Labor Summer
General Information
Learn Organizing Skills
Applied Research
Union and CBO Program
FAQs
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June 16-August 8, 2008
The Labor Summer Learn Organizing Skills Track introduces students to unions and the labor movement. Students get the opportunity to learn from some of the most exciting and important campaigns in the nation that are making a difference for working people, especially immigrants and people of color.
How It Works
The Center for Labor Research and Education at UC Berkeley offers PAID internships to teach students the skills involved
in labor and community organizing. Here's how it works:
- Interns receive an intensive orientation early in the summer 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 work under the supervision of a mentor at their site who is engaged in a workplace or community campaign and has years of experience in worker organizing. Interns will learn the tools of the trade by participating in their host organization’s activities, including strategic planning, communications, coalition-building, worker education and training, and campaign evaluation.
- Interns attend skills-building trainings throughout the summer as well as forums with community and labor leaders from cutting-edge Bay Area campaigns.
Career Opportunities
Students who have participated in Labor Summer have continued to use the skills they learned in the program long past their internships. Many interns have continued to work in the labor movement with either unions or community-based organizations, including the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), the Carpenters Union, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU), Justice for Janitors, the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), and Young Workers United (YWU).
Requirements to participate in Labor Summer:
- 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 before or the semester after they participate in Labor Summer.
- 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 16 to Friday August 8, 2008. 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 the week of June 16th 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.
Salary
Undergraduate interns will be paid at the rate of $12.50 per hour for an eight-week period for a gross amount of $4,000.00
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 $5,269.27.
How to Apply
We will conduct rolling admissions and encourage students to
apply early. The timeline for the application process is as
follows:
Due Date for Applications: Application Deadline Has Passed
Notification of Acceptance (no later than): April 11, 2008
Program dates: June 16-August 8, 2007
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Contact: Angelique Agloro
Phone: (510) 643-0910
Email:
What Students Think About It
Here’s what some past participants had to say about Labor
Summer:
“We learn a lot of social justice issues in class,
but here [in Labor Summer] we’re going out into the world
and applying them to really help people.”
“One of the things I like most is working in the community,
among low- and no-wage workers. It’s something I can understand
because I’ve been a low-wage worker and most of my family
members are. For me, as a student, [Labor Summer] meant putting
theory into practice.”
“This experience has definitely opened up my eyes to the exploitation that can take place when there isn't a balance in power dynamics between employer and employee. I now understand the necessity of unionizing all workers, thereby promoting equality and justice as fundamental values that are foundational to enriching the community at large.”
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