Voice your support for the endangered UMass Amherst Labor Center
There are many artists’ unions in the U.S. (SAG-AFTRA, the Boston Musicians’ Association, the National Writer’s Union, to name a few) and many artists of all disciplines who hold part-time jobs as adjunct professors, and/or work in labor positions for their second jobs. Therefore, it is distressing to learn that UMass Amherst’s Labor Center, as well as many labor education programs across the U.S., are quite endangered:
As UMass Higher-Ups Gut Labor Center, Students and Alums Speak Out
Professor Eve Weinbaum, the center’s respected director, alerted alumni and students by email that she was being ousted, and that the university administration was slashing funding for many aspects of the nationally recognized program.
It’s the latest blow in a volley against labor education programs. A 2015 report by Helena Worthen for the United Association for Labor Education found that in recent years, 34 of the 53 programs across the U.S. have either lost staff or outright disappeared.
Save the Labor Center
Funding and staff cuts over the past year show troubling signs for the Center’s future.
In the past year, UMass administrators have eliminated all funding for full-time Labor Center graduate students (including teaching and research assistantships), all funding for part-time faculty who teach the required curriculum and cut the Director’s position from 12-months to 9-months.
http://savethelaborcenter.weebly.com
In a recent joint statement, UMass Amherst’s News and Media Relations did affirm “support” for the Labor Center:
The following statement was issued by Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, UMass Amherst; President Steven Tolman, Massachusetts AFL-CIO; and President Francis Callahan, Massachusetts Building Trades Council:
After a productive meeting in Boston this week, we are united in reaffirming our commitment to support the vital work of the UMass Amherst Labor Center. For more than half a century, the center has been at the vanguard of preparing labor leaders in Massachusetts and throughout the country. We are resolved to work together to revitalize the Labor Center so that it maintains its status as one of the nation’s best in its field.
https://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/joint-statement-umass-amherst-labor-center
On September 21, 2016, “Save the Labor Center” Facebook page asked Chancellor Subbaswamy four questions:
1) When and where will this meeting take place?
2) Who, specifically, will participate?
3) Will the specific demands of our petition be discussed? (Our petition currently has 4,500 signatures.)
4) When the chancellor says he’s committed to the Labor Center, does he mean he’s committed to it even if it’s not a “revenue-generator”?
Follow “Save the Labor Center” on Facebook for updates!
Please Sign and Share the Petition
Despite official assurances to “revitalize” the Labor Center, public pressure to maintain accountability is important. Please sign and share the Change.org petition:
https://www.change.org/p/umass-amherst-administration-save-the-labor-center