The School for Workers, part of the University of Wisconsin-Extension, provides labor education and research support for organized labor and working people. This includes traditional labor education, union-management consultation services, and also specific community projects aimed at specific constituencies and objectives.
The following are some examples of community organizing that faculty of the School have been engaged in recently:
Union Leadership Development
Concerned that many union leaders are nearing retirement and that increased diversity among union leaders is critical to the growth of the labor movement, the School for Workers launched a program to accelerate the search for potential new union leaders. The project was funded by a Diversity Program Development Initiative from UW-Extension, and featured collaboration between the School for Workers faculty and a Community Development Agent. Focus groups on union leadership were held with AFSCME Council 40 in Madison and with various unions in the Milwaukee area. Participants took part in a discussion of union leadership needs and were commissioned to find and recruit potential new leaders and mentors. The School for Workers will help these recruits develop individual training programs to prepare them for various union leadership roles. Corliss Olson at corliss.olson@uwex.edu or 608-265-4923.
The Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice
The School for Workers, with financial support from the University of Wisconsin-Extension, recently partnered with ICWJ to support training for Latino workers. The program, entitled Know Your Rights, provided education to workers in their native language about their rights in the work place, relevant laws, and some of the resources available should they encounter problems.
The Workers Rights Center
The School for Workers faculty has provided free education to volunteer workplace advocates to increase their skills to assist others in resolving workplace problems. The Center is committed to empowering workers, and a major focus has been training people in the community as advocates to know the resources available should they encounter problems.
Madison Labor Radio and the Wisconsin Radio Project
Madison Labor Radio offers volunteers the opportunity to learn how to produce, write and report labor news for radio. No experience necessary. Please call 608-215-6701 to put the SFW media training to practical use.
Workers Independent News seeks volunteers to do outreach to unions, as well as to research and fact check stories for the daily nationally syndicated headline news service. WIN offers volunteers a practical way to use the media training offered by the SFW call 608-215-6701.
Wisconsin Direct Caregiver Alliance and Direct Care Alliance
Neill De Clercq serves on the boards of both the state and national education and advocacy organizations for workers providing long term care for elders and people with disabilities. Both WIDCA and DCA are currently working on implementation of a certificate program for direct care/support workers and a statewide registry to help connect care/support workers and consumers. This project is in collaboration with InControl Wisconsin, a disability rights organization focused on ensuring self-direction of care/support services by people with disabilities who wish to live in their homes and communities. WIDCA, in cooperation with the Wis. Long-Term Care Workforce Alliance, has just made its 2011 Caregiver Awards for long term care workers in Wisconsin.
Worker's Compensation Advisory Council
Professor Neill DeClercq provides consultation to the Labor members of the Worker's Compensation Advisory Council in Wisconsin. That group, consisting of Labor and Employer representatives, just completed negotiations for recommended changes in the Worker's Compensation law. The so-called "agreed upon bil" will be sent to the legislature for consideration and passage and will go into effect in 2012.
