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Deadline extended to apply for Union Summer 2021

UPDATE (May 6, 2021) — The deadline to apply for Union Summer has been extended to Friday, May 14. So get those applications in!


SEATTLE (April 2, 2021) — Are you or anyone you know interested in working for social change?

The WSLC Union Summer Class of 2019.

Union Summer is the paid ($17/hour) summer internship program of the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions for people interested in getting involved in the labor movement. Union Summer participants will spend an exciting seven weeks — June 20 to August 7 — working full-time and hands-on with different campaigns, talking to our community, marching for justice, and gaining first-hand experience in the movement.

The program was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s back in 2021. Remote and in-person work options will be available. In-person work will be based in and around Seattle, but campaigns may take place throughout the region.

Click here to apply. The application deadline is Friday, May 7 May 14. Also, download and post this flier about these Union Summer opportunities.

Rashea Dickey, a former Union Summer intern who served as Program Coordinator in 2019, wrote “The Union Summer ‘family’ is labor’s future“:

“As a former intern of the 2018 cohort, I had just stepped out of the position that the new interns were stepping into, and still had so much to learn. In a short six weeks, Union Summer provides an overflow of knowledge that most going into the program do not previously hold. Union Summer allows relationship building, networking, and forms bonds that are unbreakable. It truly does become a family.

“Over the six weeks of the 2019 Union Summer Program, I saw 14 interns grow in their advocacy for working people, in public speaking skills, and in their willingness to help each other and those they met along the way. I was extremely proud of this cohort and their dedication to everything they were asked to do — from phone banking and canvassing to representing the Union Summer program during WSLC’s three-day 2019 Convention.

“Union Summer has a special place in my heart. The cohorts of 2018 and 2019 are who I hope to work alongside in the years to come. The people I’ve been introduced to along the way inspire me to stay in the labor movement.”

The Union Summer program is broken into three main sections: education, actions, and on-the-job training. Weekly schedules can include attending rallies and staffing strike lines, registering voters, job site visits with union members, political field work and more.

If you have any questions, email unionsummer@wslc.org.

CHECK OUT THE UNION DIFFERENCE in Washington: higher wages, affordable health and dental care, job and retirement security.

FIND OUT HOW TO JOIN TOGETHER with your co-workers to negotiate for better wages, benefits, and a voice at work. Or go ahead and contact a union organizer today!