Events
Every year, the Higgins Labor Studies Program hosts a variety of events, including our Labor Research Workshop and the annual McBride Lecture. Additional programming is typically related to current issues and events or to faculty and student interests.
Have a labor-related event that you'd like us to post? Submit it to hlsp@nd.edu.
Future Events
Questions? Contact Karen Manier at kmanier@nd.edu or 574/631-6934
Past Events
April 30:
4th Annual South Bend Sings for Labor
The Bread & Roses Tour
8pm
Fiddler's Hearth
Join the local labor community for a festive gathering and sing-a-long.
May 2:
Screening of "Bread and Roses" and Panel Discussion
Wednesday, May 2
7pm
Browning Cinema at the Debartolo Performing Arts Center
The movie, a classic film by Ken Loach, tells the story of immigrant Los Angeles janitors in their quest for dignity and a voice on the job. The film dramatically showcases the link between the causes of labor and immigrant rights.
Panelists include:
- Cynthia Duarte, Fellow at the Institute for Latino Studies at Notre Dame and sociologist who specializes in immigration patterns and urban communities in the context of contemporary globalization
- Tony Flora, President of the North Central Indiana AFL-CIO Council, the federation of local labor unions in greater South Bend
- Marisel Moreno, Assistant Professor of Spanish at Notre Dame and a specialist in US Latino/a literature
- A representative of La Casa de Amistad, an organization providing educational, cultural, and advocacy services the Michiana Latino/a community
This event is open to the public.
Tickets are available at the DPAC website: http://performingarts.nd.edu/calendar/view.aspx?id=2433. A limited number of free tickets are available through the Higgins Program. To request one, contact Dan Graff at dgraff@nd.edu.
Questions? Contact Karen Manier at kmanier@nd.edu or 574/631-6934
April 12:
Blogging the Crisis
Labor Research Workshop
David Ruccio, Economics Professor
5:00pm
Coffeehouse, Geddes Hall
Since the summer of 2009, David F. Ruccio has been writing a blog on inequality, crisis, and many other aspects of the Second Great Depression. He will discuss the history, as well as what he has learned from the successes and failures, of his Occasional Links and Commentary on Economics, Culture, and Society. Participants are encouraged to browse the pages of the blog (http://anticap.wordpress.com) and to come with questions, comments, and suggestions.
April 16:
Grassroots Organizing and Fighting Poverty
with Willie Baptist
12 to 1 pm
Geddes Hall Coffeehouse
Willie Baptist will discuss some lessons of grassroots organizing for building a movement to end poverty. Willie Baptist is a formerly homeless father who came out of the Watts uprisings, the black student movement, and worked as an organizer and shop steward with the United Steelworkers. He has 40 years of experience organizing those who are poor, including with the National Union of the Homeless, the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, the National Welfare Rights Union, the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, and many other networks. Willie serves as the Scholar-in-Residence of Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary (New York), which is dedicated to raising up generations of religious and community leaders dedicated to building a social movement to end poverty, led by those who are poor.
RSVP for lunch by 2:00pm, Friday 4/13: hlsp@nd.edu
March 27:
Can we do well and do good? Investing and the Catholic University
A campus discussion on the relationship between Catholic Social Teaching and Investment Practices at ND
Panelists:
Fr. Dan Groody, C.S.C., Associate Professor of Theology
Teresa Ghilarducci, Director of the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis at the New School
Naoko Shibusawa, Faculty member of Brown University's Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investing Practices
Worker from HEI Hospitality
March 21:
Making a Living Making a Difference
Keynote Speaker:
Dean Cycon, founder of Dean's Beans (http://bit.ly/5G7pV3)
Followed by coffee and conversation with social entrepreneurs in the coffeehouse.
February 29:
Alta Gracia: One Shirt at a Time
Amanda Meza '12 will talk to us about her experience in the Dominican Republic, visiting the union, living wage apparel company, Alta Gracia.
Caitlin Alli and Samuel Evola, interns with Alta Gracia, will discuss the campaign currently taking place on campus to increase student support for Alta Gracia.
Andrew Alea and Brittany Backstrand from "The Shirt" committee will also be on hand to discuss their decision to work with Alta Gracia this year.
For more information about Alta Gracia, go to http://altagraciaapparel.com/story
February 23:
UNITE HERE Internship Information
Interested in finding out more about a summer internship with UNITE HERE? Stop by the CST/PSIM Student Lounge, 234 Geddes Hall, on Thursday, February 23 between 3:00 and 5:00pm to talk to a representative, organizer Stuart Mora (ND ’08).
