Spring Teach-In at Fayetteville Library April 8 to Focus on NWA Labor Issues

Anyone with a job can relate to widespread problems that continue here in Northwest Arkansas: economic inequality, low wages, persistence of poverty (especially among children) and the growing marginalization of working people in public life.

U of A history professors Matt Stanley and Michael Pierce are organizing the Northwest Arkansas Spring Labor Teach-In to address these issues at the Fayetteville Public Library's Ziegler Reception Room from 1-4:30 p.m. Saturday, April 8. It is free, and the public is welcome.

The Northwest Arkansas Labor Teach-In will highlight the ways that unions and collective action on the part of working people can contribute to the elimination of these pressing problems. The teach-in is part of a series of some 80 similar events being held on or near college and university campuses throughout the United States. Dubbed Labor Spring, these events are organized with the help of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University and the Labor and Working-Class History Association.

Speakers will include representatives from the Arkansas AFL-CIO, Starbucks Workers United, Venceremos for poultry workers, University of Arkansas Education Association/Local 965, Southern States Millwright Regional Council and the International Association of Fire Fighters.

"The Teach-In is inspired not only by the activism that we are seeing throughout the nation with teachers, nurses and Amazon workers, but also by what people are already doing here in Northwest Arkansas," co-organizer Pierce said. "Starbucks workers, some of the poultry workers and many others are starting to stand up for worker rights, better wages and improved conditions."

"The goal," Pierce said, "is to bring together working people who want to make their jobs better--to put them in touch with like-minded people, to provide them with tools and access to resources, to hear about successes and to provide a sense of belonging."

The February 2023 article "In 1996, There Was Union Summer. This Year, There's 'Labor Spring' — 'Labor Spring' Brings Back a National Teach-In on Organizing to Campuses Across the Country," further explains the project.

For more information, contact Pierce at mpierce@uark.edu. Updates on the teach-in will be posted on its Facebook event page.