Community Classes
Below are the community classes we offered during the fall of 2025. Stay tuned for what's coming spring of 2026!
Cost: $50 for union-sponsored participants; $25 for participants without union support; free to anyone who cannot afford to pay. If a class meets several times, the suggested price is per meeting. Registration is required for these virtual classes—click the class title to register. Zoom links will be emailed after registration.
Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) provided for most classes.
Video Production for Organizers – two parts
Date & Time: Mondays, September 8 and 29, 6:00–8:00 PM CT
Video is an important part of storytelling and organizing. In Part 1 (Sept 8), we’ll cover how to plan and produce a video with everyday equipment, conduct interviews and capture b-roll, edit basics, and promote your video.
Between sessions, participants will create a short video project. In Part 2 (Sept 29), participants will share their work and receive feedback. We’ll also go deeper into editing and distribution.
This class is ideal for beginners.
Facilitator: Isabela Escalona
Graphic Design & Canva for Labor Organizers
Date & Time: Monday, October 6, 6:00–8:00 PM CT
Learn the basics of graphic design and how to use free Canva tools for organizing. Topics include using the software, accessibility best practices, hands-on design practice, and how to apply skills to your work.
Facilitator: Isabela Escalona
We Keep Us Safe: A Writing Workshop Exploring Personal and Community Safety
Date & Time: Wednesday, October 15, 6:00–7:30 PM CT
What is safety? How do our histories shape our sense of it? We’ll read authors like Joy Harjo and Roxane Gay, respond to writing prompts, and share tools for strengthening personal and community safety networks.
Facilitator: Josina Manu Maltzman
What is Movement Journalism?
Data & Time: Wednesday, November 12, 5:30-7pm CT
With each narrative, there is a counter narrative. The news media often serves as a platform for those in so-called power to elevate their narratives above others. But there is a long history of working class audiences and producers taking matters into their own hands. How has media played a role in building power and solidarity, and how are workers building on that legacy today?
In this class, we will review U.S. labor movement history through a communication lens, looking at the evolution of the organized labor press as well as the labor beat, and where they are today with the rise of social media all while unpacking questions of objectivity and consumerism. This class is for anyone interested in exploring and expanding how and where they get their news and how to support movements through media-making.
Facilitator: Amie Stager
Emblems of Solidarity: Teaching Labor History With Union Buttons
Date & Time: Wednesday, November 19, 3:00 - 4:30 pm CT
In this class, labor history educator and curator Isaac Silver will use historic artifacts from worker organizing in several industries to present on the story of how unions were formed, how divisions between workers have been overcome, and other lessons for today. The humble but ubiquitous pinback button has been consistently used to popularize demands, mobilize for organizing drives and other campaigns, and represent the union’s presence in the workplace and the community.
Presenter: Isaac Silver
Facilitator: Sarah Lazare
Steward Training
Date & Time: Friday, December 12, 1:00 - 4:00pm CT
This course is designed for new and experienced stewards and members who want to become a steward. Topics covered include a steward’s rights, roles, and responsibilities; how to conduct a grievance investigation; writing and presenting grievances; and day-to-day problem solving
Facilitator: Amy Livingston