Wisconsin’s Teachers Required To Teach Kids Labor Union History

Wisconsin’s teachers are required to teach children about the history of the labor union movement and collective bargaining in the United States, per a law former Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle signed in December 2009. Wisconsin’s Assembly Bill (AB) 172 requires the state’s teachers to incorporate “the history of organized labor in America and the collective bargaining process” into their lesson plans.

Describing the new law, AB 172, Wisconsin’s official Department of Public Instruction (DPI) website says, “Wisconsin has long been a leader in labor rights. The Progressive Movement, which had its beginnings in our state, led to laws limiting child labor and safety in the workplace. Unions such as the AFL-CIO and Teamsters allow us to enjoy an eight-hour work week and vacation time. In fact, it has been argued by some historians that the history of the United States itself could be a history of labor.”

For help in lesson planning, the Wisconsin DPI provides links to the Wisconsin Labor History Society, the Wisconsin Historical Society Labor Collections and the Educational Communications Board Surf Report on Labor History, all pro-union websites.

The Wisconsin Labor History Society reported that the only reason the bill passed was because Democrats were in control of both houses of the legislature and the governor’s office for the first time in 12 years.

“In signing the bill, Gov. Doyle cited the importance of elections to achieving legislative goals. He recalled the lengthy effort to pass the bill, with it often passing one house of the legislature, and being stranded in the other,” the group states on their website. “He said for the first time in the last dozen years both houses of the Legislature, and the governor’s office, were in control of Democrats, nearly all of whom support legislation calling for teaching of labor history and collective bargaining in the schools.”

The Wisconsin Labor History Society recommends that, when teachers talk about labor unions and collective bargaining today, they use the following talking points:

    1. Unions work closely in the community, are responsible for passage of key civil rights laws and other citizen protections.
    2. Unions face greater employer challenges after President Reagan fired striking air traffic controllers in 1981.
    3. Unions develop highly successful political efforts during last two decades of the 20th Century.
    4. Organizing and aggressive political action became the top two priorities of the AFL-CIO with the election of John Sweeney as President in 1995.

Another lesson plan recommends that students play a trivia game about labor union history and design patches for unions their parents may be a part of.

The Wisconsin Labor History Society suggests teachers have students imagine that they’re a local firefighter in a union to try to understand why they should have union representation.

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