Center for Labor Education and Research

Let us bring our classes to your

CLEAR staff pictured from left to right: Front Row: Glenn Feldman, Melody Izard, Marc Cryer; Second Row: Tracy Chang, Judi King; Back Row: Charmange Sturgis, Kecia Carr.

Let us bring our classes to you!

CLEAR designs and presents university level education programs for workers and their representatives. Each class provides the information and skills workers and their representatives need to be more effective. Classes are tailored to meet the needs of each group.

Some classes take six hours, covered in one day or over several sessions. Others may require a day and a half, two full days, or one evening a week for four or more weeks. Some topics may be complete in a half day.

Most of CLEAR's labor education classes are conducted for workers and their representatives, and re set up by unions in response to their specific requests. CLEAR instructors travel throughout the South, teach any day of the week, and teach at hours convenient to workers -- even if that means early morning, late at night, or on the weekend. We also hold 5-8 conferences and workshops on special topics throughout the year. Most of these are held at the Center in Birmingham.

Sample Topics
CLEAR teaches most traditional subjects for workers and their representatives, as well as several new topics relevant to current workplace challenges. Click on the link to see a list topics we can offer. If there is a subject you would like to have presented but don't see it listed, please call us at (205) 934-2101or e-mail us at csturgis@uab.edu. We can work with you and design a workshop to fit your needs. To see a description of the course, click on the title. Contact us if you have questions. Phone: (205) 934-2101 Fax: (205) 975-5087 or e-mail.

Political Literacy Quiz

Want to test your own political literacy? Try our quick quiz. Here's 10 questions that will test your political knowledge. And after you finish taking it you can check your answers here.

Hot Topics
Health Care Savings Accounts
Read these articles written by CLEAR faculty to get more information on these accounts that are being heavily promoted by the Bush administration as the answer to our health care crisis.	Health Savings Accounts: Who are the big winners and what do you have to lose?
	Health Insurance and “Personal Responsibility”: Shifting the Bill from the Employer to the Worker

Clear on the Issues
Click here to read articles about current issues that affect you and your family.

CLEAR Highlights

"Popcorn and Politics" for the 2008 Election
Click here to download study guides for Sicko, The Corporation, An Inconvenient Truth, and A Crude Awakening.

Please do not patronize HTH Corporation dba Pacific Beach Hotel & Pagoda Hotel
The workers at Pacific Beach Hotel formed a union dispite a company led campaign against the union which involved many methods which violated the law. Two years later the management says that Pacific Beach Hotel has no union and a sends a clear message what could happen to workers who support the union by getting rid of workers who were active in the union and by refusing to negotiate with ILWU. Read more at this link.

Back Home Again: The Long-Term Impact of CLEAR Safety Training
Click here to see the results of a follow-up student with our students to find out if they benefited from our safety training.

Labor Department offers tips to avoid overtime pay
The Labor Department is giving employers tips on how to avoid paying overtime to some of the 1.3 million low-income workers who would become eligible under new rules expected to be finalized early this year.

Download the AFL-CIO report: Time to Get Real About the Economy: A Check-Up on the Nation's Economic Health at the Mid-Point of the Bush Presidency.

UAB Scholarships for Union Members

Union members and their families are eligible for two special scholarships in UAB’s School of Business:

The Southern Pulp and Paper Industry Labor-Management Council (SPPILMC) Scholarship grew out of a joint program of paper industry unions and companies. At the conclusion of the program, remaining funds were dedicated to an endowed scholarship at UAB. Scholarship Requirements: Currently enrolled or admitted student with a 3.0 grade point average. Preference for human resource majors or students in UAB’s School of Business who have worked in the paper industry or who have a parent or guardian who worked in the paper industry.
The Victoria A. and Ralph A. Johnson Endowed Scholarship. Founded by Ralph Johnson, former director of CLEAR, this scholarship is intended for older students and those with union ties. Scholarship Requirements: Currently enrolled or admitted student in Business or Communication Studies. Preference to first generation college students over 22 years of age who are current or previous union members, or who are the spouse or child of a union member.

To apply for either scholarship, obtain a scholarship brochure or application form online, from CLEAR, (205) 934-2101 or Misty Altiparmak, (205) 934-8813. Click here to find the information online!

FMLA Booklet for Physicians now available.
Having trouble getting your health care practitioner to complete the FMLA forms? CLEAR recently published a brochure, Understanding the Family and Medical Leave Act: A Guide for Physicians and Other Health Care Professionals, for local unions to distribute in their communities.

Immigrant Worker Clearinghouse
This web page is designed for immigrant workers or for those who work with, or would like to work with, this growing population.

Forbes.com reports on the State of Unions
This is opponants of labor unions view on unions. Topics include: America's Most Dangerous Unions Wooing White Collars and Major Expiring Labor Contracts.

Thinking of volunteering for the smallpox vaccine program?
Check out the facts and the SEIU decision chart before you do. http://www.seiu105.org/appResources/scPages/fed_act_factsheet.cfm

Workers Independent News Service (WINS)

WINS is a unique service devoted to providing news about the issues and activities of working families and their unions to radio stations across America. Visit their site for daily newscast.

The American Labor Studies Center is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose mission is to collect, analyze, evaluate, create and disseminate labor history and labor studies curricula and related materials, aligned to the various state and national standards, to kindergarten through 12th grade teachers nationwide. www.labor-studies.org

The PBS show titled "A Dangerous Business" focused on the "The McWane Story". McWane Inc. is located in Birmingham. You can read the transcript of the report from this Frontline investigation, read the philosophy of the McWane Corporation and their response to Frontline, The New York Times and CBS's reporting at the PBS web site. www.pbs.org

AFL-CIO's Laid off Workers Website
Here's the location of the AFL-CIO's web site if you find yourself unemployed. Unemployement Help - a website that provides resources for surviving unemployment, meeting working family challenges, learning what went wrong and protecting retirement secuirty. This web site will help workers learn how to develop a financial action plan, access information about unemployment insurance and benefits and learn about their rights under federal law. There is also information on coping with working family challenges such as college costs, caring for elders, buying health insurance and saving for retirement.

Center for Labor Education and Research - CLEAR