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By MATT WICKENHEISER, Staff Writer Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Supporters of a proposed Center for Labor Studies at the University of Southern Maine say it would not only focus on unions and their history, but also introduce a working-class perspective into a variety of academic disciplines.

State Rep. John Tuttle Jr., D-Sanford, has introduced legislation to create the center, which would become one of a handful of such programs at colleges around the country. The proposal comes from years of collaboration between USM and the region's labor community, according to Peter Kellman, president of the Southern Maine Labor Council.

"We want to look at the working class, what it does, give it just credit," said Kellman. "We need to know our history, we have to have constant discussions about where we fit in."

Other labor groups within Maine agree on the need for more education around working-class issues, but some are worried that the new center could compete with an existing program for funds and in its mission.

The proposal comes at a time when manufacturing jobs have declined in the United States and in Maine, driving down union membership. Union participation dropped nationwide by 2.36 million between 1983 and 2006, according to a February paper from the Maine Department of Labor; membership in Maine dropped by 18,700 during the same period.

As a percentage of the total labor force, membership dropped nationally from 20.1 percent to 12 percent; in Maine, it dropped from 21 percent to 11.9 percent.

In the past, a working-class perspective, as articulated by labor unions, could be heard throughout society. That was particularly true in states like Maine, where a heavy manufacturing base created a strong union presence.

Most people had some connection to labor unions -- they were members or their relatives or neighbors were. The issues facing workers were fodder for dinner conversations. Labor unrest became public as workers walked picket lines in front of textile mills or shipyards. The political influence of organized labor made news.

USM economics professor Michael Hillard said local union activists have a tradition they want to pass on, and he sees the university, and the process of education, as the way to do it.

"Some of the very local people from very traditional unions have come to recognize that you really need to have a community presence," said Hillard, who is a key architect of the proposed labor studies center. "It's really about building community and understanding the workers who work in nursing homes, in Wal-Marts, who don't have health care, represent a huge share of the work force.

"It's about reviving a tradition; it's also about embracing a new reality."

Hillard studies labor as a part of his work as an economist, and several other professors at USM (in disciplines such as history, geography and sociology) have a similar focus. USM currently offers a labor studies minor, and these professors joined with local labor leaders to draft a prospectus for the labor center.

The center would grow to support a major and a master's program in "labor and working class studies," according to the prospectus. But beyond that, the goal would be to have working-class perspective classes become part of different majors, like education. If education majors learned more about labor's history, they might bring that perspective with them in their professional lives as high school teachers, said Kellman.

That's critical, as most high school history books don't touch on organized labor, said Tuttle, the bill's sponsor.

"And some of the most important history in the country, economically -- minimum wage, workers' compensationÝ--Ýnone of that would have come about without the labor movement," said Tuttle.

COMPETITION FOR FUNDS?

Tuttle's bill has a number of co-sponsors, including House Speaker Glen Cummings, D-Portland, and Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Brunswick. It calls for general fund appropriations of $169,480 in fiscal year 2007-2008 and $174,136 in 2008-2009. About 10 people spoke for the bill at a recent hearing before the Legislature's Education Committee, Kellman said. No one spoke against the bill, and several people spoke neither for nor against it.

But the director of the Bureau of Labor Education at the University of Maine in Orono said he was concerned that the USM center would overlap with his office's mission and would compete for funds.

"Since 1991, because of downsizing and continued budget shortfalls at the University of Maine, the BLE's budget has been cut on a cumulative basis by 39 percent," said William Murphy, the bureau's director, in an e-mail interview. " as long as the Legislature is considering the establishment and funding of an additional labor studies center, it would also be important to restore the funding level of the existing Bureau of Labor Education so that this organization can fulfill its statewide mission fully and effectively."

Murphy said he supports any effort to expand labor education opportunities in Maine but believes his bureau's funding should be restored before any new center is launched.

The Orono bureau was created in 1966 and has been a resource to labor unions, providing services such as training for shop stewards.

Murphy said target groups served by the bureau include organized and unaffiliated workers, students and educators on the secondary and postsecondary levels, members of community organizations, government officials, and public policy makers. He said the subjects covered include labor history, employment law, collective bargaining, stewards training, women and labor, occupational health and safety, labor and the economy, and leadership development.

Any overlap of mission would need to be worked out before a USM center was created, Murphy said.

'A SCHOOL OF WORKERS'

Hillard said he didn't see any redundancies. Orono's focus is more nuts-and-bolts, he said, compared with the vision for USM's center.

"Our perspective is going to be broader, more intellectual, more community-based," Hillard said. "Our colleagues at Orono are our colleagues, not our competitors. There should be labor education at every college, just like business (majors)."

Kellman agreed that the USM center would be aimed inward at students.

"As far as budget goes, that's a question of political will," said Kellman. "There's a lot of people down here who think we need it, so that's where it is."

Hillard did say he thought USM's student population was well suited for a labor studies program. In a number of informal surveys, he and his fellow teachers have found that their typical student works 25 to 30 hours a week, goes to school full time and takes out big loans to fund their education.

"USM is a school of workers," said Hillard. "The issues of work, whether it's fair remuneration, dignity on the job, the economic security that surrounds questions like health care and retirement -- those are not abstractions to our students."