American economist
Gordon Lafer
Lafer in 2017
Born March 1960 (age 64) Nationality American Education PhD Political Science, Yale University, 1995
B.A., Economics, Swarthmore College, 1983 Occupation(s) Political economist, writer Notable work The Job Training Charade
Gordon Lafer is a
political economist writer who has served as Senior
Labor Policy Advisor for the
U.S. House of Representatives ' Committee on Education and Labor and has a history of Labor Union activism. He has written widely on labor and employment policy issues
[1] and is the author of the books The Job Training Charade
[2] and The One Percent Solution .
[3]
He is currently a professor in the Labor Education & Research Center at the
University of Oregon and a research associate of the
Economic Policy Institute .
[4]
Biography
Gordon Lafer started his political work as an
economic policy
analyst in the Office of the Mayor in New York City under Mayor
Ed Koch .
[5]
He was one of the leaders of the Graduate Employees and Students Organization at
Yale , which was
on strike several times in the 1990s.
[6]
[7]
Lafer served as Research and Communications Director for the Federation of University Employees at
Yale .
[8]
He ran a hotel workers' campaign with the
International Longshore and Warehouse Union , Local 142, in Hawaii,
[9]
[10] and wrote about the campaign in the magazine
Dissent .
[11]
At the University of Oregon, Lafer and mathematician
Marie A. Vitulli led an effort to unionize faculty at the University of Oregon beginning in the spring of 2007.
[12] This effort eventually led to the formation of the United Academics at the University of Oregon.
[13]
He worked for
ILWU Local 142, helping coordinate the
boycott of the Pacific Beach Hotel,
[14] which[
clarification needed ] was found
guilty of multiple
labor law violations in
federal court .
[15] After a ten-year struggle, the hotel unionized in 2013.
[16]
Lafer has served as Senior
Labor Policy Advisor for the
U.S. House of Representatives '
Committee on Education and the Workforce ,
[17] a position that made him the top
congressional staff member responsible for upholding labor standards in
international trade
treaties ,
[18] and he has been called to
testify as an
expert witness before multiple
state legislatures .
[19] He was the primary
Congressional staff person responsible for the Local Jobs for America Act,
[20] a
bill that would have created one million decently-paid jobs and restored essential
public services that were cut during the
Great Recession . The
bill was introduced by
Rep. George Miller (D-CA) , chair of the United States House Committee on Education and the Workforce, but never became law.
[21]
[22]
Lafer is a member of the Scholars' Advisory Council of in the Public Interest,
[23] a research and policy center promoting democratic control of
public goods and
services .
[24]
He is the founding co-chair of the
American Political Science Association 's
Labor Project,
[25] and serves on the board of directors of the
Shalom Hartman Institute ,
[26] a
pluralistic center of research and education deepening and elevating the quality of
Jewish life in
Israel and around the world.
[27]
As of 2023, Lafer was Vice Chair of the
Eugene School District Board of Directors, to which he was elected in 2019. His term expired June 30, 2023,
[28] as he lost his campaign for reelection in the May 16, 2023 Special District Election.
[29]
Works
Lafer is the author of the books
The Job Training Charade and
The One Percent Solution : How Corporations Are Remaking America One State at a Time
[30]
[31]
Lafer's work has appeared in
The Nation
[32] and
U.S. News & World Report
[33] and has been
featured in
The Washington Post ,
[34]
The New York Times ,
[35]
Fortune magazine ,
[36] and other publications.
References
^
"Gordon Lafer | People | Economic Policy Institute" . Epi.org . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"The Job Training Charade" . Cornellpress.cornell.edu . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^ Lafer, Gordon (2017).
The One Percent Solution: How Corporations are Remaking America One State at a Time . Cornell University Press.
ISBN
978-1-5017-0306-5 .
^
"Gordon Lafer | Labor Education & Research Center" . lerc.uoregon.edu . Retrieved June 29, 2022 .
^ Gordon Lafer (July 11, 2014).
"Gordon Lafer | Wisconsin Public Radio" . Wpr.org . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"Graduate Students' Union Seeks Official Recognition From Yale" .
The New York Times . November 17, 1991. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"GESO wins grad vote" . Yaleherald.com . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^ The Employment of English: Theory, Jobs, and the Future of Literary Studies by Michael Bérubé (NYU Press, 2007) p. 39
^
"Honolulu Star-Bulletin Business" . Archives.starbulletin.com . January 22, 2001. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"Workers told it's 'crucial time' | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper" .
The Honolulu Advertiser . September 3, 2002. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"The Other Side of Paradise: Hawai'i's Tourism Plantation" . Dissent Magazine. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^ Baez, David.
"Labor Pains" . Eugene Weekly . Retrieved March 7, 2018 .
^
"Our History" . United Academics of the University of Oregon .
^
"Pacific Beach Workers Struggle for Justice Victory Report : Seeking a new international solidarity" (PDF) . Jca.apc.org . p. 4. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"Pacific Beach Hotel | Longshore & Shipping News" . Longshoreshippingnews.com . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^ Howard Dicus (January 14, 2013).
"Workers approve first Pacific Beach Hotel labor deal – Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL" . Hawaii News Now. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"Gordon Lafer | People | Economic Policy Institute" . Epi.org. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"Latest "free trade" farce: the "TPP" " . Ilwu.org . April 1, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"The One Percent Solution, How Corporations Are Remaking America One State at a Time (Gordon Lafer)" . Cornellpress.cornell.edu . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"ILPC 4th–6th April 2017 Sheffield > Previous Conferences > View Abstract" . Ilpc.org.uk . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^ George Miller.
"Local Jobs for America Act (2010; 111th Congress H.R. 4812)" . GovTrack.us . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"JFActivist: Jobs Bill Could Open Doors to Employment for PWD" . Jfactivist.typepad.com . April 23, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"Scholars Network" . In the Public Interest. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"About Us" . In the Public Interest. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"Statement of Dr. Gordon Lafer Before the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, Education and Related Agencies" (PDF) . Shopfloor.org . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"Shalom Hartman Institute Board of Directors" . Hartman.org.il . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"About Us" . Hartman.org.il . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"Board of Directors" . Eugene School District 4J . Retrieved May 12, 2023 .
^
"Statement of Votes Cast by Geography" . Elections - 2023 .
Lane County . Retrieved June 2, 2023 .
^
"The One Percent Solution, How Corporations Are Remaking America One State at a Time" .
Cornell University Press . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
Diane Ravitch .
"Big Money Rules" .
New York Review Books . No. December 7, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017 .
^
"Gordon Lafer" . The Nation. September 21, 2011. Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"Cutting Wages and Benefits Only Harms the Economy" . Usnews.com . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^ Konczal, Mike (November 2, 2013).
"The tea party's assault on workers" .
The Washington Post . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^ Kaufman, Dan (June 12, 2015).
"Scott Walker and the Fate of the Unions" .
The New York Times . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
^
"As paid sick leave gains momentum, some state laws stand in the way" . Fortune.com . Retrieved January 17, 2017 .
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