This collection documents the programs developed by the University of Wisconsin Extension School for Workers and the work undertaken by individual faculty members, with a focus on the period from 1960 to 1982. As of October 20, 1976 an estimated 4,000 trade union members attended classes at the School for Workers. Half of them attended evening classes in communities across Wisconsin, while the other half completed residential courses at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, which normally lasted five days. Common courses included steward training, collective bargaining, grievance handling, worker's compensation, industrial engineering, job evaluation, occupational health and safety, and labor law. Faculty tailored the curriculum to public sector employees after 1972 amendments to Wisconsin Statute 11.80 granted public employees collective bargaining rights and the right to union security and a related law established "final offer" compulsory arbitration for police and firefighters. University of Wisconsin-Madison Economics Professor Robert Ozanne served as Director of the School for Workers during this period from 1952 to 1980.
In the mid 1960s the School for Workers began to offer labor education assistance abroad while also interviewing and providing instruction to foriegn union officials sent to the School for Workers by the U.S State Department. George Hagglund collaborated closely with the Asian American Free Labor Institute, a body of the American Federation of Labor - Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), by conducting an "Advanced Job Evaluation Seminar'' and Safety and Health survey in Turkey and sponsoring a 1975 conference on Workers Education Techniques for the organization. Furthermore, the German Marshall Fund of the United States funded School for Workers programs such as the June 1979 Woodworkers European Travel Study Tour.
After the passage of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) in 1970, the School for Workers led an educational campaign to train workers on their legal rights to a safe workplace and their union's rights to inspect workplaces and enforce OSHA standards. From June 29, 1973 to September 30, 1980, the School for Workers developed the largest OSHA training program in the country funded by OSHA's "New Directions" grant program. Faculty gained expertise in particular types of safety hazards and related standards. For example, Richard Ginnold gained national recognition as an expert in grain elevator safety and advised grain workers during the crises of 1977-1978, as grain elevator explosions killed dozens of workers across the country.
Throughout the 1970s unions attempted to respond to recessions, plant closures, outsourcing, and increasingly hostile management, trends which culminated in the 1980s. During this period School for Workers programming began to emphasize labor-management cooperation and methods of improving productivity as one response to these challenges. The "Humanization of Work" project developed by George Hagglund in the mid 1970s involved projects such as consulting with Eastern Airlines management in an attempt to both improve worker productivity and the work environment. Hagglund was appointed Director of the School for Workers in 1980.
In September 1981 the School for Workers launched a Labor Studies program in partnership with University of Wisconsin-Parkside. Students could receive a Bachelor's degree in Labor and Industrial Relations or a two-year certificate in Labor Studies and their courses were taught by faculty from both institutions.
