The UMass Labor Center has a new lease on life after facing an uncertain future due to planned cuts to its operating budget and courses available.
Last week, University of Massachusetts Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and members of the Labor Center Committee sent out separate announcements about the university’s renewed commitment to the 52-year-old center. The Labor Center educates students on topics such as labor unions, bargaining, and community organizing. On Labor Day, former Labor Center director Eve Weinbaum went public with a list of ways she said the university is “cutting” the center, which educates students on topics such as labor unions, bargaining, and community organizing — charges the university said were “untrue.”
Regardless of the reason, both Weinbaum and UMass noted that the Center would be providing fewer classes than it was a few years ago.
Following October meetings between UMass, local union and Labor Center leaders, the university has pledged to provide tuition relief to graduate students and restore six 10-hour-a-week teaching assistants for at least the next three years. UMass also agreed to allow the school of sociology control over choosing center directors.
“UMass Amherst’s commitment to educating students about workers’ rights and economic justice has been unwavering for more than half a century,” Subbaswamy said in a statement. “The steps we are announcing today reaffirm our commitment to this eminent program.”
Members of the Labor Center Committee — director Tom Juravich, Weinbaum, and faculty: Jasmine Kerrissey, Clare Hammonds, Dan Clawson, Ofer Sharone — said they are pleased with the accord reached with the university, even though they did not secure everything they were requesting of the institution.
Members had asked for a new faculty position as well as additional staff support for the center, but the chancellor declined to fund the jobs.
“In the short term, the Labor Center will use its own reserve funds to hire the part-time faculty necessary to cover required courses and to fill out staff needs,” members said in a statement.
“We would have liked to have had a longer commitment; however, with this kind of student support coupled with the support of the labor movement, we feel that three years from now we will be able to make a strong case for the continuation of support moving forward.”
Members said it was the involvement of advocates, alumni, and union leaders who helped keep the Labor Center alive when its future was looking grim. People petitioned and conducted awareness campaigns to drum up support for the center.
“No doubt there is a lot of hard work ahead, but we hope we can count on you to be part of that process moving forward,” members wrote in an appeal to supporters. “We will be convening a new advisory board for the center, and discussing ways that our alumni and community allies can be more involved in the life of the Labor Center.”
Kristin Palpini can be contacted at [email protected].
