The Labor Education Service is the only educational program in the state specifically focused on the needs of Minnesota workers and their organizations. For more than 50 years, we’ve provided training for hundreds of unions and thousands of workers.

Get the latest news from LES through our e-newsletter. Call 612-624-5020 or e-mail us to sign up.

Labor Education Service updates training, launches new leadership program

The University of Minnesota Labor Education Service, which trains thousands of people every year in topics ranging from collective bargaining to global economics, has revamped its programs to meet the challenges facing workers and their organizations.

The changes include an overhaul of traditional labor studies courses, a new Minnesota Union Leadership Program and expanded Labor in the Community public programming.
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LES video wins documentary award

If Stone Could Speak, a documentary by Labor Education Service video producer Randy Croce, won the best long-form documentary award at the Black Swamp International Film Festival in Toledo, Ohio on October 11.
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Minnesota Union Leadership Program

 - REMINDER -

The first class will be held on February 25th, 2010

Deadline to apply is January 5, 2010

Download the three-page MULP application (pdf file)

Basic Skills Courses

Winter/Spring 2010

Introduction to the Labor Movement
Mary Bellman, Randy Croce. January 30, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
An overview of the labor movement – its successes and challenges – in a global context. Learn the structure, organization and evolution of the movement, the impact of union membership on workers and communities and discuss future directions. $50

Contract Negotiations
Steve Lucht. March 13 & 20, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Designed for new and experienced negotiators desiring to sharpen their skills. Examines the legal framework for collective bargaining, the concept of bargaining power, negotiations preparation, costing contract proposals and drafting contract language. Students will apply learned skills by negotiating a contract in a bargaining simulation. $100

Basic Arbitration
John Remington. April 10 & 17, 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Covers the principles that arbitrators rely on to decide cases, development of evidence, preparation of witnesses and such issues as discipline, past practices, workers’ rights and management rights. $100

Download a registration form (pdf file)

For registration, contact the LES office at 612-624-5020 or e-mail us.

July 28 – Aug. 1, 2010 – Midwest School for Women Workers
Mark your calendar for this regional women’s conference that will be hosted by the Labor Education Service at the University of Minnesota. To receive e-mail updates on the Midwest School, call 612-624-5020 or e-mail us.
 

Find news, analysis and commentary by LES staff members here and at Workday Minnesota.

Artistry and activism: Stonecutters have made their mark in communities, workplaces

-Randy Croce

The elegant statue of a woman, holding a lily – symbol of rebirth – in one hand and gesturing with delicate flower petals in the other, stands in St. Paul’s Calvary Cemetery.  More

Building on historic tradition, IWW opens Minneapolis office

-Deborah Rosenstein

In 1905, William Bradley and Fred Henion, two railroad workers from Northeast Minneapolis, attended a conference in Chicago that led to the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World. Now, more than a century later, the IWW has opened an office steps away from where Bradley and Henion used to work. More

Struggle of 100 years ago offers a lesson for today

-Tony DeAngelis

In 1906, a young Ukrainian immigrant and his wife emigrated to McKees Rocks, an industrial community just downriver from Pittsburgh, Pa., the center of a burgeoning steel industry. Michael and Mary Kiselicia had little idea of what was about to happen to them, along with 4,000 other immigrants from southeastern Europe, and the impact they would have on labor history. More

Viewpoint: Revised election rule would restore democracy for air, rail workers

-John Remington

The federal government is poised to make a decision that will dramatically improve the ability of workers at Delta Airlines to win union representation and mark a historic change for thousands of air and rail transportation workers. More

In health care debate, don't fall prey to the politics of exclusion

-Mary Bellman

In this commentary, Labor Education Service staffer Mary Bellman discusses some of the ugly politics in today's health care debate -- and why reform will be truly successful only by including everyone. More