Close the Gap: An Educator Guide

1. For what results were union members fighting? Why?
2. Why is healthcare one of the most important issues?
3. How does income influence one's healthcare insurance? Is it fair?
4. How does the immigrant labor force change labor unions' concerns?
5. When Javier Morillo-Alicea says "it's more than just janitors," what does he mean?
6. How does the situation of immigrant workers affect you today? How will it affect you and your family in the future?

Labor Union Meeting

1. Prepare for and hold the meeting
   


1. Introduce the activity: This role-play activity is a simulation of a mediation meeting between employers and labor union members. The goal is to reach consensus over terms and condition for a new contract.
   


2. Divide the students into two groups: Employers and Labor Union Members. Give each student a copy of the handout explaining the scenario. You may also discuss relevant terminology or refer students to the Glossary.
   


3. Explain the process: The chair of the meeting will ask the employers to present their proposal first. Following their presentation, the audience and labor union representative may ask brief clarification questions. Next, the chair will invite the union to present their new proposal, again followed by clarifying questions, if needed. The two parties will then engage in negotiations leading to a new contract between the unions and the employers.
   


4. Come up with meeting procedures. If time permits, have students develop the meeting rules. E.g., who speaks, when, for how long, etc.
   


5. Instruct students to start working in their groups and select their representatives (both employers and labor union members) and a meeting chair (employers). The groups should then discuss and agree on the terms of the new proposal and negotiating powers of their representatives (in what cases they should consult with the group before making a decision).
   


6. Allow 25-45 minutes for group work. Next, invite the chair to welcome both sides and begin the negotiations.
   


2. Debrief
   


1. Ask for participants' immediate reactions to the activity. Did they learn something new? Do they feel like they worked on developing some new skills? Depending on the reactions proceed with some of the questions below:
   
   
   • Did you enjoy working with your group? What was most and least enjoyable about your work group?
   • How did you feel about revising your claims?
   • Did you feel that your representative did a good job of presenting and defending your proposal? Why? Why not?
   • Were you satisfied with meeting results? What claims did you have to concede? How did it feel?
   • As a group, did you develop a negotiating strategy? Did it work? What would you have done differently?
   
   
2. Tell the participants that the numbers in the scenario are based on a real story. Union members from Cincinnati, Ohio presented very similar claims to their employers in July 2007 and won.
   


3. Have the students read the article [2]: Janitors' Victory Brings Hope to Cincinnati Families, Creates New Model for Ensuring Good Jobs with Health Care for Region's Low-Wage Workers. http://www.seiu.org/media/pressreleases.cfm?pr_id=1460
   

Community Research and Action: Economic and Social Rights

1. Read/Discuss:
   
   Read the following quotation by Eleanor Roosevelt, Chair of the UN Human Rights Commission which created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to participants: Where, after all, do universal rights begin? In places, close to home- so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the 'large world'. Eleanor Roosevelt, The Great Question (NY: United Nations, 1958).
   


2. Discuss:
   
   Introduce the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and indicate how the activity relates to this document. In particular, call the group's attention to Articles 22-27 in the UDHR. Have them identify those articles that refer to the specific human rights issues. If time permits, have them read the relevant articles aloud. Discuss language that is unclear and identify definitional problems.
   


3. List:
   
   Identify individuals, organizations, or agencies that address these societal problems and work to support or promote these human rights.
   
   Note: This exercise might be a small group research project. This information will serve as sources for the interviewees and the community research effort. Consider such organizations as food shelves, legal aid agencies, homeless shelters, meals on wheels, labor unions, tenants' rights associations, and "free" community health clinics.
   


4. Preparing for Research:
   
   Divide the participants into research teams to explore one of the identified human rights issues. Each team should: a) identify individuals and groups from Step 3 to interview and set up these meetings, b) plan the interview questions, drawing on those provided below and developing additional questions from group participants, and c) assign responsibilities (e.g., who will conduct interviews and who will gather background information from library and web sources.
   


5. Conduct Research:
   
   Each team then researches its human rights issue. Some group members will conduct interviews in their community to determine the extent of the problem and what is being done to address it. Others might gather data through library research or on the World Wide Web, thus placing the local situation in a larger societal/global context. A member of each team should visit a site in the community that addresses its human rights issue.
   


6. Report Research Findings:
   
   Each team submits a written report and develops a presentation highlighting its findings for the rest of the group. The presentation might involve art, video, role-play, music, or any other medium to communicate their findings and indicate what actions need to be taken to address the problem. Teams might write an article for a local or school newspaper or invite "the press" to their presentations.
   

Describing the Problem
Uncovering Associated Conditions
Planning for Change

Homelessness
Hunger
Lack of Adequate Health Care
Inadequate Employment Wages and Conditions

1. Human Rights Framework
   
   Continue the discussion about the human rights framework. Introduce the International Covenant on International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Explain briefly how it relates to the UDHR (e.g., the UDHR is a statement of principles while the International Covenant is a binding agreement.)
   Discuss: For what rights are the workers in the video fighting? (Identify articles in the ICESCR). How are they protected or not protected in the U.S.? Whose responsibility is it to protect those rights?
   Invite a local union member to talk to your class. Have them talk about specific social and economic rights, and what their union has done or is doing to protect those rights.
   


2. Localizing statistics
   
   When preparing for interviews, have the teams review local statistics on hunger and homelessness, health and income disparities. Useful sites for local statistics:
   Other useful sites:
   
   1. Twin Cities Compass www.tccompass.org
   2. Mind the Gap Report http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/reports/2005/10cities_sohmer/20051027_mindthegap.pdf


3. Developing a Community Action Plan
   
   After discussing their findings and weighing their action options, students may decide on a human rights problem to adopt as a project. Brainstorm ways in which they can become involved and begin to develop a Community Action Plan. This might involve joining with activists already working on the selected problem. December 10th, is a Human Rights Day and might be designated as day when the class decide on their project. Encourage students to use the online Community Action Planning Tool at http://www.hrusa.org/thisismyhome/project/tools.shtml
   


4. Taking Action
   
   The group then carries out its Community Action Plan to address the human rights problem. Activities might include educating school and community members via posters, plays, street theater, school assemblies and community speakers, newspaper articles, and public demonstrations. They can also engage in letter- writing campaigns, organizing public consciousness-raising concerts, lobbying government officials and elected representatives, raising funds to support local and global relief and development agencies, and volunteering services to local or international organizations.
   
   In a school, these activities can easily be connected to the participants' academic work. Participants can accomplish this by conducting research and recording, analyzing, and sharing their experiences through class presentations and written reports. Many opportunities exist for students to express themselves through art, video, music, and drama, and to incorporate mathematics (e.g., percentages, graphs, and proportions) into their work. See http://www.thisismyhome.org for ideas.