- A National Perspective
Description: Across the country, local coalitions have organized to ensure economic
development improves the lives of residents in surrounding communities. We
will review groundbreaking campaigns and what made them successful.
Speakers: John Goldstein, Founder of Coalitions, Campaigns, and Community
Benefits (COCACOM), Newark, NJ
Rashida Tlaib Community Partnerships & Development Director from the Maurice
& Jane Sugar Law Center for Economic & Social Justice, Detroit, MI

11:15am

AM Workshop Sessions

A. Messaging & Communications- Effective CBA Messaging, Telling Your Story

Description: This workshop will cover effective CBA messaging and telling your story in
a fresh and newsworthy way.
Panelists: Susy Schultz, President of Public Narrative, Chicago
Alex Goldenberg, Executive Director, Southside Together Organizing for
Power (STOP), Chicago
La Risa Lynch, Reporter for the Chicago Reporter

B. Negotiations Part 1- Getting the Developer to the Table

(not open to the public)
Description: This workshop will help participants identify and apply leverage to move
developers to the negotiation table.
Panelists: Rashida Tlaib, Community Partnerships and Development Director from Sugar Law
Center, Detroit, MI
Carl Redwood, Chairperson of Hill District Consensus Group & former Chairperson of One Hill Community Benefits Agreement Coalition, Pittsburgh, PA
Simone Alexander, Director of Community Development for ENLACE Chicago

C. Working with the Building Trades to Win Local Hire Agreements

Description: Many CBAs include provisions for hiring local residents. We will look at how
coalitions have worked with Building Trades unions in other cities, and
facilitate a conversation on how that could happen in Chicago.
Panelists: Frank Alvarez, Regional Coordinator for the Construction Academy YouthBuild
Charter School of California, Los Angeles
Jayne Vellinga, Executive Director from Chicago Women in Trades, Chicago
Kina McAfree, Assistant Coordinator of the Chicago Regional Council of
Carpenters Apprentice and Training Program, Chicago
Dennis Roach, Business Representative/Organizer from the Painters District
Council 14, Chicago

D. Monitoring and Enforcement

Description: Getting to the negotiating table and getting a CBA executed are important

steps. However, a critical part of the negotiation must be ensuring that

there are monitoring and enforcement mechanisms written into the
agreement. Learn about effective monitoring and enforcement options and
cautionary tales from the front of what not to do.
Panelists: John Philo, Executive Director from the Sugar Law Center, Detroit, MI
Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, Exec. Board Member of the Kingsbridge Armory CBA
Signatory Group &former negotiator for the Kingsbridge Armory, New York
Lam Ho, Exec. Director from Community Activism Law Alliance, Chicago

1:00pm

LUNCH PANEL (lunch provided)

Working with public officials

Description: Learn about the roles public officials can play in CBA efforts, successful
partnerships between the community and local officials, getting constituents
into jobs, and accountable development as an anti-crime strategy.
Speaker: Rashida Tlaib, former state legislator & Community Partnerships &
Development Director from the Sugar Law Center, Detroit, MI
Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, Exec. Board Member of the Kingsbridge Armory CBA
Signatory Group &former negotiator for the Kingsbridge Armory, New York

2:15pm

PM Workshop Sessions

A. Research Tools for Local Coalitions

Description: Research is a critical component of a winning a campaign. This workshop
will cover how to access easily accessible research tools, such as the
Chicago Area Gentrification Toolkit, to better understand the development
project, finances, decision makers, &impacts on local residents.
Panelists: Janet Smith, Assoc. Professor & Co-Director of the Nathalie P Voohrees
Center for Neighborhood & Community Development at the University of
Illinois-Chicago
John Goldstein, COCACOM, Newark, NJ
Jack Hanson, Strategic Campaign Researcher, Milwaukee, WI

B. Negotiations Part 2- Being in the Room

(not open to the public)
Description: This workshop will enable participants to plan and prepare for CBA
negotiations, distinguish effective from ineffective negotiations, and apply
best practice in conducting CBA negotiations.
Panelists: John Philo, Executive Director from the Maurice & Jane Sugar Law Center for
Economic & Social Justice, Detroit, MI
Hal Stack, retired Director of Labor Studies Center and of the Master of Arts in
Employment & Labor Relations Program at Wayne State University, Michigan

C. After the Development is Complete- Getting Local Hires & Good Quality Jobs
Description: This workshop is focused on ensuring the hiring of local residents once
the development is completed. Themes covered: building partnerships
with local unions, lessons learned from the Kingsbridge Armory campaign,
and what it took to win: wall-to-wall living wage, community space for
residents, & a business fund to support small businesses hiring locally.
Panelists: Desiree Pilgrim-Hunter, Executive Board Member of the Kingsbridge Armory

CBA Signatory Group and former negotiator for the Kingsbridge Armory,
New York
Moises Zavala, Director of Organizing, from United Food and
Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 881, Chicago

D. New partners & Unlikely Allies

Description: This workshop focuses on the inclusion of small businesses and
chambers of commerce as allies in CBA campaigns as well as supports
for local businesses. Topics discussed include how CBAs can vastly
improve the 1-2% of contracts awarded to minorities across the board in
the State of Illinois.
Panelists: Melinda Kelly, Executive Director of the Chatham Business Association Small
Business Development Inc, Chicago
Robert Wordlaw, Retired Executive Director of the Chicago Jobs Council

4:00pm

Next steps and wrap up

4:30pm

End

Sponsors: Pierce Family Foundation Woods Fund of Chicago.

Planning Committee Members: Alliance of the Southeast (ASE) Blocks Together Chicago
Coalition for the Homeless Coalitions Campaigns Community Benefits Agreements (COCACOM)
Community Renewal Society Endeleo Institute The Law Project (TLP) NW Indiana
Federation of Interfaith Organizations Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP) Woods
Fund Chicago