Scontras Center

10/14/2026

Last Sunday, we brought labor history down onto the streets of Brunswick! We walked through downtown, exploring the Cabot Textile Mill, the tenements where French-Canadian workers lived, and the ways those workers shaped Brunswick!

A big thank-you to our co-sponsors, the Franco-American Collection at the University of Southern Maine and Brunswick Renters Organization!

We were especially lucky to hear from Brunswick historian Candace Kanes, and from Joey Berube about the history of the Little Dog Workers United Union. We’re also thankful to Pejepscot History Center for its generous research support, which helped shape the tour and its visual materials.

10/07/2026

We are joining the Brunswick Renters Organization and the Franco-American Collection at the University of Southern Maine for a walking tour through downtown Brunswick! We will explore the rich working-class history of the town, from the Cabot Textile Mill to the tenement buildings that housed hundreds of French-Canadian workers. We will connect the past with the present by exploring how these workers made Brunswick their home and examining their lasting impact and influence on the architecture, layout, and culture of this mill town.

The two-mile walk will begin outside of Fort Andross (the Cabot Mill), and wind through the blocks in and around downtown Brunswick before ending at The Abbey.

Free lunch at Jeff’s Jamaican Cuisine Food Truck at Moderation Brewing following the tour!

Register here! https://actionnetwork.org/events/brunswick-labor-and-tenant-history-walking-tour

*Photos from Meander Maine.

09/17/2026

Building an Advocacy Toolbox: Community Organizing Across Differences

Thursday, September 24, 2026 from 4:30-6:00 PM

Islamic Center of Maine 151 Park St., Orono. In person only.

Bayard Love of the Industrial Areas Foundation and Ground Water Institute.

Co-sponsored with Faith Linking In Action

https://extension.umaine.edu/ble/ble-events/

Contact the Bureau of Labor Education if you need an accommodation to attend this event.

09/14/2026

Week 1 of our “How to Get Members Involved and Organize Within Your Union” class was so exciting! Shouts out to this dynamic group of union leaders!

09/08/2026

Just a few more days to register for this class!

https://www.campusce.net/southernmainepdp/Course/Course.aspx?c=90

A union is only as strong as its active membership, but it often feels like “no one wants to do anything.” When engagement stalls, organizational strength disappears. This 6-week course is designed for stewards, activists, and union leaders who seek to increase members’ participation.

For more info and to register: https://www.campusce.net/southernmainepdp/Course/Course.aspx?c=90

09/01/2026

Join us for two chances to see Joe Uehlein on his Three Roads Book and Music Tour!

After decades of organizing from within the labor movement, Joe Uehlein realized that winning real climate and economic justice meant moving beyond the limits of traditional labor and environmentalism. As former secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO’s Industrial Division and director of the AFL-CIO’s Center for Strategic Campaigns, Joe fought from the inside. But in 2005, he stepped away from the AFL-CIO to found the Labor Network for Sustainability, forging deep alliances between labor, climate, and environmental movements. His vision: transform the labor movement to embrace ecological responsibility and environmentalism to uplift working-class solidarity.

But Joe’s work has never been confined to boardrooms or picket lines. With a guitar in hand, he’s shared stages with Pete Seeger and Tom Morello, turning songs into rallying cries and stories into tools for resistance. In our latest, we’re excited to talk with legendary labor and climate organizer Joe Uehlein about his new memoir that details his life’s work of labor organizing, climate organizing and music.

Two chances to see him!

When: Thursday, September 17 from 6-8 pm
Where: Space Gallery, 538 Congress St., Portland, ME 04101

When: Thursday, September 17, 1:30-2:30pm
Where: McGoldrick Center for Career & Student Success, Salon A, 35 Bedford St, Portland, ME 04101

08/31/2026

Please join us in welcoming the Scontras Labor Center’s new Labor Educator and Sociology Lecturer, Dr. Michael Gould-Wartofsky!

Dr. Michael Gould-Wartofsky is a scholar of immigrant labor and immigration enforcement, as well as cities, states, and social movements. In addition to being a Labor Educator at the Scontras Center, he is the newest member of the Department of Sociology and Criminology at USM. Dr. Gould-Wartofsky earned his BA at Harvard College and his PhD at New York University. He was the inaugural post-doctoral scholar at Columbia’s Work and Labor Lab, and previously taught in the sociology departments at Rutgers and NYU. He is the author of The Occupiers (Oxford 2015) and Resistant Cities (a work in progress). In his spare time, Dr. Gould-Wartofsky is a writer, photographer, traditional music performer, and advocate for social and economic justice.

Last two photos taken at Michael’s presentation at Summer Institute titled “Labor in Defense of Immigrants.”

08/31/2026

10 days out! Register here: https://www.campusce.net/southernmainepdp/course/course.aspx?C=90&pc=17&mc=0&sc=0&link_id=4&can_id=d7de9d8558f4cd7ae7dcc6a8fbfc41cd&

A union is only as strong as its active membership, but it often feels like “no one wants to do anything.” When engagement stalls, organizational strength disappears. This 6-week course is designed for stewards, activists, and union leaders who seek to increase members’ participation.

For more info and to register: https://www.campusce.net/southernmainepdp/Course/Course.aspx?c=90

08/24/2026

What’s the Scontras Center been up to this summer? 🤔

1-2: In July, we hosted a lunch and labor history event to tour the Maine Historical Society’s great exhibit of the Granite Cutters Union in Hallowell of the 1800s.
3-4: We hosted a labor movement day at the Sea Dogs along with MSEA-1989 and NALC Branch 92!
5-6: Along with the Maine AFL-CIO’s Labor Reading Group, we hosted author Joan Williams to discuss her book Out-Classed.