Student Works at Penn State (SWAPS)

Student Works at Penn State (SWAPS) is an official Penn State student organization, sponsored by Penn State’s School of Labor and Employment Relations. SWAPS works to bring together students with local and statewide unions and their members. Students and workers and their families share an interest in many issues – voting rights, student debt, immigration reform, and minimum wage increases, to name just a few. SWAPS students have worked to educate themselves, other students, and the community about these issues by doing research, organizing teach-ins, collecting petition signatures, and even by producing their own documentary (on Youtube, called On the Edge: The Fight for a Living Wage). SWAPS students work to promote a fair and just workplace and an understanding of the important role of unions in our society. SWAPS student members have secured paid internships with Pennsylvania unions and SWAPS has provided many networking opportunities for students interested in a career in labor or in other social justice organizations.