Dear Friend of CLCS,

With summer behind us and the days getting shorter, we bring you our second monthly newsletter! We want to share information that is relevant and interesting to YOU; if you have feedback or have something you'd like us to share, don't hesitate to shoot us an email! (clcs.labor@umich.edu, or reply to this newsletter!)

This might include news stories, events to promote, job postings, or anything labor related you'd like shared out! Monthly newsletters typically will include announcements of upcoming events, media and recaps from past conferences and symposia, and research reports on labor in Michigan. Each newsletter will also have a Labor in the Headlines section, with news items on current events in the labor movement, make sure to scroll all the way through!

It's an exciting time at the Center, following an informative special report on The State of Working Michigan. CLCS researchers Roland Zullo, Jessie Gougeon, and Jonah Botkin presented alongside member-organizers from IBT 2024 (nurses at Corewell Health), detailing the economic realities of Michigan workers, as well as the struggles and triumphs of a new organizing campaign. A recording of this symposium can be found on our website (also linked below).

This month, our lead story is a dispatch from David Reynolds, former CLCS Director, who details the Center's partnership with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. This dispatch highlights some of the work CLCS can bring to unions looking to develop leaders and training—perhaps your organization is looking for something similar!

Newsletters will also live on our website, under "News".

In Solidarity,

CLCS Staff

We Can Help Build Your Internal Training and Leadership Development Abilities!

David Reynolds, CLCS Director Emeritus

The leadership of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) wanted to increase African-American worker leadership and retention within their union. So, they formed a national committee of Black leaders and staff called Black CORE to, among other things, develop and run a leadership training program for Black members.

IUAPT reached out to the Center for Labor and Community Studies to assist the Black CORE in creating their leadership training. In addition to running the Black Men in Unions annual conference, our Center’s basic approach to education focuses on workers as instructors. We help workers develop their own curriculum and classroom skills to become excellent instructors.

Over the course of two years, CLCS staff met with the Black CORE to help them identify the goals of their leadership program and layout two five-day training sessions. To start, CLCS brought instructors who fleshed out the curriculum and piloted the program with the Black CORE members as the students. After the pilot, we worked with Black CORE members to revise the training materials and to become the instructors for the future rounds. CLCS staff then sat in on the subsequent trainings, providing the worker instructors feedback and support.

The end result: IUPAT has not simply trained several dozen of members to become leaders, but the Black CORE committee is now confident in their ability to run their leadership development program on their own.

CLCS would love to help unions develop their education and leadership committees. Contact us for more information.

Our next labor education conference is just around the corner! Join us in Dearborn for LWLI25! This year's theme is "Protecting our neighbors, Knowing our rights".

Workshops include Know your Immigration Rights, Understanding Union Foundations, and Understanding Labor Law and the FMLA!

The registration deadline has passed; reach out (reply to this email!) if you'd like to get involved and we'll see what we can do!

September 18-20, 2025 @ UM-Dearborn, Fairlane Center South

Later this fall, we'll host the annual Fall Leadership Institute, bringing together a group of organizers who are ready to be leaders in the labor movement. Workshops will have a focus on leadership development and skill-sharing across industries.

Registration now live!!

November 20-22, 2025 @ UM-Dearborn, Fairlane Center South

CLCS researchers have prepared a report on the current state of labor in Michigan, which looks at effects of union membership across four sectors of the economy. The report was released around Labor Day, and presented on September 6!

(The above image is from the Center for Economic and Policy Research)

The authors of the 2025 Michigan State of Labor Report shared their findings and discussed their implications for the future of labor, in conversation with member-organizers from IBT 2024, nurses at Corewell Health.

The event was a success, and we encourage you to read the report and watch our discussion (link below).

Read more about the position and apply on UnionJobs.

After several years in the Fairlane Center, the Center for Labor and Community Studies has moved to a new office space! As of late August, our offices are located in the Social Sciences Building  (pictured).

The building is located on UM-D's main campus, where Fair Lane Dr. meets John Monteith Blvd.

The location of the remaining 2025 conferences (LWLI25 and FLI25) remains unchanged (Fairlane Center South).

The Organizer Network is a community for labor organizers to share support, educational opportunities, and a peer network. It can be a place to seek advice, share successes and failures, or hone vital skills for building power. 

The Organizer Network is open to anyone who is doing the very tough job of organizing workers. This includes new organizers fighting to establish a union, existing union rank-and-file members, community and labor leaders, union staff, and more.

Sign up for the Organizer Network list below!