REGISTRATION OPEN: Fall Leadership Institute, Nov 19-21

Dear friend in labor,

Earlier this month, we had a VERY successful Latina/o Workers Leadership Institute, bringing together workers from across the country (including a strong delegation from Texas!) to develop leadership skills and build solidarity. Some photos from the conference are featured below.

After a few days of rest, CLCS staff are now working on our next conference! The annual Fall Leadership Institute will be held in Dearborn on November 19-21, with the theme Forward Movement, No Matter What.

We're really excited for this conference, where we'll have instructors from across SE Michigan's labor movement—it will be an excellent opportunity for building solidarity with workers from different unions and industries.

Registration is open now! Sign up for your classes ASAP!

There are several upcoming events and stories below—be sure to read all the way through, to our last section, Labor in the Headlines.

Solidarity Forever,

Dom Bouavichith

CLCS Communications Coordinator

Starting in upper-left, clockwise: 1) Speaker Cindy Gamboa (MI Poder), 2) Conference Co-Coordinator Pete Vargas, 3) Opening session of LWLI26, 4) Group photo of all instructors and facilitators, 5) Conference Co-Coordinator BM Folks.

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!

(CLCS is happy to share opportunities with our network when they also advance worker education, leadership, or collective capacity—not simply because they're beneficial to union members.)

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".

We'll have our first Planning Meeting for 2027's Black Men in Unions conference THIS SATURDAY, October 3.

If you're interested in being part of this planning process, respond to this email, and we'll send you the meeting details!

Join us November 19-21 for the 2026 edition of FLI!! We have courses about building political power, developing your facilitation skills, and changes to labor law, and more!

Come build power and solidarity with your fellow workers. Respond to this email with questions or to apply for a scholarship!

North American Labor History Conference @ Wayne State

October 15-17, Detroit, MI

The biennial conference is hosted by Labor@Wayne and the Reuther Archives at Wayne State University, and it will bring scholars from across the country and globe to discuss labor history and the future of the movement.

Labor Notes Stewards Workshop: Building a Stewards Network

October 22, 8-9:30pm, on Zoom

$10 Registration Fee

Stewards are the backbone of the union! Learn how to build a strong steward structure that helps workers use their on-the-job power to fight the boss.

Labor Notes: Secrets of a Successful Organizer

October 26, November 2, November 9

7-9pm, on Zoom

You've been talking to your co-workers, and they say they feel overworked, underpaid, and increasingly pressured by productivity quotas and the ever present threat of discipline. How do you fight for better?

Secrets of a Successful Organizer is Labor Notes' core organizing training, in three sessions full of lively participatory exercises.

These workshops are based on the widely acclaimed book Secrets of a Successful Organizer.

Michigan LGBTQ+ Student Project – 2026-27 Trainings!

The Michigan LGBTQ+ Students Project’s 2026-27 virtual training calendar is here!

Join school professionals from across Michigan for FREE, interactive professional development designed to give you practical knowledge and tools to better support LGBTQ+ students and create school communities where every student can thrive.

SEIU-HCMI is recruiting union staffers, in data analysis, new organizing, and field coordination.

Using internal Amazon documents that were disclosed in a Canadian labor case, Benjamin Y. Fong published an analysis of Amazon's union-busting tactics.

These documents include information about management training and company surveillance of unionizing workplaces.

The Economic Policy Institute has analyzed wage data over the past fifty years and illustrated their findings in a series of graphs.

This analysis is eye-opening and demonstrates the need for stronger labor organizing.

LaborLab, a workers’ rights watchdog, is launching new tools to give workers a clearer picture of what they’re up against when they organize and shine a brighter light on the $1.7 billion union-avoidance industry in the United States.

These new tools include a union-buster search tool and a union-busting cost calculator. Share these tools widely!

The Electronic Privacy Information Center and the National Institute for Workers' Rights teamed up to publish a report on worker power in the face of new technologies, which have huge potential to undermine organizing and solidarity.

As they point out, "algorithmic unionbusting" is a growing method for The Boss to break worker power.

The EPI found that CEO pay rose EVEN MORE in 2025, a 14% CEO salary increase among the top 350 U.S. firms.

From 1978–2025, top CEO compensation skyrocketed 1,316% while typical workers’ compensation increased only 28%.

The Northwest Labor Press has published an analysis article about AI threats to workers, and the role of negotiated contract language in protecting workers.

As AI continues to change the landscape of labor and threaten human workers, the labor movement will need to respond with strength and solidarity.

In early June, CLCS moved offices! Our new (very large!) space is in Fairlane Center South (19000 Hubbard Dr.), in Suite 262.

This building is where we typically hold conference planning meetings, as well as three of our conferences: Latina/o Workers Leadership Institute, Fall Leadership Institute, and Workers' Pride Conference.

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!

CLCS volunteers and staff shall act honestly and ethically while in the performance of their duties. They shall treat all CLCS employees, volunteers, and program participants with respect, courtesy, and dignity. CLCS staff and volunteers shall not discriminate and shall be respectful of ethnic, national, gender, and cultural differences. 

Any concerns should be brought promptly to CLCS Staff.

Center for Labor & Community Studies

University of Michigan - Dearborn

Fairlane Center South, Suite 262, 19000 Hubbard Dr,

Dearborn, Michigan 48126

Email: CLCS.labor@umich.edu, Phone:  313-583-6400; Fax 313-583-6430