• Interns receive an intensive orientation on June 15 - 19 to learn the basics of the U.S. labor movement, with a special focus on Northern California labor issues. The orientation also covers an introduction to the students' host site.
• Interns are placed at a union or community-based organization for seven weeks where they will be assigned to a campaign.
• Interns will learn the tools of the trade by participating in their host organization's activities, such as strategic planning, communications, coalition-building, worker education and training, and campaign evaluation.
• Interns return to the Labor Center three times during the summer to reflect on their experiences in the field and receive additional skills-building trainings.
• Interns receive guidance from both an off-site mentor who is familiar with the Labor Summer program and has years of social justice experience as well as a supervisor at their site who is engaged in a workplace or community campaign.
• The program concludes with a graduation ceremony where interns share how the program has impacted them.
• Students are required to produce a two page final report and a final evaluation of the program.

• All applicants should want to work with unions or community-based organizations. An interest in working on social and economic justice issues and the ability to work with a diverse population is essential.
• Applicants must be a University of California student and be at least 18 years old at the beginning of the internship placement. Applicants must be enrolled in classes either the semester/quarter before or the semester/quarter after they participate in Labor Summer.
• All graduate students must meet the GSR requirements in order to be eligible, click here to see the requirements on page 7.
• Students must have at least a 3.1 grade-point average; may not have more than two incomplete grades in upper division or graduate courses on the transcript; and must be in good academic standing. Students on Filing Fee status may not be appointed as GSRs.
• Some placements will require proficiency in a specific language, such as Spanish or Cantonese. You will be tested in spoken proficiency of such a required language before being placed at a site where that language is needed.
• The internship will run for 8 weeks from Monday, June 15 to Friday August 7, 2009. You must be available for the entire length of the internship to participate. Hours and days of work will vary depending on the project.
• An intensive orientation will take place June 15 - 19 on the UC Berkeley campus. You must be available to participate in orientation activities before reporting to your internship site in order to take part in the program.

Graduate interns will be paid the UC Graduate Research Step II rate of $2,912 per month pro-rated for an eight-week period for a gross amount of $5,193.85.

How to Apply
We will conduct rolling admissions and encourage students to apply early as the program is very competitive. We typically receive 160 applications for 20-25 slots. The timeline for the application process is as follows:

Due Date for Applications: Monday, March 2, 2009
Interviews are Scheduled to Take Place: Monday, March 16 - Friday, April 3, 2009
Notification of Acceptance (no later than): April 20, 2009
Program dates: June 15-August 7, 2009