Law Student Union Summer Inspires Next Generation of Labor Lawyers

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2010/08/05/law-student-union-summer-inspires-next-generation-of-labor-lawyers/

by James Parks, Aug 5, 2010



The next generation of labor lawyers spent this summer learning firsthand what it’s like to work on the front lines of union organizing campaigns and the many problems workers face when they try to form a union.

Nine law students spent 10 weeks as AFL-CIO Law Student Union Summer (LSUS) interns working with labor lawyers across the country. During the program, which ends Aug. 6, students were involved in community outreach, member mobilization, corporate research, legislative campaigns and general litigation, canvassing, planning and implementing solidarity-building activities and participating in meetings and home visits.

For Krysten Skogstad, her experiences this summer fired up her passion for justice. The soon-to-be third-year student at Washington University Law School in St. Louis, spent most of her internship working with UNITE HERE! Local 226 in Las Vegas, helping workers at the Stations Casino exercise their freedom to join a union. She says:

While I gained a tremendous amount of legal knowledge this summer, the highlight has been working with and learning from some of the top organizers and researchers in the country. I am leaving with a strong understanding of labor’s legal needs and an even stronger sense of community. I am proud to be part of the Stations Casino campaign and proud to be part of the movement! Si se puede!

FULL story at link.

[Sanity Claws]

1. I wonder if they will end up working on management side

I hate to sound so cynical but after much real-world experience, I have come to believe that our universities, with their law schools, are nothing but a feeder system for the mega corporations. Did you know that one year at Columbia University Law School is about $60K? That excludes living expenses. Many people are graduating with over $150K in debt payable over 20 years. With debt like that, you sell yourself to the highest bidder, namely megacorporations, not unions. You then keep your head down, be compliant and try to pay back your loans while trying to have some semblance of a normal life, a home, a family, children. Sickening --- even the indentured servitude that many early immigrants endured lasted only seven years.

We need a drastic change in our education system, including our universities and law schools.

I yield my soap box to anyone who wants it.