Labor Education Program Update
September 18, 2007
CHICAGO: Yesenia Vargas, 312-996-2624, 815 W. Van Buren Street, Chicago 60607
CHAMPAIGN: Joe Berry, 217-333-2388, 504 East Armory, Champaign 61820

This LEP Update includes activities for both Champaign-Urbana and Chicago sites.

September 19, Wednesday (Chicago). 6:00 – 8:30 PM. Advanced Certificate, Current Issues in the Labor Movement. Instructor: Steven Ashby. This 6-week, once a week evening class is open to people who have completed the BCLS sequence or by permission of the instructor. Call him at 312-996-8733. The cost per person for the 6 week class is $150. Four classes in this sequence make up the Advanced Certificate.

September 20, and 17, Thursday (Chicago), 6:00 – 8:30 PM. The Music of Labor Protest in America. Bucky Halter, well-known musician and performer, offers two sessions on the protest music and poetry in the US from 1860 to 1955. $40 covers both. Two more pairs of classes (Rock and Roll Democracy; Writing your own Labor Song) will be offered in February and April.

September 20 (Springfield). Hazardous Materials Training (8-hour HazWoper Refresher). Repeated October 11 (Champaign). $185. Contact Greg L. Evans, Hazardous Materials Training Program at the University of Illinois, 217-244-4093, to register for these programs.

September 22, Saturday (Chicago). 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Hispanic Union Leadership Conference. Topics: Language that Matters in your Collective Bargaining Agreements, Introduction to Unionism, Where is the Labor Movement Today? The Impact of Globalization on Collective Bargaining, and Immigration History: The Labor Movement’s Position. Lunch will be provided and the total fee is $76. In Spanish, with English translation available. Location: The Cardinal Room at UIC, Room 329, Student Center East, 750 South Halsted Street, Chicago, Illinois 60607. Contact Francisco Montalvo Jr. or Bob Bruno at 312-996-2623.

September 25, Tuesday (Chicago). 8:30 – 11 AM. “The Future of the Employee Free Choice Act,” keynote speaker Stewart Acuff, National Organizing Director AFL-CIO at the John Marshall Law School, $20 -$25. Register online through www.richblackwell.com/LERA or by phone 630-269-9411. This is a Chicago Chapter Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) event.

September 27 (Chicago). Second neighborhood and community recruitment meeting of the Building Bridges Project Carpenters Program, seeking women, minorities and “hard to serve” individuals who are willing to join an intensive pre-apprenticeship program funded by the State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Development in partnership with the University of Illinois and the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters. This well-supported (ie, childcare, stipend, transportation assistance, individual case management) program seeks 36 individuals who want to become union carpenters. Meet at 6 pm at the Faith Community Baptist Church on 3056 West Polk Street. Call Dwight McDowell at 773-728-8400 x 28 for more information.

October 1 through 5 (Champaign). 40-Hour HazWoper. Skills for general site personnel who must deal with hazardous materials and equipment. $625 per person.

October 16 (Champaign). 8-hour for supervisors. $235.

October 18 (Champaign). 8-hour Emergency Response Refresher. $235

November 5 thru 9 (Champaign). 40- hour Technician. Defensive and offensive actions in the event of unplanned hazardous material and chemical incidents. $795

October 11 (Markham). Third and last neighborhood and community recruitment meeting of the Building Bridges Project Carpenters Program, seeking women, minorities and “hard to serve” individuals who are willing to join an intensive pre-apprenticeship program funded by the State of Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Development in partnership with the University of Illinois and the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters. This well-supported (ie, childcare, stipend, transportation assistance, individual case management) program seeks 36 individuals who want to become union carpenters. Meet at 6 pm at the All Nations Light of the World Church at 15801 Central Park in Markham. Call Dwight McDowell at 773-728-8400 x 28 for more information.

October 11 (Chicago). 6 PM. Workers’ Comp: A close look at the 2005 Illinois Workers Compensation law with Dave Menchetti, the attorney who drafted the law with the assistance of the Illinois AFL-CIO. This is a free event sponsored by CACOSH, the Chicago Area Committee on Occupational Safety and Health. Call 312-996-2623 to register.

October 18 (Champaign), 1:00 pm. Biju Longhinos, Senior Lecturer at University College, Trivandrum City, Kerala, India, will talk about teacher unionism and social evolutions in the second –floor conference room at the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, 504 East Armory. Professor Longhinos is Secretary of the Union of Government College Teachers, international secretary of the World Federation of Teachers Union (FISE) and has represented FIST at the General Conference of UNESCO in Paris. Call Joe Berry for more information.

NATIONAL LABOR COLLEGE CLASSES:

Due to staff changes we are offering the following National Labor College classes in Fall 2007. This is different from what is printed on our brochure. The cost of a NLC class through the University of Illinois Partnership is still $490.00.

Ed Planning Jumpstarts will be held September 27, October 24, and November 29 at CLEP. These are short drop-in meetings that allow NLC students who are working on their portfolios or other papers to confer with other NLC students or the instructor. There is no charge for jumpstarts but you must sign up in advance. Call Helena Worthen at 217-444-4095.

LBST 2130: Comparative Labor Movements (Chicago). 6-9 pm Monday nights has started and runs through November 12. 3 credits. An introduction to unions and labor-management systems in countries across the globe. How and why other labor movements differ from the US will be examined. Bob Bruno, Instructor.

ECON 2000: Political Economy of Labor (Chicago). NOTE TIME CHANGE. This class meets on four Saturdays, 9-4, October 13, 27, November 10 and December 1. How is labor affected by economic policy choices beyond collective bargaining, including forces in the global economy; alternative roles for labor, and the relationship between organized and unorganized workers as actors shaping economic and social forces. Instructor, Joe Berry.

WORKERS COMP: The CACOSH guide to the 2005 Illinois Workers Compensation Law is in its second printing. To get a copy ($5), call Emanuel Blackwell at 708-359-3303.

LABOR RADIO. Download and print out the September-October radio schedule for The Heartland Labor Forum. You can find it at www.heartlandlaborforum.org then click on schedule or just go to the pdf file at http://www.umkc.edu/labor-ed/documents/0709sch.pdf

Unless otherwise noted, Champaign programs take place at 504 East Armory, in the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations, and Chicago programs take place at CLEP, Suite 110 The Rice Building, 815 West Van Buren Street (near Halsted and W. Van Buren). Both locations accessible by public transportation. The LEP Update appears every two weeks. Our downstate faculty can now offer most of our programs at your location. If you would like us to come to your organization or local union meeting, call the numbers listed above or email Illinoislabored@uiuc.edu