FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

School of Labour Studies

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A group of five students laughing together with their arms locked at McMaster campus

Unifor-McMaster Labour Studies Certificate

Registration for Winter 2024 is now open! 

 

Please sign up soon as the registration will close once capacity is reached.

 

Unifor-McMaster Labour Studies Certificate courses are designed specifically for Unifor members. Created by labour experts, certificate courses combine theoretical knowledge with practical information to help members develop critical thinking skills through a learning process built on a commitment to participants that focuses on a respect for prior experience, skill and activism. This certificate is only offered on a part time basis and individuals can enrol at any point in the year.

 

Education plays an important role in building a knowledgeable membership and in strengthening workplace leadership. Whether your goal is career advancement, you’re working towards a degree or are interested in self-development, the Unifor-McMaster Labour Studies certificate will help you succeed in today’s complex world of work.

 

The certificate is designed to be completed at your own pace. Courses are now all being offered online so that you can participate from the comfort of your home.

About the Program

Students are required to complete 36 units in order to be eligible to graduate. Unit values range from 1 to 4 units depending on the class. Courses are delivered through online learning and video conferencing. Students are required to take 24 units of courses from the following list:

  • History of the Canadian Auto Workers Union (4 units).
  • Current Challenges to the Labour Movement (4 units).
  • Introduction to Workplace Issues (4 units).
  • Globalization and Democracy (4 units).
  • Making Work: Factors Shaping Today’s Workplace (4 units).
  • Wal-Mart: Driving a New Brand of Capitalism (4 units).
  • Government, Labour Regulation and the Workplace (4 units).
  • Solutions to Global Warming (4 units).
  • Labour and Media (4 units).
  • Labour in Film (4 units).
  • Labour in Documentary Film (4 units).
  • Film and Ideology (4 units).
  • Photo Essay Project: Social Justice through Photographs (4 units).
  • Labour History as Told Through Music (4 units).
  • Art, Labour Activism and Change (4 units).
  • Working Class Life (4 units).
  • Who are the 1% (4 units).
  • Food, the Environment and Workers Power (4 units).
  • Understanding Mexico: The Struggle for Social Change (4 units).
  • Unions and Society (4 units).
  • US Foreign Policy in Latin America (4 units).
  • Living Wage and Universal Basic Income (4 units).
  • The Co-op Movement (4 units).

Unifor members employed at Ford, GM, and Chrysler can continue to enroll in courses at no direct cost. Inform your area Unifor-McMaster Coordinator that you are interested in enrolling in a course, and complete the registration form.

 

If you have completed your Paid Education Leave (PEL) – 4 Week Basic Training Program you’re eligible to receive extra credit towards the completion of the Unifor-McMaster Certificate. Please send us a copy of your Basic Training PEL Certificate along with your name and student number. Upon receipt of your documentation, 8 additional units will be added to your student record.

For more information, contact us at:

 

Mehrdokht O’Brien
Email: lbstcert@mcmaster.ca

Contact your UNIFOR local for funding information.

Winter 2024 Courses

Do Corporations Run the World?
1 session Do corporations have too much influence over the economy, politics and our lives? Professor Richard Wollf returns to join us from New York to discuss these questions as well as the possible alternatives.
Thursday, Jan 18, 5:30-8:30pm
Working on the Line
4 sessions Do employers organize workplaces and our work in ways that harm us? Was the assembly line invented to control workers? How did auto workers fight speed-ups and the ‘squeezing’ of our labour in the past?
Thursdays, Feb 1, 8, 29, March 7, 5:30-8:30 pm
Doug Ford’s Greenbelt Scandal: What’s it all about?
1 Session Has ON Premier Doug Ford used his office to make questionable deals with housing development companies to build on protected Greenbelt areas? Journalist Emma Paling joins us to discuss what this is all about.
Thursday, March 21, 5:30-8:30 pm
UNIFOR 242: UNIFOR Turns 10: Challenges, Successes, and Prospects for the Future
1 session UNIFOR celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2023. What were the reasons for creating UNIFOR? What have been our successes, challenges, and prospects for our future? With Roxanne Dubois, Executive Assistant to Unifor's National President Lana Payne.
Thursday, April 18, 5:30-8:30 pm

Apply to the Unifor-McMaster Labour Studies Certificate

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