How Can We Win Housing Demands for Our Members and Our Communities
Workshop Description:
Housing security is a major issue for workers. As rents rise and home ownership is out of reach for many, unions are asking: Can we actually win on housing, and if so, how?
This workshop explores how unions can incorporate housing demands into employer-based or community-based campaigns. We’ll examine the current housing landscape, potential demands both at the table and beyond, the coalitions needed to support them, and how to educate members on why winning on housing is achievable. Drawing on the Bargaining for the Common Good framework, we’ll look at how unions and community organizations are collaborating around housing demands.
Workshop Leaders:
Claudia Preparata has been the Research Director for AFSCME Local 3299 since 2012. Her research has spanned the financialization of higher education and public transit agencies, public sector financing, public pensions, development activities and public policy. Prior to AFSCME, she was the Research Director at TWU Local 100 in New York City representing public-sector transit workers. She received her B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her Masters in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University.
Kate is a Senior Researcher at AFSCME 3299, where her research focuses on housing, land use, capital projects, and all things campaign strategy. Prior to joining 3299, Kate worked as a researcher at SEIU 121RN and UNITE HERE Local 11. As a new development researcher at Local 11, she developed and led numerous campaigns relating
Sara Myklebust is the Bargaining for the Common Good (BCG) Research Director at Georgetown University’s Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor (KI). She focuses on building strategic research and campaigning capacity for common good work at local unions and community organizations, as well as researching real estate. Previously, she worked for the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) as their Deputy Director for Research and Education and as a Senior Lead Researcher in the Organizing Department of the AFL CIO. Sara is originally from Tucson, Arizona and has worked with the Ironworkers as a strategic researcher organizing immigrant rebar workers across the Southwest. She has experience in legislative campaigns, advocacy work and community organizing, and extensive knowledge of municipal planning and procurement processes. She earned a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Austin, where she focused on immigration policy. She loves backpacking with her partner Noah and discovering new recipes to cook and bake for her family and friends. You can reach Sara at sara.myklebust@georgetown.edu
John Marshall is the Director of Capital Strategies for UFCW 3000. From 2009 to 2022 he held the title of Senior Capital Markets Economist with the UFCW International Union’s Capital Stewardship Program, where he worked with investors and analysts on financial and governance issues in the retail, meatpacking, and food processing sectors. Previously he was the Research Director for SEIU’s Capital Stewardship Program. John received his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 2003, and was awarded the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2007. In 2019, John was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to serve as a member of the California Future of Work Commission.
