Noreen Connell (former State Labor Official) to speak on National Unemployment Trends Affecting Women and Men

ALBANY, NY (09/06/2012)(readMedia)-- Noreen Connell, a former state labor assistant commissioner and current chair of the National Organization for Women’s New York State (NOW-NYS) Women’s Employment Task Force, will examine the impact of national and Tompkins County labor trends on women and men in a presentation, "The Politics of Unemployment: What Woman (and Men) Can Do about the Shrinking Economy," at the Ithaca Town Hall of the Town of Ithaca, 215 North Tioga Street (in the old post office), at 7 p.m. on September 11. The talk is so-sponsored by Tompkins County NOW, the Workers’ Center and Ithaca DSA.

Connell, who served as Assistant Commissioner of the NYS Department of Labor, will describe the five contributors to the 2008 Great Recession and its aftermath, and argue that the solution must be found in more public spending, not less.

“Joblessness,” says Connell, “which some experts predict will continue for another decade or more, needs to be countered by a program of public spending at the national and state levels, similar to those initiated by President Franklin Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression in the 1930’s.

Progressives must begin demanding a labor force that includes more people and that addresses unmet social and infrastructure needs.” Among other initiatives, she supports an increase in the minimum wage.

Connell, a former President of the NOW-NYS, has written extensively on finance and family issues. Her articles have appeared in The Nation, Utne Reader, Dollars & Sense, and Social Policy.

Limited free parking is available in the Town Hall parking lot on the Aurora St. side.