Labor Education Program

The UALR Labor Education can trace its beginnings to a resolution passed by the Arkansas AFL-CIO Convention calling for the establishment of a university based education program for organized labor and Arkansas workers. Created by action of the Arkansas legislature, LEP is a product of a partnership between the Arkansas AFL-CIO and the University of Arkansas and has been meeting the instructional needs of Arkansas unions and union members since 1973.

UNION EDUCATION

Workshops and Seminars:

LEP conducts educational services and training programs for:

• local unions
  
• central labor councils
  
• Arkansas AFL-CIO
  
• international unions at the state, regional or district level.

Workshops are offered during the day, evening, or weekends at facilities convenient to local unions. In addition, one to three day seminars are held in the Little Rock area that draw participants from Arkansas and surrounding states. Workshop and seminar topics include:

• steward training
  
• collective bargaining
  
• arbitration
  
• labor and employment law
  
• effective leadership
  
• workplace health and safety
  
• labor history
  
• worker participation programs and new work systems

In addition, LEP develops specific programs in response to needs expressed by client unions.

Information and Technical Assistance:

LEP has extensive resources on a wide range of topics and issues of concern to unions and workers, including:

• labor and employment law and regulations
  
• collective bargaining language and data
• employer background and financial information
  
• arbitration decisions and standards
  
• occupational health and safety issues.

Union Leadership Certificate:

LEP offers a certificate in union leadership that requires the completion of six core courses totaling 40 hours, and two electives totaling 12 hours.

Local Union Education Excellence Award:

To encourage locals to develop regular, in-depth, and comprehensive educational programming, LEP offers a Local Union Education Excellence Award for locals that hold, in addition to basic steward training, six classes in three years.

WORKPLACE SKILLS

The Workforce Group, an arm of the Labor Education Program, assists workers in acquiring the information, resources, services, and training they need to perform effectively and achieve their occupational goals.

Training:

Workforce Group training encompasses a wide range of instruction tied to specific job functions and focused on practical work skills including, but not limited to:

• reading, writing, mathematics and computer use
• learning, reasoning, thinking creatively, making decisions and solving problems
• communication and team building in workplace environments
• assuming individual responsibility, raising self-esteem, encouraging self-management, and developing integrity
• understanding simple machinery, electricity, hydrology, thermodynamics, and statistical process control

Technical Assistance:

Workforce Group can assist employers and workers by:

• designing and implementing workplace education programs
• developing workplace education materials and curriculum
• providing training, consultation, and program evaluation.

Workforce Group is also a Service Center for ACT WorkKeys, a national system for documenting and improving work skills through job profiling, job assessments, and training.