Call for Applications open until August 31
GLU, as an innovative postgraduate programme, is designed to equip and engage trade unionists more effectively to tackle the challenges of globalization. offers formal post-graduate Honours and Master’s degree qualifications through the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
It is a full-time coursework and research study programme located in the School of Social Sciences. Note that applications for our 2024 programmes are now open and must be completed online. Incomplete applications and applications submitted after the closing date will not be reviewed.
The closing date is August 31, 2023. For more information about the Programme and the application process, please contact:
Yurisha Pillay, the GLU Administrative Coordinator at Yurisha.Pillay@wits.ac.za or Warren McGregor, the GLU Programme Coordinator at Warren.McGregor@wits.ac.za
Further information is available here. Read the call for applications here.
GLU at the LabourStart Global Solidarity Conference 2023 –Tbilisi, Georgia
At a workshop session of the LabourStart Global Solidarity Conference held on April 30th, the Global Labour University (GLU) presented its educational offerings under the theme of Rethinking Workers’ Education and Reloading Workers’ Politics. Participants emphasized the need for educational programs that address issues related to labour migration, informal workers, and just transition.
One of the participants from Kazakhstan mentioned that she found a MOOC that was translated into Russian helpful, and this led to the conclusion that the GLU needs to provide more translated offers to enable wider participation. Participants at the conference also expressed interest in obtaining further information about GLU’s MA program in Labor Policies and Globalisation in Germany, as well as its online courses.
LabourStart is a news and campaigning website that has been serving as a platform for trade unionists across the globe for 25 years. Its content is sourced from a network of trade unions and social movement activists who work towards defending workers’ rights and supporting workers’ struggles through international solidarity. The LabourStart Global Solidarity Conference is being hosted by the Georgian Trade Union Confederation (GTUC) and is an opportunity for like-minded individuals to come together and establish personal and collective connections.
The conference will take place in Tbilisi on May Day 2023 and will provide trade unionists from different countries and sectors with the opportunity to discuss important topics such as a post-COVID and post-war world where workers’ rights are respected, and social justice is on the agenda.
Labour Policies and Globalisation
The MA programme Labour Policies and Globalisation is open for applications for the study year 2023/24. The application deadline for the preliminary assessment is March 15, 2023, so make sure not to miss it.
The one-year programme takes place at the University of Kassel and the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR) in Germany and is taught in English.
It is tailored to young people who have acquired their first degree (Bachelor/Diploma) in Political Sciences, Sociology, Law or Economics and who have a particular interest and work experience in the field of trade unionism and related areas.
You can find further information about the application procedure here.
Email contact: glu.germany@uni-kassel.de
Elmar Altvater Prize 2023
Virtual Open House: Master's Program in Labor and Global Workers’ Rights
The Center for Global Workers’ Rights and School of Labor and Employment Relations at Penn State University offers a twelve-month Master of Professional Studies in Labor and Global Workers’ Rights (LGWR). The program is designed for U.S. and international labor activists interested in labor rights, social justice, and global solidarity.
It focuses on global workers' rights, work and gender, race and migration, social movements, and labor relations systems around the world. Professors teaching in the program have rich experience in the global labor movement and labor-related research. Students will have opportunities to intern with unions and labor groups and to dialogue with labor scholars and activists through symposiums, speaker series, film series, and more. Graduate fellowships, including tuition waivers, are available.
In the open house, our director, alum, and current students of the LGWR program will discuss the program, curriculum, degree requirements, the application process, and more! We will take your questions too.
This Master's program is part of the Global Labor University, a network of universities in five countries (Brazil, India, Germany, South Africa, and the U.S.) along with global union federations, national unions, and the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Date: December 3, 2022 (Saturday)
Time: 9am EST/ 3pm CET/ 4pm SAST/ 10pm HKT
Registration: bit.ly/LGWROpenHouseRegistration
Programme application deadline: January 31, 2023.
Call for Applications 2023
Global Labour University and the University of Witwatersrand have opened applications for the ENGAGE South Africa Short Course Training Programme. The programme is called “Union Rights, Policy and Practice: Training for Global Union Activists”, and is tailored to trade unionists and labour activists globally.
