New labor education staffer serves northern Minnesota

Erik Peterson is a committed union activist and teacher. Starting Sept. 1, he’ll be able to combine his two interests as the newest staff member of the University of Minnesota Labor Education Service.

“I’m excited,” he said. “I love teaching and I love the labor movement. The two halves of my life are coming together.”

LES offers noncredit classes and customized training to working people across the state. From his office in Duluth, Peterson will enhance outreach for labor education programs in northern Minnesota.

“We have the highest union density of any place in the state up here,” he noted. “This is an opportunity to build a program up here.”

Peterson has a diverse background, with an undergraduate degree in viral immunology and a Ph.D in American Studies. Since 1987, he’s taught writing, humanities and other subjects part-time at the collegiate level. For the past six years, he also has been a union representative and organizer for AFSCME Council 96, headquartered in Duluth.

As a labor educator, Peterson will focus on “the basics” like steward training and collective bargaining, but also hopes to branch into other areas, drawing on his experience working with coalitions such as the Twin Ports Religion/Labor Network.

“I really am interested in looking at organizing, looking at strategic planning for contract campaigns and corporate campaigns, how to put together community coalitions,” he said.

A veteran of many political campaigns, Peterson also hopes to work with unions on political education programs that focus on issues and go beyond any particular election cycle.

Peterson, who has lived in Minnesota since 1979, grew up in Illinois. He is married to Gail Olson, a native of Esko, Minnesota. Peterson is in the process of setting up an office in Duluth, probably at the University of Minnesota. In the meantime, he may be contacted through the main office of the Labor Education Service, 612-624-5020.

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