The School for Workers is the oldest, continuously-operating, university-based labor education program in the United States. One of the first operational components of the Wisconsin Idea, the School, its faculty and staff have long brought these three components-- teaching, research, and outreach--to thousands of workers, unions and employers throughout Wisconsin, the nation and the world.
Mission
Our overall mission is to empower working people and labor organizations at the job site, in the national economy, and in the global economic system through a comprehensive program of lifelong adult learning opportunities.
To learn more go to the Values and Vision statement.
History
DVD/Video available: The Birth of the School for Workers This video history traces the history not only of the School, but of organized labor, from the 1920s through the mid-20th century. Accompanied by both historic and original music by the noted labor and folk musician Anne Feeney and narrated by David Newby, President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, the 20 minute dvd/video is available for purchase. For more information, contact the School.
Click here for order information..
The School for Workers was founded in 1925 as a "Summer School for Working Girls" and in its early years offered summer courses of six weeks duration in subjects such as "economics, sociology, speech, psychology and the like". The original student body consisted of young, non-union women with few family responsibilities; however, by the late 1920's, men had begun to enroll and by mid-1930's the student body was older, predominantly male, and union affiliated. During this period, the School's mission evolved from enrichment through general education to specific training that met the needs of a growing labor movement actively involved in organizing and collective bargaining activities.
A significant expansion in the size of the faculty and the scope of training activities occurred during the 1930's. In 1933-34, a program to bring labor education classes to the hometowns of workers around the state was initiated and proved to be very popular. With the assistance of federal funding through the Works Progress Administration, the faculty reached an all-time high of 20 teachers and the community class program was greatly expanded. In 1937, the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents authorized a state-financed, year-round workers education program in Wisconsin.
By and large the activities of the School have reflected the state of the labor movement and industrial relations practices. Thus, the Second World War represented an important turning point for the School. Organized labor emerged from the war with new strength and a growing social legitimacy. Industrial relations practices became institutionalized within a broad regulatory framework established in the federal labor legislation of the 1930's and 1940's that promoted collective bargaining and peaceful resolution of day-to-day disputes in grievance and arbitration procedures.
For the School, these developments meant a high demand for practical training in collective bargaining, contract administration, union administration, leadership training for activists, stewards and officers, pay systems (piecework, job evaluation), occupational safety and health (after the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970) and other technical areas. Another significant development involved arrangements with specific unions in which School for Workers Faculty collaborated with union staff to custom design programs for the union, and the union handled recruitment of program participants from its local leadership. These basic patterns characterized School for Workers activities until the early 1980's.
Current programming activities have evolved considerably to reflect the new realities of the post-1980 era. Wisconsin and Midwest labor in general were hard hit by back-to-back recessions that led to plant closings and restructuring of much of Midwest manufacturing. The early 1980's also saw a wave of very aggressive anti-union behavior by many employers in the hostile political climate of the time. Later in the decade, labor relations improved in some sectors as labor management cooperation and labor involvement in quality and productivity initiatives were stressed in many labor-management relationships. During this period the department sought to assist unions in responding to both the hostility of some employers and the cooperative initiatives of others. By the mid-1980's the department was engaged in a considerable volume of joint labor-management training activity and in training union leadership on work restructuring, new technology, cooperation, interest-based bargaining, new compensation systems and a host of other issues in the new industrial relations climate.
In recent years, we have also become acutely aware of the reduced strength of the labor movement as reflected in the long term decline in union membership and union penetration. The labor movement has clearly acknowledged the need to organize both internally and externally, and has greatly raised the priority of these activities. Consequently, School for Workers programs on organizing, membership mobilization and political action have assumed a new importance in our overall programming efforts.
For more resources on Wisconsin labor history visit the Wisconsin Labor History Society web site.