RALLY TO SAVE THE LABOR CENTER MONDAY OCTOBER 17 1:00 PM UMASS AMHERST STUDENT UNION STEPS (C3 on this map) Action includes leafleting students about the importance of the Labor Center and supporting the stake holders who are meeting with the Chancellor. Mass. AFL-CIO President Steven Tolman, UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, and Frank Callahan, President of the Mass. Building Trades Council (and Labor Studies alum) are hosting a stake holders meeting on Monday, October 17, 2-4pm, on the UMass Amherst campus, “to consider ways that the UMass administration, labor, and key stake holders can partner to strengthen the Labor Center so that it continues to play a leading role in advancing the cause of organized labor and Massachusetts workers for many years to come.” Steve is bringing 20 other stake holders; the Chancellor’s office will bring others. The meeting is not public. We will rally at 1:00 and proceed to greet and support the stake holders, leafleting along the way. Bring a friend and a homemade sign. We are invited to return at 4pm for a briefing by Steve and others. The “Save the Labor Center” Joint Committee of Hampshire/Franklin Central Labor Council and Western Mass. Jobs with Justice and nearly 5,000 supporters (who have signed the petition at http://bit.ly/SaveLaborCenter) demand the restoration of full-funding to the UMass Amherst Labor Center and the following (language added by the Committee to the petition is in italics): 1. Two years guaranteed GEO-eligible fully funded Research and/or Teaching Assistantships for full-time graduate students who need them. 2. Externship positions for graduate students who need them, so that the Labor Center can accept working-class and diverse students. 3. Centrally funded part-time faculty positions to deliver the full curriculum including Labor Law, Collective Bargaining, Labor Economics, and other key courses. 4. Centrally funded staff positions, at least one full-time, that are dedicated to the Labor Center, including at least one dedicated administrative staff member, in addition to current staffing levels. 5. Faculty governance of the Labor Center—not by the Sociology department or the Dean’s office—and the right of faculty to choose the next Director. 6. A commitment that the Labor Center is an integral part of the University’s educational mission, not just a profit center to subsidize other programs. The University’s budgetary model is simply inappropriate and wrong. All the above should be fully funded by the University, as a central part of its mission, going all the way back to its establishment as a Federal Land Grant university, to serve the working people of the Commonwealth. The next meeting of the “Save the Labor Center” Joint Committee is Tuesday October 25, 6:00-7:30pm, on campus (location TBD). Please visit the website and online petition (did you sign yet?). Comments are closed.
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AuthorThis blog is run and maintained exclusively by alumni of the Labor Center. Today we live all across the country, working in all parts of the Labor Movement. Archives
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