The assignments for this course are as follows:

Reading Notes assignment (due Thursdays before class: 1/15, 1/22, 1/29, 2/5 and 2/19):

Each week you will turn in a 2-3 page “reading notes” document based on the texts that you read (or watched) that week outside of class. Think of reading notes as an ongoing dialogue between your brain and the readings; I do not expect you to compose anything polished; rather, these notes are a place where you should put your rough ideas in relation to what you read. The notes that you write down could be takeaways, reactions, connections or questions based on your understanding of the texts. Every time you write a note, you should reference a quote, lines, and/or page numbers from the text(s).

For example: 

• Kelly, chapter 2
  • Pg. 22, paragraph 1: I wonder if all these immigrant groups were considered white at this time. 
  • Pg. 35, paragraph 1: So was the strike actually successful if management eventually shut down all the dollar stores?
• Hammer and Hope interview
  • Zeferino: “All we knew was that if none of us went back to work, the company could not replace or fire us all at once.” Exactly!

—

Personal Response Assignment (in class, 1/8)

This course will be about labor organizing – how workers organize together to fight for better conditions. Over the next six weeks we will look at many different examples of how workers have done this, why they did it, what challenges they faced, and what they achieved.

I hope to make this class as interesting and as relevant for you as possible. To help me do this, I’d like to learn a little about you and your relationship to the course topic. 

Please write a 1-2 page response to the following prompt:

Have you ever had a job? What jobs have you worked? If you currently have a job, where do you work? If you’ve had multiple jobs, choose one and write about what the day-to-day work was like. Describe the working conditions at the job, and how you and other workers felt about it. Additionally, what was hard about working there? What problems did the workers face? Did you or any of your coworkers try to overcome those problems, or improve conditions?

If you’ve never had a job before, you have two options. Either:

1. Write about school, using the same prompts as above.
2. Or, you could write about a job that you would like to have at some point in the future. If you choose this option, please explain what has led you to wanting this kind of work, what you imagine the work to be like, and what problems you might anticipate if you do work there. Based on your own knowledge, what do workers in this profession typically struggle with, and why? 

—

1/15: Case Study Assignment #1: Amazon Labor Union

Texts: 

• “Union” (2024), directed by Brett Story
• Fight Like Hell (2022) by Kim Kelly, chapters 1-2

In groups of 2-3, discuss the following questions. Then, as a class, we will collaboratively put our ideas on the board. After class, each student is responsible for turning in their own answers to each question.

1. Analysis of the labor context. What issues are the workers dealing with? Why are they dissatisfied with Amazon? How are they being taken advantage of, or how are they stripped of their power at this workplace? 
2. Exploration of the organization. What is Amazon? What makes them unique from other companies? What makes them similar? What are some important facts or attributes about Amazon that are relevant in this story? 
3. Familiarization with significant terms. Explain the following terms in the context of this story:
   1. Unionization campaign (AKA “union drive”)
   2. Organizing committee
   3. Job security
   4. Organizing conversations
   5. Salt
   6. Propaganda
   7. “Captive audience” meetings
4. Analysis of the organizing context. What challenges do the organizers deal with as they try to form a union? Why is it hard for the Amazon workers to organize? 
5. Identification of skills needed. Imagine you were in the shoes of some of the characters in this film. What skills would you need in order to succeed as a labor organizer? 
6. Connections to history. What connections can you make between the Amazon labor organizing effort and some of the past labor struggles that we read about in chapters 1-2 of “Fight Like Hell?” 
7. Connections to our own lives. What connections can you make between what you saw in the film and your own experiences or observations outside of the classroom? You could make connections to anything in your own lives that you think might be relevant. 

1/22: Ayoung Kim Exhibit Experience/Reflection Paper

Instructions forthcoming

—

1/29: Timeline Assignment

Instructions: In groups of 2-3, make a timeline about migration and labor in the United States, based on the three chapters we’ve read in Fight Like Hell by Kim Kelly. (You can use other texts if you’d like.) Use markers and poster paper. At the end of class, you will present your timeline to your classmates.

Your goal for this assignment should be to create a specific narrative about migration and labor using the timeline format. This means that you have to pick and choose which events, which people, which industries and which geographic regions you want to highlight in your timeline. There should be a reason why you chose each piece of your timeline, and it should all come together to present a clear narrative about migration and labor. 

