Midwest Academy, a national training institute that advocates for social, economic, and racial justice, is honoring Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR) Associate Professor Janice Fine with its prestigious Progressive Leadership Award on December 14.
Fine, who teaches in the Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations (LSER) and works closely with SMLR’s Center for Innovation in Worker Organization (CIWO), attended a training course at the Academy in the 1980s. The experience helped to shape her career.
"It’s no exaggeration to say that what I learned at Midwest Academy changed my life,” Fine said. “The Academy taught me how to think systematically about the work of social justice, and what it means to be an organizer. I still teach a class every spring inspired by what I learned from Midwest Academy.”
A leading researcher in the study of immigrant labor, worker organization, labor standards and enforcement, Fine is frequently quoted by major news organizations. In recent weeks, she has spoken to the Boston Globe about the alt-labor movement; the New York Times about the Fight for $15; and The Center for Investigative Reporting (Part 1, Part 2) about the secrecy of public contracts. In addition, Fine wrote an article for Boston Review about the changing union landscape.
Fine will be among four honorees at the Midwest Academy’s award ceremony in Washington DC. Mary Kay Henry, International President of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and Joel Silberman, Media Strategist and Trainer with Democracy Partners, will receive the Progressive Leadership Award. Wade Henderson, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
