Contact: Kim Brockway For immediate release
(212) 854-2419
kkb18@columbia.edu
Brokering a Better Deal at the Workplace:
Is There a Role for Social Workers?
Nov. 17 conference of policymakers, public/private sector leaders, & service
providers examines workplace challenges & impact on social welfare policy
Must the needs of employees always come second to a company's financial
well-being? Is there a way to reconcile the interests of human needs with social
and economic change? Can the social work profession support both worker well-
being and economic development? These and other timely workplace issues will
be addressed in a conference, "The New Deal, The Raw Deal: Social Work's Role
in Achieving a Better Deal at the Workplace," to be presented by Columbia
University's School of Social Work and its Workplace Center on Monday,
November 17 in the Dag Hammarskjold Lounge (6th floor) of Columbia's
International Affairs Building, 420 West 118th Street at Amsterdam Avenue.
Press coverage is invited.
A highlight of the conference will be a roundtable exchange ("Debating the
Issues" at 10 a.m.) with an exceptionally diverse group that includes Fred Siegel
(senior fellow, Progressive Policy Institute); George Stephanopoulos, (visiting
professor at Columbia); top executives from Colgate Palmolive, Corporate Health
Systems, and America Works; and representatives of the local AFL-CIO chapter
and the Immigrant Project Department of the AFL-CIO's UNITE. Columbia
Professor Sheila Akabas, a pioneer in the field of occupational social work, will
facilitate the discussion.
Later in the afternoon, nine separate workshops will survey the challenges
and opportunities faced by certain groups -- those moving from welfare to work,
aging workers, those with disabilities, immigrants, and others -- in relation to a
host of issues, such as diversity, funding for program development, union and
corporate responses, work and family, and relevant legislation. Experts from the
policy and practice arenas will explore strategic responses to today's challenges.
The registration fee for the public is $25; $10 for students; members of the
media are invited to attend free of charge. The conference is presented by the
Department of Field Instruction and the Center for Social Policy and Practice at
Columbia's School of Social Work, and is co-sponsored by FEGS; the Health &
Security Plan of DC 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO; Hunter College School of Social Work
- CUNY; and the National Association of Social Workers, New York City Chapter.
8:30 - 9 a.m. Registration & breakfast
9 a.m. Welcome remarks, Ronald Feldman, dean, Columbia School of
Social Work; Introductions, Cheryl Franks, assistant director,
Department of Field Instruction, Columbia School of Social
Work
9:15 - 10 a.m. Keynote address by Joyce Miller, former executive director of
the Glass Ceiling Commission and president of the Coalition of
Labor Women
10:15 - noon Roundtable exchange facilitated by Professor Sheila Akabas,
Columbia professor and pioneer in occupational social work,
with:
--- Patricia Abelson, CEO, Corporate Health Systems
--- Philip Berry, vice president, Human Resources, Latin
American Division, Colgate Palmolive
--- Lee Bowes, CEO, America Works
--- Muzaffar Christi, director, Immigrant Project Department,
UNITE, AFL-CIO
--- Fred Siegel, senior fellow, Progressive Policy Institute
--- George R. Stephanopoulos, visiting professor, Columbia's
School of International and Public Affairs
--- Roslyn Yasser, administrator, DC 37 Health and Security
Plan, AFSCME, AFL-CIO
noon -1:15 p.m. lunch
1:15 - 3 p.m. Workshops
People moving from welfare to work
Barbara Zerzan, director, Family Daycare Project, Consortium for Worker
Education, and Nancy Smith, senior vice president & director of Personnel
Bates Advertising USA
3/Columbia University workplace conference
People moving from school to work
Tom Pendleton, executive director, New York Citywide School-to-Work
Alliance, and Laura Shubilla, planning coordinator, Banana Kelly
Community Learning Center
Dislocated people seeking stable work
Howard Van Jones, director of employment and training, NYC Central
Labor Council; Carmelo Loran, program director, Occupational Training
Program, Episcopal Social Services; and Claudia Beldonedo, associate
director, the Family Institute, LaGuardia Community College, CUNY
People with disabilities seeking work
Lauren Gates, director of research, the Workplace Center, Columbia
University, and Mark Leeds, executive director, Mayor's Office for People
with Disabilities
Workers with substance abuse problems
Frances M. Curtis, supervising social worker, PSU, DC 37 Health &
Security Plan; David Ockert, executive director, Parallax Center; and
Susan John, NY State Assembly Member for Rochester
Viola Lechner, associate professor, St. John's University, and Susan Brot,
director, UNITE Retiree Services
Working experiencing mental illness
Lloyd M. Bowers, second VP/EAP counselor, Chase Manhattan Bank, and
Virginia Oran-Sabia, project supervisor, DC 37 Health & Security Plan
Workers who are immigrants
Ilze Betins, program director, El Saro Youth and Family Services, and
Irene Chung, coordinator of Asian Bicultural Services, Community
Consultation Center, Henry Street Settlement House
Workers Facing Domestic Violence
Kathryn Conroy, assistant dean and director of Field Instruction at
Columbia's School of Social Work, and Jim Hardeman, corporate EAP
manager, Polaroid Corporation
3:15 - 4 p.m. Closing Address by Professor Ann Hartman, dean emerita
and professor, Smith College School of Social Work, and
former editor of Social Work: "Facing the Future: Making the
World of Work Work for Social Work"
10.17.97 19,192