Mauricio with Joe Lurie, Founder & President of the Peggy Browning Foundation
by Mauricio Murga Rios
Thanks to the generous support of the Peggy Browning Fund, 2L Mauricio Murga Rios was able to attend the 2019 National Law Students Workers' Rights Conference in Baltimore, MD on October 18-19, 2019.
It was a great pleasure to represent the University of Nebraska College of Law at the National Law Students Workers’ Rights Conference. The conference was an amazing opportunity. I met students from law schools across the country and other individuals with a strong commitment to improving the lives of the working people. As a person who has been denied employment because of his immigration status, it was especially rewarding to gain valuable insights into becoming an advocate for workers and their families.
On Friday evening, the conference kicked off with an informal reception where I met other law students who share my passion for workplace justice. The reception was followed by a panel discussion on how workers’ rights advocates are changing the labor movement. It was very inspirational to hear about the Milk with Dignity Program. This program is a worker-driven initiative that improves the pay and working conditions of dairy farmers. Farmers are now finally able to earn the state’s minimum wage, obtain better housing, and have one day off a week.
Saturday consisted of workshops led by labor lawyers, representatives, and organizers. The first workshop I attended was an Introduction to Basic Labor Law where I learned about the National Labor Relations Act’s purpose and structure. The second workshop I attended was Protecting and Organizing Immigrant Workers, where I learned legal and policy strategies for helping immigrants exercise and enforce their workplace rights. The final workshop I attended was Public Sector Labor Law, where I learned the unique challenges that public sector workers face and ways to help them overcome those challenges. Collectively, these workshops provided me with a much better and broader understanding of the labor movement.
After the conference programming ended, I and a number of other conference attendees made a quick trip to Washington, D.C., where I was able to see the White House, the U.S. Capitol, and the Supreme Court.
The conference provided me with an unmatched training and networking opportunity. I strongly encourage students with an interest in workers’ rights to attend next year’s conference, if the opportunity is presented. Thank you to the University of Nebraska College of Law for this wonderful opportunity. Special thanks to Kala Mueller for helping me apply for funding to attend the conference and Peggy Browning for providing the funds.