​Dear workers’ rights advocates,
 
As we hope you know by now, the UMass Amherst Labor Relations & Research Center is facing drastic cuts in funding for its students and in faculty and staff and loss of faculty governance.  A comprehensive site for the background you need on this issue is http://savethelaborcenter.weebly.com/.  We want to quote briefly from its front page:
 
For over 50 years, the UMass Amherst Labor Center has been the premier graduate program in the country for union activists, leaders, staff, and those interested in potential careers in the labor movement to study the history, theory, legal framework, and best practices in this field in an academically rigorous manner. 
…
As inequality increases, the content of a Labor Studies degree has never been more relevant.  It is at the Labor Center that working people develop the intellectual and organizational tools to fight back against the forces that produce inequality, and to take back control of their own lives and communities.   Cuts to the Labor Center threaten the ability of the program to provide that education to students in the future.
 
The reaction to the cuts has been tremendous – thank you! – and now we hope to involve you in more than letter writing and petitioning.
 
The Hampshire/Franklin Central Labor Council and Western Mass. Jobs with Justice invite you to an information and strategy meeting on Wednesday October 5 at 5:00pm, Bangs Lower Meeting Room (Lower Level), 70 Boltwood Walk, Amherst.  (We couldn’t get a location on campus.)
 
Please reply that you are coming to wmjwj@wmjwj.org.  Also, if you are handicapped and can’t use the stairs.  Unfortunately, the main elevator isn’t working, but it is still possible to access the room.  Please include your need in your RSVP.
 
In solidarity,
 
Jon & Ron