Every year, the UALE (United Association for Labor Education) sponsors four regional “Women+ Schools.” These residential programs typically last about a week and include classes, workshops and social and cultural gatherings centered on a variety of labor-related topics. Women+ from all over the country come together to acquire the skills and knowledge needed to play leadership roles in their unions, worker centers and other organizations. One of the most valuable aspects of the summer school experience is the chance to meet and network with other labor Women+ from one’s own region and beyond.
The Northeast School alternates between universities in the Northeast where there are labor schools, including Penn State, Rutgers, UMASS, Cornell and CUNY. This year, it was hosted by Cornell’s Worker Institute and took place on Cornell’s Ithaca campus. The theme was “Love and Resistance: Building a New World.”
PSC-CUNY members who attended the 48th UALE Women+ Summer School
(left to right) Ana Djordjevic (adjunct, BC), Esther Llamas (HEO, Medgar Evers), Rukiya
Brown (HEO, SLU), Maureen LaMar (HEO, SLU), Lynne Turner (adjunct La Guardia and VP
for part-timers at PSC)
HISTORY
The Union Women’s Summer Schools began in the Northeast in the late 1970s and later expanded to the Midwest, West and the South. Their conception was rooted in the traditions of early worker education, as exemplified by the Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in the 1920s and ’30s and the Works Progress Administration worker education programs of the 1930s. Courses of study were tailored to the needs and interests of working people. Encouraged by the rising feminist movement and the founding of the Coalition of Labor Union Women, the UCLEA launched its first school in 1976 at the University of Connecticut. Designed by a committee of labor educators, the residential schools brought together women workers, officers and staff of unions and worker organizations to strengthen their knowledge of the labor movement, and develop skills which would enable them to become more active and move into leadership roles within their unions and worker organizations. The schools were a place where women workers could share experiences and give one another support. Since 1976, the schools have educated thousands, many of whom have become leaders of their unions.
This year was the 48th iteration of the UALE Northeast Women+ Summer School of Unions and Worker Organizations, and it drew over 130 participants from over 20 unions and worker centers such as: the PSC, 1199 SEIU, NYSNA, UBEW, IATSE, TWU Local 100, SEIU, AFSCME, CWA, UAW, IUPAT, CSEA, IBEW, a few AFT locals/NYSUT, New Labor, We Rise – to name a few.
CLASSES
The program consisted of daily leadership classes, which were conducted in cohorts (one of which was conducted in Spanish), and an afternoon choice of skills-building workshops as well as panels/plenaries and evening performances weaving together labor history and art – all bilingual or with simultaneous translation. The instructors are officers, staff and labor educators from various unions, community organizations and universities. The objectives of this year’s school were to:
- Get to know one another.
- Examine what power is and where it comes from.
- Name our individual values and identities.
- Explore the structure of the labor movement.
- Examine this political moment.
- Develop our individual visions for the labor movement.
- Develop our individual plans for advancing our impact on our organizations.
- Explore burnout as trauma.
Crucially, this year the curriculum also included a component on resisting authoritarianism and non-cooperation.
PSC attendees had this to say about their experience:
Rukiya Brown (Higher education officer at the school of Labor and Urban Studies)
Attending the UALE Women+ Summer School was extremely eye-opening. Listening to and sharing stories with women from unions and worker organizations around the world showed me that, no matter where we come from, we must continue the good fight. I started summer school thinking I understood what it meant to be a union member, but by the end of the week, I had gained a much deeper understanding of what that truly involves. If you’re a PSC sister thinking about it, I cannot recommend this experience enough. It’s more than just a summer school – it is fuel for the fight.
Esther Llamas (Higher education officer at Medgar Evers College, Immigrant Solidarity Working Group member, and delegate)
UALE Women+ Summer School was a powerful experience providing a great deal of training in organizing that I plan to use in the forthcoming year. The weeklong program provided valuable organizing tools, as well as grounding and reflection in the work which I engage in locally as a union member and delegate, and as an activist. Most valued was the community formed among a diverse collective of women from varied labor unions and worker organizations, providing the opportunity to share, collaborate and support so that each of us may continue to persist.
NEW TOOLS
As I navigate the next term on my campus and across the University, I plan to use the tools garnered at Summer School to build member engagement – something I have been working on since I first entered the delegate role three years ago. The aim is to continue building solidarity and knowledge within my union chapter in an effort to foster engagement and community. This could be offering workshops such as: How to Build a Healthy Campaign, How to Build Union Power, Reviewing Union Labor History, and more. Summer school reinforced the need for trust and community among our members (new and seasoned), inviting each one to play an active part. We all have a role to play in our union and in the current labor movement. UALE Women+ Summer School provided a well-needed crash course in how to empower ourselves, and the labor movement, at a time that could not be more crucial.
Lynne Turner (Adjunct at LaGuardia Community College, PSC vice president for part-time personnel)
This summer at Cornell was my 10th summer teaching at the summer school! I attended for the first time at Cornell in 2013 and was thoroughly impressed by the strong leadership skills curriculum; interesting, relevant workshops; popular education-modeled pedagogy; and the fabulous supportive sense of community constructed by bringing together Women+ across unions, backgrounds and regions. I’ve returned almost every year and have seen the school evolve as demanded by the times, while retaining a strong core curriculum. I am doing my dissertation on the Women’s Summer Schools and my surveys and interviews of participants and summer school educators have reinforced the value and transformative power of the school.
Good news for our PSC union siblings: Next year, in summer 2026, the UALE Women+ Summer School will be hosted by our very own CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies! Stay tuned for details.
Rukiya Brown is an academic advisor at the School of Labor and Urban Studies; Ana Djordjevic is an adjunct instructor of women’s health at Brooklyn College; Maureen LaMar is the manager of institutional and academic partnerships at SLU; Esther Llamas is a program manager at Medgar Evers College; and Lynne Turner is the PSC vice president for part-time personnel.
Published: December 11, 2025
