Representative Jay Kaufman's award-winning public-policy forum, Open House, examines the labor movement in the Commonwealth, with AFL-CIO President Steven Tolman and Northeastern University President Karl Klare. This forum, the seventh of the 17th season, is set for Thursday, April 19, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Historic Depot, 13 Depot Square,in Lexington Center.

Tolman was elected President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO last October, after serving 17 years in the Legislature, as a state representative and Senator. In this capacity, he was known as a strong voice fighting for the issues of working families and making sure that labor had a seat at the table on Beacon Hill.

While in the Massachusetts Legislature, Tolman was an outspoken advocate for better health care, quality public education, enhanced workers' rights and the continued preservation of vital safety net programs for those in need.

Klare, professor at Northeastern University's School of Law, focuses on labor and employment law and policy. He participated in the civil rights, antiwar, and student movements in the 1960s. His activism and writing now focus on human rights and workplace issues, subjects on which he has authored a number of books. In recent years he has also worked on numerous projects with lawyers in South Africa.

They will examine the roots of the labor movement and its current impact on society today. Do Labor Unions hurt or help the economy during a recession? Are the negotiating tactics fair on both sides? Should mediation and arbitration settlements be binding? What is the impact of public sectors unions on municipalities? Do today's laborers still need a Labor Union to protect their rights?

Open House was launched in 1995 to provide a forum for discussing the challenges and opportunities facing our community and Commonwealth. Over its 16 years, the forum has addressed issues ranging from reinventing public education to gay marriage, property tax relief to campaign finance reform, the shrinking middle class to stem cell research, the nature of political leadership to the challenges of effecting fundamental change in a democracy.

In 1997, the forum was awarded the prestigious Beacon Award, cable television's equivalent of an Emmy, as the nation's best government relations series. 

The series was also named the best television series by Massachusetts Cable Television Commission. The series is produced through a partnership between Rep. Kaufman and LexMedia, which records the forums for broadcast in Lexington, Arlington and Woburn.