Overview
As we confront a national “care crisis”—where care support is inaccessible and unaffordable for many, and there is a shortage of care workers who are often devalued and poorly paid—care work should be widely recognized as an essential foundation of our society. Instead, we are in a moment of escalating political and economic attacks that threaten care workers at multiple levels. Sharp cuts to healthcare and attacks on the rights of workers, people of color, and immigrants put care workers and our entire care infrastructure at risk. This is a pivotal moment for workers and advocates to come together to strategize how to protect care workers and strengthen their collective power.
The Worker Institute will host the 2026 Future of Care Work Convening with the theme Protecting Care in Times of Disruption, bringing together advocates, care workers, labor leaders, scholars, and organizers who are committed to placing the needs and voices of care workers themselves at the center of discussions on the future of care work. Building on the energy of previous years’ convenings, this year’s speakers, panels, and action sessions will first focus on mapping the challenges care workers face and then explore the vital organizing strategies and state and local policy responses being advanced to protect care workers.
This is a two-day, in-person event. There will be an opening reception and activities on Friday, June 5 and an all-day event with panels and interactive breakout sessions on Saturday, June 6.
On the afternoon of June 6, there will be two tracks for panels and workshops: one track for child care and one track for home care and healthcare.
If you have any questions, please contact Zoë West.
Sponsored by
We are committed to making the convening an accessible event. We will be providing the following:
- Live simultaneous Spanish interpretation
- Remote CART services for the main panels on Saturday
- We will provide masks
- We ask that participants help to maintain a scent-free space by not wearing perfume or strongly scented lotions.
- Vegetarian and gluten-free meal options
- If you require a disability-related accommodation, please request it by May 15th
Los servicios de traducción al español estarán disponibles.
Speakers
More speakers will be announced soon
June 5
4-8 PM
Workshop and reception
June 6
9 - 10AM
Breakfast and registration
10 - 10:15 am
Welcome address
10:30 - 11:45am
Panel 1: Mapping the Challenges
11:45am - 12:15pm
Breakout discussion groups
12:15 - 1:15pm
Lunch
1:15 - 2:45pm
Panel 2: Organizing to meet the moment: Strategies from the field
There will be a separate panel for Track 1 and Track 2
- Track 1 will include an afternoon panel on Organizing to Meet the Moment: Strategies from the field, featuring speakers from home care and healthcare unions and organizations such as UnidosMN Healthcare Justice Committee from Minneapolis, who are using organizing, training, and advocacy strategies to protect care workers and build power in this political moment. The panel will be followed by interactive workshops for shared learning and strategizing.
- Track 2 will focus on pay justice for childcare workers, bringing union leaders and childcare providers together with advocates to strategize about what it will take for NY State to invest in good jobs in childcare across the full system of providers. In this track, participants will learn from successful campaigns like New Mexico’s universal childcare campaign and strategize to advance a shared agenda for winning pay justice.
2:45 - 3pm
Break
3 - 4:15pm
Action Sessions (Breakout sessions for collaborative reflection and strategizing)
There will be action sessions for each track
4:15 - 5:15pm
Collective share-back
5:15 - 5:30pm
Closing remarks
Date & Time
Location
June 5 | 4-8PM
June 6 | 9AM-5:30PM
NYC ILR Conference Center | 570 Lexington Avenue, 12th fl
New York, NY 10022
United States