Labor Education Service

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Labor Education Service We are dedicated to building the power of workers across Minnesota.

Our Mission
We are dedicated to building the power of workers and other historically marginalized, exploited, and oppressed people across Minnesota, using media and training rooted in poular education to create more just workplaces and communities. Our Vision
We envision a movement that centers the voices of historically marginalized people, where all working people have space to share their stories, practice new skills, and imagine a better world. Our Values
* We honor the whole person by inviting them to bring their identities, abilities, and complexity forward. We respect the many forms of paid and unpaid labor in which they engage.
* We are active in the communities that we work in and shape them in our own unique and independent ways.
* We believe that to build power, we must challenge systems of oppression both outside and inside our organizations and movements.
* We believe that our movement is stronger when we learn across generations and languages, and from the stories and histories of people's movements.
* Movement building requires the development of working-class consciousness. We believe that seeking knowledge involves a constant balance of action and reflection.
* We want to build a just, sustainable, and accountable movement, remembering that the earth is our home and our workplace.

Grocery stores aren’t just places to shop. They are workplaces, neighborhood centers, and a window into the inequalities...
10/13/2026

Grocery stores aren’t just places to shop. They are workplaces, neighborhood centers, and a window into the inequalities that ravage our society, from low wages to high prices to monopolies that harm our communities. Join us for a panel discussion about grocery stores and the labor that makes them run, featuring grocery workers, Ann Larson, the author of Clean Up on Aisle Five, and journalists from In These Times. This event is co-sponsored by In These Times.

Facilitated by Sarah Lazare.

This course will be held over Zoom.

If you have any questions and/or access needs, please contact the Labor Education Service at 612-624-5020 or [email protected]. Thank you.

LES Community Classes are all sliding scale.

Register here: https://z.umn.edu/LESCommunityClasses

[Image description: A black and yellow graphic with a photo of grocery store shelves mostly empty and a graphic with the above information for the Grocery Workers Speak course.]

Here’s our full line-up for the fall semester! One class has already passed, but there’s still time for the rest! All cl...
10/06/2026

Here’s our full line-up for the fall semester! One class has already passed, but there’s still time for the rest! All classes are sliding scale and open to all. Register at the link in our bio. Please note that one class (Educación Popular) will be held in-person and will be facilitated in Spanish. The rest of the classes are online and will be held in English.

📹Video Production for Organizers
Date & Time: Wednesday September 30 and Wednesday October 14 6:00-8:00pm
Facilitated by Isabela Escalona (Zoom class)

📜Effective First Contract Negotiations
Date & Time: Tuesday October 6, 5:30 PM - 7:30PM (Zoom class)
Facilitators: Matthew Cunningham-Cook, Nela Hadzic, Eric Lehto (moderator)

🎒Educación Popular : Una metodología para fortalecer el movimiento laboral
Fecha: Domingo, 11 de Octubre, 2026, Hora: 1-4pm
Modalidad: En persona
Facilitadora: Indira Garmendia, en colaboración con CTUL

🍞Grocery Workers Speak: What Inequality Looks Like From Behind the Supermarket Register
Date & Time: Tuesday, October 27, 3pm-4:30pm CT. (Zoom class)
Facilitated by Sarah Lazare

🗯️Intro to Grievance Handling
Date & Time: Tuesday, November 10, 1:00pm - 4:00pm (Zoom class)
Facilitator: Amy Livingston

[Image description: The above text in a black, yellow and maroon graphic]

Using a case study of a group of nurses in Rochester, New York, this two-part workshop series will teach participants ho...
09/29/2026

Using a case study of a group of nurses in Rochester, New York, this two-part workshop series will teach participants how to negotiate strong and effective first contracts quickly by treating the first contract campaign as an extension of the organizing campaign. The workshop is co-led by Nela Hadzic, who was chief negotiator on the first contract campaign. Eric Lehto, who has negotiated many strong first contracts, will moderate.

Facilitators: Matthew Cunningham-Cook, Nela Hadzic, Eric Lehto (moderator)

This course will be held over Zoom.

If you have any questions and/or access needs, please contact the Labor Education Service at 612-624-5020 or [email protected]. Thank you.

LES Community Classes are all sliding scale.

If you have any questions and/or access needs, please contact the Labor Education Service at 612-624-5020 or [email protected].

Register at the link in our bio under LES Community Classes.

[Image description: A red, black, and yellow graphic group with a photo of a group of people and the above information for the Effective First Contract Negotiations course.]

Using a case study of a group of nurses in Rochester, New York, this two-part workshop series will teach participants ho...
09/25/2026

Using a case study of a group of nurses in Rochester, New York, this two-part workshop series will teach participants how to negotiate strong and effective first contracts quickly by treating the first contract campaign as an extension of the organizing campaign. The workshop is co-led by Nela Hadzic, who was chief negotiator on the first contract campaign. Eric Lehto, who has negotiated many strong first contracts, will moderate.

Participants must complete the first part in order to attend the second.

Facilitators: Matthew Cunningham-Cook, Nela Hadzic, Eric Lehto (moderator)

This course will be held over Zoom.

If you have any questions and/or access needs, please contact the Labor Education Service at 612-624-5020 or [email protected]. Thank you.

The majority of our online classes have CART provided.

LES Community Classes are all sliding scale.

