United Association for Labor Education (UALE)

Rethink, Rebuild, Revitalize: Labor, Education and Our Communities

April 5-8, Detroit

2017 conference art

Annual Achievement Awards	Papers and Presentations	Conference Schedule
Conference App	2018 Conference Save the Date	Downloads

There's an App for that! We have created an app that allows you to see all kinds of info about the conference, make your own schedule, post photos and more. Click on the Conference App link above for more info

Download full conference program book: pdf 2017 UALE Conference Program (1.65 MB)

UALE Annual Achievement Awards

UALE gives five awards at the Awards Luncheon at our annual conference.To see more about what the awards are and how the awardees are chosen visit the Awards page.

The 2017 Annual Achievement Awards Winners are :

cheryl teare

Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Labor Education – Cheryl Teare, current President of UALE, and Director of AFT Union Leadership Institute.

Cheryl Teare is the current President of UALE and has done amazing work in guiding our organization during a challenging period when unions and labor education are under attack. Cheryl convenes our Executive Board and provides essential support for all UALE partnerships and activities, including UALE’s dynamic national conference. She plays a key leadership role in engaging union-based labor educators and forging a common agenda for labor education among labor educators across multiple sectors. In addition to her work for UALE, Cheryl is a nationally respected labor educator within one of the largest unions in the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Teachers. She leads the AFT’s Union Leadership Institute, and helps develop strong AFT leaders throughout the country, providing educational programs in strategic planning, running a local, and building union power. She has been a leader in the NAACP, the Labor Project for Working Families and is an attorney. Cheryl combines the finest qualities of labor educators: a deep understanding of the labor movement, excellent facilitation skills, energy and humor, and a steadfast commitment to social justice.

220px Elaine Bernard giving a lecture 2012

Lifetime Achievement –Elaine Bernard, Director, Harvard Trade Union/Labor and Work Life Program

Elaine Bernard has made extraordinary contributions to the field of labor education in the United States and globally. She has directed the Harvard Trade Union/Harvard Labor and Work Life Program for more than 20 years and recently announced plans to retire. Under Elaine’s leadership, the Harvard Trade Union Program, the oldest residential union leadership school in the country, has done extraordinary work to develop generations of labor leaders in the U.S. and throughout the world. Elaine is an expert in comparative labor movements, and is called upon regularly to lecture, teach and develop educational programs in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia. Her work is grounded in popular education and in global solidarity. She has been at the forefront of building solidarity between labor leaders and labor educators in the U.S. and Canada for decades. Elaine has dedicated her life to advancing economic and social justice.

Best Book – Steven K. Ashby and Robert Bruno, A Fight for the Soul of Public Education: The Story of the Chicago Teachers Strike (Cornell ILR Press, 2016)

In reaction to the changes imposed on public schools across the country in the name of “education reform,” the Chicago Teachers Union redefined its traditional role and waged a multidimensional fight that produced a community-wide school strike and transformed the scope of collective bargaining into arenas that few labor relations experts thought possible. Using interviews, first-person accounts, participant observation, union documents, and media reports, Steven K. Ashby and Robert Bruno tell the story of the 2012 strike that shut down the Chicago school system for seven days.

New Generation (Best paper by a student or first-time author) – Eleni Schirmer , UWI-Madison, “When Solidarity Doesn’t Quite Strike: The 1974 Hortonville, Wisconsin, Teachers’ Strike and the Rise of Neoliberalism”

(This award is chosen at the conference)

Best Labor Studies Journal Article – Eric D. Larson "Black Lives Matter and Bridge Building: Labor Education for a ‘New Jim Crow’ Era," Volume 41 (1) - April issue

This article uses labor history and black history to highlight how labor education can be a crucial tool for unions to respond to the Black Lives Matter movement in a way that supports and respects its main demands. It suggests that unions are unlikely to answer the AFL-CIO call for the labor movement to be “partners, allies and fellow community members” of the BLM movement unless they recognize the structural nature of contemporary “colorblind racism” and confront the root causes of divergent attitudes about the fairness of the criminal justice system.

LSJ judges said, “Given the demographics of the UALE membership and conference participants, the discussion put forth by Larson in this article is an important one to be having organizationally as well as academically. The contribution is well-written, interdisciplinary, original, provocative and insightful.”

