Union Leadership Academy
Fall 2023 - Spring 2024 Schedule

 

Fall 2023 Course Offering - Online Course

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Session I - Online:
US Labor History, 1776-2023 ​

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Dates: Mondays, September 11 - October 16
Time: 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. (EST)

Instructor: Professors Naomi R Williams, Will Brucher, Dan Sidorick, and Todd E. Vachon

Format: Remote (via Zoom)

This course gives a broad overview of U.S. labor history from the colonial period to the present. Each week students will have short pre-class assignments.Class will consist of lectures and small and large group discussions to better understand labor history from the perspective of working people and how that knowledge is useful for us today. LEARN from top US labor historians for just $90!


Session 2- Online:
Building Strong Unions: The Role of the Shop Steward

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Dates: Wednesday, November 1 - December 13
Time: 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm (EST)

Instructors: Djar Horn (and special guests)

Format: Remote (via Zoom)

This workshop will cover all of the major duties and responsibilities of the shop steward – the first line of defense for the union as well as the eyes, ears, and voice on the shop floor. Topics will include Stewards’ rights, such as the equality principle, Weingarten rights, right to information, organizing rights, just cause, and more. The class will also cover various methods of contract enforcement, including organizing and using the grievance procedure to solve workplace issues.

Contributes toward completion of the Rutgers LEARN - Union Leadership Academy (ULA) certificate.  

 

Spring 2023 Course Offerings - Online Courses

Session I - Online:
Health, Safety and Power in the Workplace

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Dates: Thursdays, January 18 - February 22, 2024
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. (EST)

Instructor: Carmen Martino, Associate Professor of Professional Practice, Rutgers University Labor Studies and Employment Relations (LSER). 

Format: Remote (via Zoom)

This course will look at the historical, economic, and cultural forces that shape how we address occupational safety and health problems in the U.S. Participants will gain perspective as to how decisions about workplace health and safety are made. The safety and health of workers is about political and economic power, who has it and who doesn’t. For example, shareholders and corporate CEO’s see health and safety from the perspective of profits and liability, while workers are left to weigh their immediate economic needs against the more logical desire for a safe and healthy workplace. When an accident or exposure occurs, the question of who is responsible is also a matter of power.—was it worker error or employer mismanagement?

Depending on one’s point of view, there are widely different answers, and they are based on more than just the maintenance of a safe and healthy workplace for employees.The post COVID-19 world, its impact on the present, and its reverberations into the future, create new sets of problems to be solved in the world of occupational safety and health, leaving us much to contemplate and discuss.

Session II - Online:
Labor and Community Organizing from A to Z

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Dates: Thursdays, March 14-April 18, 2024
Time: 5:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. (EST)

Instructor: Michael Beyea Reagan, Assistant Teaching Professor, Labor Studies and Employment Relations (LSER) 

Format: Remote (via Zoom)

This course walks through the mechanics of organizing a campaign for social justice based on workplace, housing, neighborhood, racism / social justice, or environmental issues.  We look at the building blocks of a campaign from starting a mobilizing list, to forming organizing committees, picking winnable campaign goals, target research, escalating campaign tactics, having one-on-one organizing conversations, and more.  Join us for a living and empowering course.

Contributes toward completion of the Rutgers LEARN - Union Leadership Academy (ULA) certificate.  

ULA classes are designed by union members and for union members and worker organizations - join the academy today to become the leader you want to be tomorrow!