UEP 270 Unions and the City

Labor unions are the largest membership-based organizations in North American cities: they play a vital role in mobilizing urban residents, shaping urban conflict, and crafting policies that transform urban space. This course investigates the practical realities of union involvement in urban politics. It focuses on a variety of economic and government sectors (education, film, hospitality, green energy, child care, and healthcare) and explores how workers in each of these industries orient themselves toward city life; how they imagine more just and sustainable urban futures; and how they organize to make these visions real. It also considers the dilemmas that unions weigh as they make decisions about which political campaigns to take on vs. which to set aside, and how much time to dedicate to existing union members vs. the non-union workers who make up the majority of urban residents. Finally, this course invites students out of the classroom and into the field to explore the L.A. labor movement in-action. Students will be invited to to observe, interview, and speak with union members about how they understand their role in city politics; the kinds of collective actions that move the policy needle; the aspirational claims that workers make on urban futures; and how to confront the rapidly changing nature of work in fast-paced, technology-driven urban industries.

Prerequisite

This course requires a basic understanding of both unions and cities, which the prerequisites below provide.