Public Employee Press

CUNY labor studies program gets promotion

The city’s bright lights beckon below as the adult students pursue their dreams in evening classes at the 19th floor midtown campus of CUNY’s new Institute for Worker Education.

For union students at the former Queens College Worker Education Center, the view brightened this summer when the program was reorganized as a CUNY-wide institute. Now the program gives its trade unionists access to the City University of New York, the country’s third largest university system.

“The opportunities and options available for the union members we serve have expanded exponentially,” said Dr. Gregory Mantsios, the institute’s director. CUNY includes 1,400 academic programs, he said.

“Working class people need to get a more global view of the labor movement and the world economy. This is a terrific program,” said Faye Moore, vice president of Social Service Employees Union Local 371. “And there are precious few like it.”

“I have the time now to go to school. I am hoping this will help me to advance my career,” said Viola Blackwood, a member of Clerical-Administrative Employees Local 1549 and a 16-year veteran city worker.

Rotimi Olotu started the program in the fall of 2004. The Local 371 member is studying for his master’s degree in urban affairs. “I aspire to lead a city or state agency,” he said. “The opportunity to take more courses is terrific.”

Willie Neal Ward, a Local 1549 member, is also enrolled in the urban studies master’s program. She has worked for the Administration for Children’s Services for seven years. “This means many more
opportunities,” she said.

The program offers a strong sense of community and academic support for students who have been out of school for a long time,” said Dr. Mantsios. “We’ve worked closely with the unions and are now able to serve their memberships with a widely expanded curriculum.”

The Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies, named for a former chancellor who championed workers’education, is part of CUNY’s School of Professional Studies.

For more information, call 212-827-0200.