Working Writers, Vol. I-IV (SEIU Local 285 Worker Education Program, 1996-2000)
We Are More Than You See, Vol. I-III (UMass/Amherst, Labor Management Worker Education Program, 1996-98)
The Heat: Steelworkers Lives and Legends, (Cedar Hill, 2001)

These collections of writings by learners in worker education programs offer an insider's view that can affirm the experience of other learners. They provide fresh takes on familiar situations such as starting a new job or coming to a new country, finding that a coworker has become a friend, or trying to balance work and family. They can also be used as textbooks for educators with little or no direct experience in the jobs their learners hold.

"Outside, Looking In," a poem by steelworker J.A. Orellana, sums up what these books may mean to their readers:

A baby-face walking
     alongside the barbed wire
fences wraps his eyes around
     the prickling red,
Dull, silvery carcass, belching
     fiery breaths
from the churning mill,
     and wonders what it's like
     inside.

As workplace educators, we come as guests to a rich and intricate culture in each workplace. These accounts of workplace life help us learn what it's like inside the maintenance cage, the hospital kitchen or the galvanizing line.

The writers provide those precious details that show what their work is and what it means to them: four shampoos to get the red dust out, the pride of being able to comfort the frightened family of an accident victim as you clean. "Outside, Looking In" continues:

Hard-faced, mill rats with steel
     orbs trickle out then flood out
     the clock-house gate.
Exodus at torrent speed in a rush
     to escape from what? To where
And he wonders what it's like
     inside.

We learn a lot about what these workers are escaping from. We also learn where they go when they punch out and what it's like inside the heart. The volumes vary in material; some are more about the job and some are more about life off the job. We learn about the families, the hobbies, the hopes, dreams, satisfactions and disappointments that the jobs support.

Many adult educators are concerned that our field is being forced to "train the workforce" and neglect the whole person. I worry about that too. But for those who equate workplace education with that trend, here is powerful evidence that locating programs at the workplace or the union hall does not necessarily mean reducing the learners to their worker role. These writings tell the wonderful and tough, funny and sad stories of full lives: meeting co-worker, friend, and spouses, raising children, remembering childhood, losing loved ones, and spontaneous getaways when it all gets to be too much.

And he wonders what it's like
     inside
Shoveling coal and churning out
     structural T's.
A good meal ticket at the price of
     10 years off your life.
And he wonders what it's like
     inside.

The writers in these collections help us feel the heat, see more of who they are, and understand what it means to be a working writer.

Connie Nelson has worked in laundries, libraries, offices, factories, stores, schools and agencies, and currently directs the Massachusetts Worker Education Roundtable, a network of union-involved education and training programs. She can be reached at nelsonco@gse.harvard.edu

Working Writers is available for $5.00 per volume from Carlos Gonzalez, SEIU Local 285, Worker Education Program, 617-541-6847, ext. 128
We Are More Than You See is available from Lesley Fraser, Labor-Management Workplace Education Program, UMass/Amherst, 413-545-2013.
The Heat is available from the Institute for Career Development, 800-291-8003.