Register at the link in our bio under LES Community Classes.

[Image description: A red, black, and yellow graphic group with a photo of a group of people and the above information for the Effective First Contract Negotiations course.]

09/24/2026

Thirty-five years ago, Minnesota unions banded together to save the Labor Education Service (LES) during a period of massive budget cuts at the University of Minnesota. In this video from 1991 at the 34th Annual MN AFL-CIO Convention, delegates voted unanimously in favor of reinstating funding for LES and asserting the importance of education for workers in MN.

See the full video on the university’s online archive, Elevator, where you can find hundreds of archival videos and other archival materials related to Minnesota’s rich labor history. The archive is free and open to the public. Link in bio!

Jack Flagler, then director of LES, ends his passionate speech saying, “The unparalleled joy of my life has been to teach dedicated trade unionists. They come at the end of the workday. They come on Saturdays. They come on Sundays. They come when the windchill is 30 below. It’s that community of dedication that has given this entire program its impulse, its meaning, its glory. As long as there’s breath in me, there will be a Labor Education program in the state of Minnesota.”

Support our work at the Labor Education Service at the link in our bio.

https://z.umn.edu/LESdonation

And make sure to take a look at our classes for this fall here:
https://z.umn.edu/LESCommunityClasses

[Video description: An archival video from 1991 at the 34th Annual MN AFL-CIO Convention where workers and labor leaders testify in favor of supporting continued funding for the Labor Education Service.]

**Esta clase se impartirá en español // This class will be held in Spanish**La educación popular es una metodología de l...
09/16/2026

**Esta clase se impartirá en español // This class will be held in Spanish**

La educación popular es una metodología de liberación, empoderamiento y cambio social. En el movimiento laboral, los trabajadores enfrentan duras realidades e inequidades estructurales todos los días. Con demasiada frecuencia, sus voces son ignoradas en el trabajo. La educación popular permite crear espacios donde la clase trabajadora se sienta escuchada, pueda participar activamente y se inspire para impulsar un cambio real.

Esta sesión presenta los principios fundamentales de la educación popular y le enseña cómo integrarlos en sus propias capacitaciones, reuniones de personal y presentaciones con trabajadores. Juntos, exploraremos herramientas prácticas y practicaremos cómo facilitar espacios donde los trabajadores lideren la conversación y construyan poder colectivo.

Foto: Paulo Freire, teórico y educador que desarrolló la educación popular y la idea de la enseñanza como un acto político de transformación.

Esta sesión es en colaboración con el Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en la Lucha - CTUL.

Facilitadora: Indira Garmendia, en colaboración con CTUL - Center For Workers United in the Struggle

Regístrate a través del enlace en nuestra biografía. Si tienes alguna pregunta o necesidades de accesibilidad, por favor comunícate con el Labor Education Service llamando al 612-624-5020 o escribiendo a [email protected].

[Descripción de la imagen: Una descripción del curso ‘Educación Popular: Una metodología para fortalecer el movimiento laboral con una foto de la teórica y educadora Paula Freire.]

It’s that time of year again! Time for our fall community classes! First up: Video Production for Organizers!Video is an...
09/15/2026

It’s that time of year again! Time for our fall community classes! First up: Video Production for Organizers!

Video is an important part of storytelling and sharing a narrative for labor and community organizing. In Part 1 of this series (September 30th, 2026), we will go over how to plan a video, how to produce a video with everyday equipment, how to capture an interview and b-roll, the basics of editing. and how to share a video once it’s made.

Between sessions, participants will be tasked with making a short video project of their own. In Part 2 (October 14th, 2026), participants will share their videos, get feedback, and go over more editing techniques.

This class is best for beginners.

Facilitator: Isabela Escalona

This course will be held over Zoom.

LES Community Classes are all sliding scale.

Register at https://z.umn.edu/LESCommunityClasses

If you have any questions and/or access needs, please contact the Labor Education Service at 612-624-5020 or [email protected].

Image description: A black, yellow, and maroon graphic with the above information for the Video Production for Organizers course.

Did you hear?? There’s still time to apply to MULP! Apply today at the link in our bio or type the link below:https://z....
09/08/2026

Did you hear?? There’s still time to apply to MULP! Apply today at the link in our bio or type the link below:

https://z.umn.edu/MULPApplication

Image Description: One of our MULP educators is putting up a post-it note on a sheet of paper that asks: “What is the labor movement doing well?”

If you still need some time to apply to MULP… you’re in luck! The MULP application deadline has been extended to Septemb...
09/04/2026

If you still need some time to apply to MULP… you’re in luck! The MULP application deadline has been extended to September 15th! Get those applications in at the link in our bio!

Image description: A photo of a former MULP cohort smiling for a photo. Text reads that the MULP application deadline has been extended and a short description of the program.

We are getting ready to table at the Great Minnesota Get-Together! Please come visit us on Thursday, September 3rd, in t...
09/01/2026

We are getting ready to table at the Great Minnesota Get-Together! Please come visit us on Thursday, September 3rd, in the AFL-CIO Pavillion at the corner of Dan Patch Avenue and Cooper Street.

Address

321 19th Avenue S, # 3-300
Minneapolis, MN
55455

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 9am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 9am - 4:30pm
Thursday 9am - 4:30pm
Friday 9am - 4:30pm

Telephone

+16126245020

Website

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