Project on Citizen Education in a Union Setting, Final Report.

Overview & Synopsis

The report describes a project on union citizenship activity and presents recommendations from a labor education conference in Silver Spring, Maryland, November 9-10, 1977. Citizen education of union members involves training programs for workers undertaken either singly by unions or in concert with educational institutions. The report is presented in five sections. Section I contains background information on trade unions, discusses the role of labor education within unions, and defines the project's objectives. These include better understanding of and recommendations to improve citizenship education. Section II discusses project administration and design. Section III provides a philosophical overview of unions and union activity within a citizen education setting. Section IV suggests union citizenship activities, including courses on labor law, political economy, international trade, and bargaining methods; meetings with political leaders; and conferences with other workers to explore on-the-job problems and community services. The final section presents conference recommendations, including: (1) all union members should be encouraged to participate in citizenship education activities; (2) curriculum must be broadened to include political and economic topics; (3) workers should be given sabbatical leave to pursue educational aims; and (4) a federal labor extension service should be created to fund labor education programs on a continuing basis. The appendix presents directories of conference participants, university and trade union labor education programs, and a conference paper on labor, community, and citizenship education. (Author/DB)