The Labor and Global Change Program seeks to advance our understanding of the effects of economic "globalization" on workers, unions and societies in the global North and South. It explores how public policy can increase the human benefits and reduce the social costs of national and global economic restructuring. The Labor and Global Change Program operates in conjunction with the University of Michigan's Advisory Committee on Labor Standards and Human Rights. At present, the program has four components:

a small grants program to foster research on these questions by UM faculty and students;

the development of a Research Network that will provide text-searchable summaries of leading research on these questions and contact information on the authors of these studies;

the development of courses that explore arguments and evidence bearing on issues of labor and global change; and

the organization of public talks and symposia bringing together the UM research community and experts from around the world to explore aspects of these issues.