This convention marks a historic juncture for APALA and the labor movement," APALA President John Delloro said. "We have an opportunity, and indeed an obligation, to continue building stronger worker and student alliances in the fight for worker’s rights.

Delloro, a member of AFT, says it’s clear young people feel a call to activism. Young voters played a big role in changing the nation in the 2008 elections, and college students have been involved in major worker campaigns over the past two years.

I have a great friend who credits me with teaching him all about the internet and how to use it to organize folks online. He's a great union organizer that now works as a political director for his local. Online tools he swears are the key to bridging the generational gap between the younger union members who are totally inactive and the older more established leaders who are growing fewer and fewer.

This weekend, I am attending a planning summit with a group of women's rights leaders in my state to discuss ways to better develop women's rights into the new era. In the past my state has had a number of older women who were too possessive to allow younger generations to participate much less plan or facilitate any part of the movement. The result has been a steady decline in membership and participation in local orgs and national orgs with state chapters.

So many of these groups now see that young people might not be the answer but are at the very least an ally in their cause, and further they are willing to dialogue youth to find new ideas for much more modern outreach. Its a hopeful time!