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Workers' Rights Curriculum


For further information contact the extension coordinator in your area:

Amherst
Dale Melcher, Coordinator
Labor Relations and Research Center
Gordon Hall

418 N. Pleasant St.
UMass Amherst
Amherst, MA 01003
dmelcher@lrrc.umass.edu
413-545-6166 • 413-545-0110 fax

Boston
Tess Ewing, Coordinator
CPCS Labor Resource Center
UMass Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd
Boston, MA 02125
tess.ewing@umb.edu
617-287-7352 • 617-287-7274 fax

Dartmouth
Kim Wilson, Coordinator
UMass Dartmouth
Dubin Labor Education Center
285 Old Westport Road
N. Dartmouth, MA 02747
kwilson@umassd.edu
508-999-8781• 508-999-9168 fax

Lowell
Susan Winning, Coordinator
Labor Extension Program
UMass Lowell

600 Suffolk St.
Lowell, MA 01854
susan_winning@uml.edu
978-934-3127 • 978-934-4033 fax


The Future of Work

A Joint Project of the Labor Centers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, and Lowell."


"Changing the Future of Work" workshop curriculum available for download


 sales rep  hard hat woman  man with test tubes

Photos by Paul Shoul

 

Work is rapidly changing

Workers across virtually all sectors of the economy are facing work reorganization, new technology, and the intensification of work.

With globalization, employers are increasingly becoming part of large multinational companies and Massachusetts’ workers are now forced to compete on a world stage.

Long-term, stable jobs are disappearing as work has become more temporary, part-time, and contingent.

The workforce itself is changing in Massachusetts and many of these new workers find themselves on the front lines of workplace change.

How are Massachusetts workers fighting to hold onto dignity and pride at work to build job and income security, and have a say in their future?

What is the future of work?

One of the central goals of the Future of Work project is to advance the state of our knowledge about work and its future in Massachusetts. With this in mind, the Project has sponsored research and presented its results in confernces and books.  For details of the whole project see the Future of Work webpage.

Labor Extension's main contribution to the Future of Work project has been in developing and teaching workshops and classes to help workers analyze the changes taking place in their workplaces and organize for power to shape that change.

 


Curriculum


"Changing the Future of Work: A Workers' Approach" is a two-part workshop that analyzes changes in our workplaces and develops an action agenda to respond.

Changes in the nature of work -- new technologies, work restructuring, more temp work, outsourcing -- are growing without much advice or consent from working people. This workshop helps workers find the best places to win short-term struggles and build long-term power, using research from the Future of Work project and the direct experiences of participants.

You can download a copy of "Changing the Future of Work: A Workers' Approach" below.

Curriculum
Cover


We are also in the process of developing an expanded version of this curriculum that will be suitable for an undergraduate level college course. It will be available for download from this website when it finished.

Finally, the Labor Extension Coordinators at each campus are available to work with your union, central labor body or other workers' organization to develop and facilitate a version that is tailored to the needs of your particular workplace, industry or  region. Contact the Coordinator at the campus nearest you to learn more.


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