UM-Flint Presents: "The crisis of organized labor in historical and global perspective"

Labor unions were central to the broad-based economic growth of the twentieth century. But over the past generation, globalization, deindustrialization, deregulation, and political attacks have weakened the labor movement—in the United States and across the developed world.

The recent passage of so-called "right to work" legislation in Michigan is only one example. Some question the relevance of unionism in the twenty-first century. But others argue that rising inequality and the concentration of economic and political power in the hands of a tiny corporate elite mean the need for unionization is as great as ever.

These are some of the issues to be discussed by Glenn Perusek on Monday, April 8, 12:30-2 p.m., KIVA Auditorium, Harding Mott University Center. The program is free and open to the public.

Perusek is the director of the Center for Strategic Research at the national AFL-CIO in Washington, DC; he oversees research and planning for strategic organizing initiatives and bargaining campaigns. After graduating summa cum laude from Kent State University, he studied at the University of Chicago (M.A. and Ph.D.), where he was a Merriam Fellow and won the Baker Prize. He co-teaches an AFL-CIO/Cornell University course on strategic research and campaign planning.

The presentation is sponsored by the International and Global Studies Program in collaboration with the MA in Social Sciences Program.