Conference Schedule

You can also downoad the schedule here: 2017 UALE Conference Schedule

Tuesday, April 4
4:30 - 8:30 PM	UALE Executive Board Meeting
Wednesday, April
8:00 AM - 1:00 PM	UALE Executive Board Meeting
9:30 AM-12 noon	Labor History Bus Tour Visit the sites of the Battle of the Overpass at the Ford Rouge plant, the 1932 Ford Hunger March, the old Model T-Plex/Studebaker plant, Grand Circus Park, the Woolworth's 1937 sit-down strike, Cadillac Square and the Labor Legacy Landmark at Hart Plaza. You will also learn about the history of the Detroit Federation of Musicians with a stop outside the Motown Museum. Cost $25.
9:30 - 11:30	Labor History Walking Tour Note: The Walking Tour has been filled to capacity, so registration for it is closed. Inquire at the Conference to see if any spaces open up. During the walking tour you will visit sites in the downtown area and hear stories of local workers struggles and successes beginning at the historic Grand Circus Park, the site of many early labor demonstrations then move to the site of the Woolworth's 1937 sit-down strike, Cadillac Square and others sites and conclude at the Labor Legacy Landmark at Hart Plaza. Cost $25
2:00 – 2:30 PM	Conference Opening Session and Welcome
2:30 - 4:15 PM	PLENARY “Life After Bankruptcy and Bailout: Rethink, Rebuild and Revitalize Detroit Communities Through Labor, Education and Community Partnerships”
4:30 – 5:30 PM	Working Group Meetings Labor Film Documentarians Central Labor Councils Popular Education
5:45 – 6:45 PM	Labor Studies Journal Editorial Board meeting Working Group Meetings Young Workers and Activists Online Education
6:45 – 7:45 PM	Dinner
7:45 – 8:45 PM	'Forgotten: The Murder at the Ford Rouge Plant’ Performance of scenes from the jazz opera
8:45 – 9:45 PM	Reception following performance
Thursday, April 6
7:00 - 8:00 AM	Breakfast
8:15 - 10:00 AM	Concurrent Sessions (Workshops, Roundtables, Panels, Teaching Demonstrations) for content and location* of concurrent sessions, download Conference Program or Conference Schedulea*
10:00 -10:30 AM	Break and Informal Networking
10:30 AM - 12:15 PM	Concurrent Sessions (Workshops, Roundtables, Panels, Teaching Demonstrations) for content and location of concurrent sessions, download Conference Program or Conference Schedule
12:15 - 1:45 PM	Lunch (on your own)
12:30 - 1:45 PM	Women Workers' Caucus Luncheon (UALE-sponsored lunch)
1:45 - 3:30 PM	PLENARY: "Labor Education and Solidarity"
3:45 - 5:30 PM	Concurrent Sessions (Workshops, Roundtables, Panels, Teaching Demonstrations) for content and location of concurrent sessions, download Conference Program or Conference Schedule
5:45 - 6:30 PM	New Members Reception (open to all) (UALE-sponsored)
6:30 - 7:45 PM	Dinner (on your own) Directors Dinner Meetings (UALE-sponsored) Higher Education Directors Union Education Directors Community Group Education Directors
7:45 - 8:45 PM	Working Group Meetings K-14 Labor Education Worker-Writers Immigration and Globalization
7:45 - 9:45 PM	Film Screening and Discussion: "Union Time"
Friday, April 7
7:00 - 8:00 AM	Breakfast (UALE sponsored)
8:15 - 10:00 AM	Concurrent Sessions (Workshops, Roundtables, Panels, Teaching Demonstrations) for content and location of concurrent sessions, download Conference Program or Conference Schedule
10:00 - 10:30 AM	Break and Informal Networking
10:30 AM - 12:15 PM	Concurrent Sessions (Workshops, Roundtables, Panels, Teaching Demonstrations) for content and location of concurrent sessions, download Conference Program or Conference Schedule
12:15 - 1:30 PM	Lunch (on your own)
12:30 - 1:30 PM	Workers of Color Caucus Luncheon (UALE-sponsored lunch)
1:30 - 3:15 PM	Concurrent Sessions (Workshops, Roundtables, Panels, Teaching Demonstrations) for content and location of concurrent sessions, download Conference Program or Conference Schedule
3:45 - 4:45 PM	Regional Breakout Meetings Canada Northeast South Midwest West
5:00 - 6:30 PM	UALE Membership Meeting
6:30 - 7:45 PM	Dinner (on your own)
7:45 - 9:45 PM	Film Screening and Discussion: "A Day's Work"
Saturday, April 8
7:00 - 8:00 AM	Breakfast (UALE sponsored)
8:15 - 10:00 AM	Concurrent Sessions (Workshops, Roundtables, Panels, Teaching Demonstrations) for content and location of concurrent sessions, download Conference Program or Conference Schedule0
10:00 - 10:30 AM	Break and Informal Networking
10:30 AM - 12:30 PM	PLENARY: "Labor Education in an Anti-Worker Environment: World Café"
12:45 - 2:45 PM	Awards Luncheon (UALE-sponsored lunch)
3:00 – 4:00 PM	UALE Executive Board Meeting