For more information, go to: organizingbeyondbarriers.org
http://jobs.unitehere.org/job.php?job_id=1673
February 17-18:
United Students Against Sweatshops 15th Anniversary National Conference
http://usas.org/conference2012/
November 18:
Labor and Interfaith Conference
People of Faith/People of Labor Working Together
9:00am to 4:30pm
Indiana Interchurch Center
1100 W. 42nd Street
Indianapolis
Keynote Speakers:
Kim Bobo, Executive Director and Founder of Interfaith Worker Justice
Paul Mishler, Associate Professor, IU Labor Studies Program
Panel discussion with faith leaders followed by workshops: "Voices from the Field"
To register, email sklein@iusb.edu. Questions? Contact Paul Mishler at pmishler@iusb.edu or 574/520-4469.
Sponsored by Indiana University Program in Labor Studies, Indiana University School of Social Work, and the Center for Interfaith Cooperation.
November 15: Community Program
The Jobs Crisis & The Threat to Our Living Standards
7pm
Teamsters Local 364 Hall at 2405 Edison Road (east of Ironwood)
Speaker and Panelists:
Marty Wolfson, ND Economist & Director, Higgins Labor Studies Program
Tony Flora, Secretary, AFL-CIO Central Labor Council, & Board Member, Community Forum for Economic Development
Becky Ruvalcaba, Executive Director, La Casa de Amistad
Glenn Williams, President, Michiana African-American Chamber of Commerce
November 11: Labor Research Workshop
The Struggle Against Child Labor and the Working Class Construction of American Childhood
Paul Mishler, Associate Professor of Labor Studies, Indiana University South Bend
Friday, November 11
12 to 1pm
LaFortune Student Center, Notre Dame Room
Please RSVP to hlsp@nd.edu for lunch and an advance copy of the research paper.
November 4: Union Talk
UAW Local 5: A Proud History
12 to 1pm
Joe Taylor, President of UAW Local 5
Coffeehouse, Geddes Hall
October 15:
Jobs with Justice Banquet
13th Annual St. Joseph Valley Project's Fundraising Banquet
Social Hour begins at 5:00pm. Dinner at 6:00pm. Polish Style Buffet.
Speaker: Arnaldo Fabela, organizer with SEIU
Honoring Award Winners
Community Leader: Becky Ruvalcaba, Director of La Casa de Amistad
Labor Leader: Scott Van de Putte, retired President UAW Local 5
Faith Leader: Rev. Terrell A. Jackson, Pastor of Layman Chapel & President, NAACP South Bend
October 7, 2011:
The Clothes You Wear Can Change the World —
The Alta Gracia Project
3:15 p.m.
Coffee House, Geddes Hall
A presentation on the“no-sweat” factory Alta Gracia will be held on Friday, October 7 at 3:15 p.m. in the Geddes Hall Coffee House. The Alta Gracia factory in the Dominican Republic is a pilot venture by Knights Apparel to create a sweat-free factory that also pays a living wage—and allows a union. The Alta Gracia factory has been highlighted in the New York Times and on several television networks. Joe Bozich, CEO of Knights Apparel, and others from his company will be here for the presentation, which will include a short video, discussion, and a unique Q & A Skype with the factory workers in the Dominican Republic, including Maritza Vargas, the woman who heads the local union.
There will also be an open house on Friday, October 7 and Saturday, October 8 in the Coffee House in Geddes Hall that will display Notre Dame apparel currently produced by Knights Apparel’s Alta Gracia factory.
Sponsored by the Center for Social Concerns, Higgins Labor Studies Program, Catholic Social Tradition Minor, Follett, ND Licensing, and Poverty Studies Interdisciplinary Minor.
October 3, 2011:
Migration and Modern-Day Slavery in Supply Chains
Notre Dame Conference Center
Auditorium in McKenna Hall
Labor experts, advocates and representatives from major apparel brands came together to discuss migration and trafficking issues in the global supply chain, with a focus on Jordan, Bangladesh and India.
Sponsored by the University of Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns, Department of Licensing, Nonprofit Professional Development Program at the Mendoza College of Business, Program on Law and Human Development and Center for Civil and Human Rights at the Law School, Higgins Labor Studies Program, and the Fair Labor Association
October 3, 2011:
Guestworkers of the world, unite!
You have nothing to lose but your job, your passport, your visa: The United Sates and the Global History of Deportable Labor
Speaker: Cindy Hahamovitch
Andrews Auditorium, Geddes Hall
Sponsored by Department of History with generous support from the College of Arts and Letters, Department of American Studies, Center for Social Concerns, Higgins Labor Studies Program, Institute for Latino Studies, Poverty Studies Interdisciplinary Minor
September 14, 2011:
Trumka delivers 2011 McBride Lecture
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka spoke to an audience of over 250 people, including students, faculty, and union members, in the Carey Auditorium on Wednesday, September 14. Trumka, the 2011 McBride Speaker at the University of Notre Dame, is a leader in the struggle for workers' rights and economic justice. Born into a coal-mining family in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Trumka worked in the mines for over 7 years, while pursuing a bachelor's degree at Penn State and a law degree at Villanova. Trumka has been an outspoken critic of renegade corporate behavior and a tireless advocate for workers' rights. Read Richard Trumka's remarks at Notre Dame.
