Biography
Ron is at his happiest when plotting with worksite union leaders on how to take control of their workplaces…or at least figuring out how to make the boss listen to their demands about improving wages and benefits, stopping excessive workloads, or pushing back against exposures that will quite possibly make them sick or kill them. At the LEC, he teaches the Introduction to Labor Leadership 1 and presents on occupational health and safety in classes and youth programs. During the day, he is the outreach coordinator of the UIC Great Lakes Center for Occupational Health and Safety, where he is also working on his Masters of Science in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. Before returning to graduate school, he worked for 24 years as a union organizer and representative for several unions across multiple states.