About the Labor Extension Program

The UMass Lowell Labor Extension Program offers customized training and education programs for local unions and Labor Councils as well as a wide variety of open enrollment classes, conferences and seminars on issues such as:

• Strategic Contract Campaigns and Contract Bargaining
• Dealing with Changing Technology and Work Restructuring Programs
• Leadership Development
• Talking Union Values/Shrink, Shift, Shaft
• Researching Corporations
• Organizing Employment Law (FMLA, ADA, etc.)
• Diversity Issues
• Avoiding the Tricks and Traps of Work Restructuring and Employee Involvement

In addition to the above, the Labor Extension Program offers a comprehensive training and education package on dealing with the changing workplace, contract attacks and management anti-union philosophies that includes sections on:

Future of Work explores how work is changing including the introduction of new technologies and new forms of work organization, and what that means for workers and their unions.

Talking Union Values explores how right-wing ideologies are being used to change our society and move us away from a “take care of each other”/”rising tide raises all boats” society. You may have seen one of these trainings under the name: Shrink, Shift, Shaft.

Strategic Contract Campaigns helps prepare the union for contract bargaining, with a focus on researching and analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of management and of the union, on setting up a mobilizing structure to involve your members, on reaching out to and uniting with allies and on building and exercising leverage.

Continuous Bargaining is a union response to the changes that management is making in the workplace and the work process – including new technologies, new forms of work organization and new management policies – a response that takes on management plans, inserts a collective voice into the changes that are going on in the workplace and makes union-building an ongoing activity.

We can customize a training program with all or portions of the above elements for your local and your situation.