September 20, 2011:
“Right to Work” Legislation: Information and Update
September meeting of the Community Forum for Economic Development
7 p.m.
LaSalle Branch Library (2323 Ardmore Trail, South Bend)
The focus for the September CFED meeting will be "Right to Work" legislation - what does it mean, how has it been used against the labor movement, its effect on economic development, why a move to adopt similar legislation for Indiana is anticipated for the next legislative session, and how these laws affect the economic well-being of the entire middle class. Joining us for the discussion will be Indiana State Senator Karen Tallian, from Portage, who is a member of the Interim Study Committee on Employment Issues, Teamsters 364 President, Bob Warnock III, and Marty Wolfson, director of the ND Higgins Labor Studies Program.
May Day High School Essay Contest
The Indiana University-South Bend Labor Studies Program, the Higgins Labor Studies Program at the University of Notre Dame, and the St. Joseph Valley Project/Jobs with Justice cosponsored an essay contest for area high school students. Students were asked to submit a typed or clearly written 500-word essay addressing the importance of commemorating May 1 ("May Day") in American history. Click here to download a pdf with contest information and resources: Inaugural May Day Essay Contest
May 2, 2011:
Third Annual South Bend Sings for Labor
"The Working Hard or Hardly Working Tour"
8:00pm
Fiddler's Hearth Public House
Sponsored by Program of Labor Studies, Indiana University South Bend
May 1, 2011:
Labor Day in the Park: A May Day Celebration
Howard Park (Jefferson Blvd., South Bend)
12:30 to 4:00pm, Sunday
Food, Music, Comraderie
1:30 to 2:15pm
Annual Workers Memorial Service
Remember workers who have lost their lives while on the job.
2:30pm
May Day Historical renditions
Sponsored by the North Central AFL-CIO Central Labor Council and their affilliate unions, United Way, Jobs with Justice, Indiana University Labor Studies Program at South Bend, Higgins Labor Studies Program at Notre Dame
April 29, 2011:
Labor Research Workshop
Scab Ministers, Striking Saints: Christianity and Class Conflict in 1894 Chicago
12:00 to 1:00pm
Gold Room, LaFortune Student Center
Speaker: Heath Carter, PhD candidate in History
April 4, 2011:
Day of Solidarity: WE ARE ONE March and Rally
March begins at the South Bend Civil Rights Heritage Center at 4 PM
Rally at the Morris Civic Plaza at 5 PM
On April 4, 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, where he had gone to stand with sanitation workers demanding the right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a better life. Today, that same demand is electrifying people across Indiana and all of America. It's the demand of all people: the right to be treated fairly, to have a voice and to join together for our common dreams.
March 26, 2011:
Community Forum for Economic Development
9am to 3pm
Wiekamp Hall
Indiana University South Bend (IUSB)
March 25, 2011:
Labor Research Workshop
Of Goatskins and Shukas: Migration, Wage Labor, and Working Life among Young African Men in Colonial Kenya, 1920-1963
12 to 1 p.m.
Coffeehouse, Geddes Hall
Paul Ocobock, Visiting Fellow, Kellogg Institute
March 24, 2011:
Auto Focus: Studebaker on Film
6:30 p.m.
DeBartolo Performing Arts Center
Browning Cinema
Presentation included the recently discovered film, Partnership of Faith, a late 1940s portrait of the Studebaker factory in all its glory. Other short historical automotive films will be screened. The program will conclude with a panel discussion on the auto industry, worker-management relations, and the changing economy in South Bend. Sponsored by the Department of Film, Television & Theatre, DeBartolo Performing Arts Center, The Studebaker National Museum, and the Higgins Labor Studies Program.
March 7, 2011:
Right to Work vs. Rights of Workers
An informal conversation for faculty, students and staff about the significance of what is happening in Wisconsin and Indiana and the newly-released Higgins report on the right-to-work legislation. Facilitated by Marty Wolfson, director
February 25, 2011:
Labor Research Workshop
Dress Rehearsal for the Coming Backlash? The Emergence of Public Sector Anti-Unionism 1968-1981
12:00 to 1:00pm
Joseph McCartin, historian, Georgetown University
January 2011:
Labor Research Workshop
Temporary Help Agencies as Intermediaries in Labor Markets
12:00 to 1:00pm
David Hachen, sociologist and director of iCeNSA