Call for applications can be found here.
The application form can be accessed here.
For further inquiries, please contact Warren McGregor, GLU South Africa Programme Coordinator: Warren.Mcgregor@wits.ac.za
The closing date for applications is December 22, 2022.
Certificate Course ENGAGE-Asia programme Applications Still Open
"The Global Labour University and the School of Labor and Industrial Relations of the University of the Philippines, with the support of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Global Trade Union Project in Germany, will roll out beginning next year (June to July 2023) a new, two-month blended Certificate Course called ENGAGE-Asia programme - Building Worker Power in the 21st Century.
The training course aims to equip trade unionists and labour activists with critical knowledge and tools that would enable them to take an active part in public debate and in policy formulation and implementation in the field of labour and employment, development, wages and productivity, climate justice and just transition, as well as developments and changes in the world of work.
A limited number of scholarships will be awarded to eligible applicants.
Please find here the announcement and Call for Participation where you can find more information about the programme. The Call also includes the link to the online application form. The deadline for accomplishing the online form and uploading the required documents is on 15 November 2022.
Please feel free to circulate the call among your networks of trade unions and other labour organizations in Asia. If you have further inquiries about the training programme, please email Vera Eileen V. Pupos at vvpupos@up.edu.ph.
We are excited about this new programme and we look forward to receiving applications from your organizations.
Invitation for online participation in the 2022 Asia Alumni Workshop
The Organizing Committee of the 2022 GLU Asia Alumni Workshop invites all GLU Alumni to participate online in the upcoming event on Nov. 1-3, 2022.
With the theme “The implications of the pandemic in the world of work: Expanding social protection and public services to protect workers and peoples in times of crises”, this workshop will be held in a hybrid format, both in-person and online via a video conference platform (e.g., Zoom).
You can check out the Conference here. Read the full invitation here and register by clicking the button below.
"Just and Green" now in French
The free online course, "Just and Green: Labour´s Ecological Question" course is now available in the French language. The course officially launched on October 15 and will remain in the tutored mode for a month.
During that time, a variety of online activities such as workshops and webinars will be organised for course participants. They can also obtain certificates upon successful completion of the course, provided they meet the criteria outlined in Chapter 1 of the course.
The course explores different aspects of the ‘jobs vs. environment dilemma’ through a lens of current struggles, as well as academic and policy debates. The different downloadable lectures, reading materials and zoom workshops discuss fundamental transformations in the ways we produce, consume and organise our economy and society.
Applications for the programme are still open
With important partners such as the International Labor Organization (ILO) and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Central Únicas dos Trabalhadores (CUT), among others, the Global Labor University (GLU), made by and for the organized workers, is open for a master's course at Unicamp, Brazil, until November 11th.
The Brazilian program is taught in English, and since 2014 it has received Brazilians and foreigners at Unicamp University. Candidates can apply for a scholarship and the course lasts for one year, with a globally recognized certificate.
According to Antônio Lisboa, Secretary of International Relations at CUT, "studying at the GLU is a unique experience, because, in addition to an excellent academic content, it is an experience in the practice of international solidarity that strengthens the bonds and unity of the working class in the struggles for social justice."
More than a face-to-face master's program, GLU is an international network for leaders and researchers, with more than 40 online courses and several other initiatives. About 1000 people have already passed through the program, which also takes place in Germany (Kassel University and Berlin School of Economics and Law), the United States (Pennstate University), South Africa (Witwatersrand – Wits) and India (Jawaharlal Nehru University – JNU ).
Short-term face-to-face courses are also now open for enrollment in India and South Africa. "For Unicamp, maintaining this program is very important. We receive many students, especially from the global south, and the relationship between academia and unionism allied to this international connection has generated partnerships and very important results both for union actions and for research ", says the Brazilian Coordinator, Dr. Hugo Dias.
Syndicalism, sustainable development, social justice, international labor standards, multinational companies, economic policies and global institutions are some of the main research focuses at GLU. The institution offers its network an innovative framework for research and policy development. Therefore, the student who enters the master's degree continues, later, to be part of this global network, producing, participating in activities and proposing new actions.