Spend Your Break Fighting for Justice

November 24, 2009

Participants in AFSCME's 2009 Alternative Spring Break in Missouri.

Are you a college senior considering a career in social change and want to help make change happen in the world around you? Do you believe that a strong labor movement is vital to fighting back the attacks on working families, on health care, and the very fabric of what makes our communities vibrant? Then consider fighting for social and economic justice as a union organizer for one of the most progressive unions in today’s labor movement.

AFSCME’s Alternative Union Break has been critical to attracting undergraduate student activists to the labor movement since 2006. The 6-day training program can be best described as a crash course in labor organizing, where participants go through the rigorous pace of an actual organizing campaign while learning the basics of how to conduct a one-on-one conversation with a non-union worker. The Alternative Break Program brings together talented activists who share a passion for social justice, but more importantly want to engage in work that speaks to bringing that idea to reality for public sector workers across the country.

"Like so many of my friends seeking to change the world right out of college, I spent sleepless nights perusing Idealist.org for that perfect opportunity to jump in and start a revolution. AFSCME’s Alternative Spring Break stood out because it offered me the opportunity to live and train like an organizer already part of the movement. I learned so much that week, mainly perspective!” said Denise Gilmore, University of Missouri ’09 and 2009 Alternative Spring Break participant."

Denise is now a few months into her year-long Organizer-In-Training Program with AFSCME and reflects upon her experience:

“Whether it be through 1-on-1’s with workers or late night chats about revolution with my fellow participants, I knew walking out on the last day that real change could only happen through hard work, having a strategic plan, and acknowledging that the root of so many social justice issues lie in the ability for one person to provide for their family. I left ready to act, not just dream!"

Participants selected to the program will be provided with accommodations, travel during the week-long training, and a $150 stipend for food. Participants are responsible for their own travel to the training site.

Please visit www.unionbreak.org or contact Marlan Maralit at mmaralit@afscme.org for more information or to apply to the program. The deadline for applications is December 7, 2009.