Union Communication Services Joins Worker Institute

Labor Education Publishing Company Gifted to Cornell

David Prosten, founder and president of Union Communication Services (UCS), has announced he is gifting the 33-year-old labor education publishing company to Cornell University's ILR School, where it will benefit the school's Worker Institute.

UCS is the North American labor movement's premier publisher and distributor of "information and ammunition for union leaders and activists."

Among its publications are Steward Update newsletter, read by some 70,000 union stewards across North America, and the best-selling Union Steward's Complete Guide. UCS also offers an annual catalog of labor books, including 16 titles published by UCS and more than 100 from other publishers.

"I'm approaching retirement age," says Prosten, 68, "and it's important to me that the work of UCS continues and that unions and activists counting on our publications and services not be left hanging.Putting UCS in the knowledgeable and progressive hands of the ILR's Worker Institute is the best way to guarantee our work continues."

Lowell Turner, director of the Worker Institute, said: "The Worker Institute is pleased to join forces with David Prosten and Union Communication Services. This is a win-win for our common interests in advancing worker rights and collective representation. UCS will provide new resources and channels of communication for the Worker Institute, as we promote research, education and public dialogue in the interest of workers and their families -- with a focus on innovative strategies to revitalize the labor movement. Communication channels such as UCS has built are essential in efforts to move forward together, to promote worker rights and collective representation in battles for a sustainable society."

Prosten says there will be an 18-month transition period in which he'll stay with UCS as it integrates with ILR. He'll be working with Linda Donahue, a veteran ILR staffer, who will ease into heading day-to-day UCS operations as the transition advances.

Prosten launched UCS in 1981 after working as a reporter for several daily newspapers, then holding union staff jobs at the International Union of Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers; Local 1199, the National Union of Hospital Workers; AFSCME; and SEIU.

Written by Union Communication Services (UCS)