Dear Friend of CLCS,

Welcome to the new year! Our first conference of 2026 is just around the corner, and we're excited that so many of you will be joining us for Black Men in Unions! This month, we have a welcome message from CLCS's new Director, Liz Ratzloff. Take a look below!

Join in at these upcoming events:

We want to share information that is relevant and interesting to YOU and your networks; 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 directly 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, so be sure to scroll all the way through!

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

In Solidarity,

CLCS Staff

I’m grateful to be joining the Center for Labor and Community Studies at the University of Michigan–Dearborn at a moment when many workers are being asked to navigate rapid change with very little support. Across Michigan and beyond, people are facing rising costs, unstable work, political attacks on public institutions, and real uncertainty about what the future holds for their jobs and communities.

I come to CLCS as a labor organizer and educator who has spent much of my career working alongside workers in moments like this one. My roots are in Michigan, and I entered the labor movement as an AFT union member and later as a staff organizer, supporting contract campaigns, strikes, and worker–community coalitions. Over time, my work has focused on helping workers build power across difference, especially in industries and communities facing economic and environmental transition.

Before stepping into this role, I served as Co-Executive Director of the Labor Network for Sustainability, working with unions and community partners across the country on worker-led climate and just transition efforts. That work reinforced something I’ve learned again and again: lasting change doesn’t come from top-down plans or technical fixes. It comes from organized workers who have the tools to analyze what’s happening around them, build relationships, and act together in their own interests.

That’s why labor education matters. It’s not about credentials or theory for its own sake. It’s about building the skills and confidence workers need to lead with others and make decisions that shape their futures. When workers learn together, across industries and identities, they build stronger movements and more durable solidarity.

CLCS plays a unique role in that work. As a public labor education center, we connect university resources to the lived experience of working people. Our programs bring workers together across generations and sectors to build leadership that is practical, democratic, and grounded in real struggles.

My commitment as Director is to carry that tradition forward while strengthening how we connect education to organizing, research, and movement-building. That means prioritizing applied learning, supporting worker-led responses to industrial and climate transition, and staying accountable to the people our work is meant to serve.

Each month, I’ll use this space to share reflections connected to our programs and the broader labor landscape. These pieces are meant to be useful, not abstract. They’re about why this work matters, what this moment demands of us, and how education can support worker power in very real ways.

In a time of widening inequality and growing threats to democracy, education isn’t a side project. It’s part of how workers prepare for what comes next.

I’m excited to build what comes next with you.

In Solidarity, Liz

Our 2026 edition of Black Men in Unions will take place February 19-22, and workshops are filling up fast! Workshops #1 and #8 are FULL.

If you haven't yet, REGISTER NOW!

Join us at Somerset Inn in Troy, MI for this four-day event.

More information (including the registration form) can be found on our website (linked below).

During BMIU26, there will be a BMIU Black Tie Gala, a night of elegance, celebration and empowerment. This event is being planned by the BMIU Networking Committee, chaired by Towanda Perry-Sawyer.

The gala will be held on Saturday, February 21, at the MRCC Banquet Center.

You are welcomed to attend even if you aren't planning to attend the BMIU Conference. Individual tickets and full tables can be purchased on EventBrite, linked below.

Mark your calendars for our FIRST planning meeting for Young Workers' Conference 2026!

We're working now to secure a room, so keep an eye out for a later email with details!

On March 7, there will be a march and fundraiser to commemorate the 1932 Ford Hunger March. This annual event will start at Fort Street Bridge Park, and participants will march to UAW Local 600.

On March 14, there will be a FREE symposium held over Zoom, where attorney Michael Doud will discuss Workers' Compensation.

In March, Region 1 will be hosting a black-tie event in Warren, hosted by the Regional Men's Council.

Click the flyer for a pdf copy!

We invite faculty from all three campuses to join for our Faculty Affiliate cohort, which will be meeting in February.

During this meeting, we'll discuss plans for the Winter 2026 semester and start developing programming and research plans.

All faculty (any campus, any position) are invited, and the meeting will happen over Zoom.

Respond to this email to get the Zoom link! Feel free to forward this newsletter to faculty who might be interested!

On March 25, Labor @ Wayne will host its Third Annual Labor Spring Teach-In for Students and Workers. More info to come!

From March 9-12, UAW Region 1 will have trainings in Warren, MI. Check out more info below!