Center for Labor and Community Studies

REGISTER NOW!! for the 2026 Latina/o Workers Leadership Institute!

Running for over three decades, LWLI brings together workers of ALL backgrounds to build skills and develop relationships across the labor movement.

The conference will be held September 17-19 at Fairlane Center South, and participants will choose one workshop to take across the three days.

Our workshops this year include: Effective Communication: Intro to AI; Roots of Resistance: Latina/o Labor History, and Developing Effective Workplace Leaders (among others!).

***Workers from all backgrounds are encouraged to join this program! Being from the Latina/o or Hispanic community is NOT a requirement for participation.***

Register today! More information and our registration form can be found on our website, below:
https://clcs.umd.umich.edu/upcoming-events/2026-latinao-worker-leadership-conference

Becoming an organizer is not about mastering a formula or a set of predetermined steps. It’s certainly not about making a certain number of “asks” per contact, or closing a deal, or selling the union, or getting your co-workers to do what you want them to do. Compliance is what the boss demands. Our
organizing should be the opposite: an
invitation.

Adapted from Keep Going: A Guide to Organizing When It's Hard by Ellen David Friedman. https://labornotes.org/store/keepgoing

LWLI Planning Meeting #2: THIS SATURDAY!

After a successful first planning meeting a few weeks ago, it's now time to meet again to plan September's Latina/o Workers Leadership Institute, which will be held at UM Dearborn September 17-19.

Our second LWLI26 Planning Meeting will be held NEXT SATURDAY, June 20, 10am-12pm, on the UM-Dearborn campus. Please note: the meeting will not be held in our typical meeting space. Map and directions below. (If you attended the May meeting, it will be in the same room!)

In these planning meetings, we collectively decide upon course offerings, the conference theme, awards recipients, T-shirt design, and other important factors that go into a conference. Decisions are made collectively by the people who show up, so come be part of this democratic process!

Our main topics of discussion and decision-making will be our course listings and conference speakers.

Everyone is welcome, regardless of background, union status, or previous conference attendance.

This meeting will be held in the Renick University Center, Room 1225. All buildings on Dearborn's main campus have the same street address (4901 Evergreen Rd), so we recommend typing "Renick University Center" into your navigation. You can park in Lot E5/6 for free.

This will be an in-person meeting.

If you are outside the Metro Detroit area and would like to join virtually, please reply to this email and we'll make sure you get set up!

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact Ghana Goodwin-Dye at 313-583-6594 or by email at [email protected].

In Solidarity,
CLCS Staff

Registration deadline for Young Workers Conference 2026 is THIS THURSDAY!! Check out Workshop #7, where you'll learn about the connection between civics and union life. Instructor Harvey Hawkins, Jr. gives his perspective on why you should take this course! Register at clcs.umd.umich.edu

Catch Liz's interview in the last ~20 minutes of this recording:
https://www.michiganpublic.org/stateside/2026-06-11/stateside-thursday-june-11-2026

Union organizing, midterms take center stage at AFL-CIO convention in Minneapolis With the AFL-CIO convention in the rearview and the UAW convention ahead, the future of union participation in politics is far from settled, especially as membership gets more politically diverse.