What the Bridges Center means for workers

The state university system’s only labor program is urging no cuts to funding for in-demand courses, research, and programs

SEATTLE, WA (March 27, 2025) — Since 2019, the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies at the University of Washington has received a modest state budget proviso that funds courses, internships, and research focused on labor issues. That money (currently $450,000 per year, or $900,000 per biennium) supports programs like the Building a Movement internship, which places students with unions and community groups to learn more about careers supporting workers’ rights.

While the State Senate’s recent budget proposal maintains the current level of funding, the State House budget proposes a $300,000 cut to the Harry Bridges Center’s funding. Any cut would be devastating to the only program in the statewide university system dedicated to education and research on workers’ issues and organized labor.

Gen Z is the most pro-union generation alive. That’s reflected in the high demand the Bridges Center sees for it’s offerings. That demand outstrips even current funding; for example, only ten percent of students who apply for the internship program are accepted. At a time when a wave of union organizing is sweeping higher education, the Bridges Center is an essential link between student organizing and the broader labor community.

Despite having one of the highest densities of union membership in the country, Washington lags far behind other states in publicly funded labor education and research. Universities in California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Oregon, for example, all feature longstanding labor programs that have expanded in recent years.

Thanks to past state support, the Bridges Center has grown to meet the rising demand for labor education and research; still the need for more programs focusing on workers continues to grow.

TAKE ACTION: The Bridges Center programming has immeasurable value for working people on and off the UW campus. Sign the petition to urge the Washington State House to restore full funding for the coming biennium.