In your timeline, be sure to:

• Include at least 5 and no more than 10 events/dates/milestones
• Write a brief description for each event
• Focus on specific groups using race, ethnicity, nationality, class, religion and/or gender as lenses for organizing your narrative
• Have a story, a theme, a main point or an argument that encapsulates your timeline
• Divide the work fairly and collaborate as a group, taking into consideration everyone’s perspectives

—

2/5: Case Study Assignment #2: The Killing Floor / 1919 Chicago Meatpacking Workers

Texts: 

• “The Killing Floor” (1983) directed by Bill Duke

In groups of 2-3, discuss the following questions. Then, as a class, we will collaboratively put our ideas on the board. After class, each student is responsible for turning in their own answers to each question. 

1. Analysis of the global historical context.  Describe how im/migration (to the U.S. from Europe, and to the North from the South), World War I and domestic conflicts in the U.S. all shape this story about workers in Chicago. 
2. Analysis of the racial context.  Discuss the different types and structures of racism that Frank Custer and the other Black characters in the film deal with. How does Custer’s experience of racism in the segregated Jim Crow South differ from what he experiences in the integrated North? How does Custer’s employer use the different racial/ethnic groups to control the workers?
3. Discussion of the labor conflict.  What issues are the workers dealing with at the meatpacking factory? How do they address these issues? What problems do they encounter? What is their union set up to do – and what is it not set up to do? 
4. Identification of skills needed. Imagine you were in the shoes of some of the characters in this film. What skills would you need in order to succeed as a labor organizer? 
5. Familiarization with significant terms. Explain the following terms in the context of this story:
   1. Union recognition
   2. Collective bargaining contract
   3. Jim Crow South
   4. Racial hierarchy in the North
   5. Scab
6. Connections to the present day. What connections can you make between the plight of the characters in the film and challenges we face today? Which character(s) do you most identify with, and why?

—

Final assignment: Labor Organizing Conversation

• Identify a person to speak with by 2/12
• Reflection paper due on 2/24

In this final assignment, you will have a conversation about labor organizing with a person of your choice. You should choose someone who is interested in talking about their work, who is comfortable discussing the problems they and their coworkers are facing, and most importantly, someone who you are interested in learning from. After you have the conversation, you will write a reflection paper about what was discussed. 

Part 1: Identify a person to speak with.

By February 12, you should choose a person to speak with and schedule a time to have your conversation. First and foremost, you should choose someone you actually want to talk with, whose work is interesting to you, and whose insights and experiences you want to hear about. Make sure that the person you choose gives you permission to have this conversation. Your participant should also be comfortable with you recording the conversation. 

Part 2: Have the conversation.

In your labor organizing conversation, your goal will be to learn from your participant about what their work is like, what problems they are facing, and what possibilities exist for them to organize and take action to change the situation. While your primary purpose will be to gain information and insights from your participant, the conversation is meant to be two-sided, which means that you should also share your own interests and motivations for the conversation when you have your talk. 

Specifically, in your conversation, you should:

• ask about what their job is like on a daily basis
• ask about their background and how they ended up working there
• ask what makes their job hard
• ask what conditions could be improved at their job
• ask what workers are doing – or could do – to try and change these conditions
• ask what their goals are, in general, for the future 
• discuss your own connection to their work, and why you chose them specifically to talk with
• discuss why you are interested in their field / profession / industry
• talk about anything else you’d like to discuss with this person about work or labor organizing

Part 3: Write your reflection paper.

After you have your conversation, you will write a 2-4 page (double-spaced) reflection about what was discussed. In the paper, you should be sure to:

1. Discuss why you chose this person to talk with, and why you are interested in their workplace
2. Describe the conversation that you had, highlighting important points that were made and calling attention to things they said that caught your attention
3. Share your assessment of their situation at work, including
   • what you understand to be the main issues and challenges that they are facing
   • what opportunities seem to exist for them to make change at their workplace, based on your conversation
   • what obstacles they seem to face as they try to address their workplace problems
4. Discuss what further questions you might have for this person if you spoke to them again, and what new (or old) questions you have about labor organizing after having had this conversation.