This summer, I had the opportunity to do my Laidlaw Leadership in Action portion at the European Trade Union Institute in Brussels, Belgium. During my time there, I researched Tesla's labor rights violations in the US and EU, with a focus on discrimination suits, OSHA violations, and unfair labor practices filed in the US, and I am currently co-authoring a paper for the ETUI on this topic. 

Living in Belgium, I had the chance to speak with roommates, fellow trainees, and experienced researchers at the ETUI about their life experiences in the EU. As a result, I had the chance to learn about the political structure of the EU, power dynamics between different nations, their access to public assistance and employment programs, etc. Furthermore, I used the train system in Belgium to see different parts of the country for only 15 euros (there and back)! It was very interesting to see how access to public goods and programs differ in other countries, and I believe that us Americans have a lot to learn from the EU. 

Through this experience, I have learned what it is like to be in a foreign place and develop a community without guidance. I spent a lot of time with my roommates, and we’d sightsee around the city and country together, even if we sometimes literally couldn’t understand eachother due to the language barrier. It was interesting figuring out the system of roads and subway routes myself, and over time, I managed to explore most of the Pentagon (Brussels’ core) and branch out into the surrounding neighborhoods. My work at the ETUI was also pretty independent, with all of the trainees performing research on their own projects without needing to rely on others. It took me some time to figure out how to be more outspoken and have conversations with the more experienced researchers, but I eventually figured it out. As a result, I was able to present my research at the ETUI and hear some new perspectives on labor relations in the EU. 

In the future, I hope to pursue labor and employment law. This LiA Experienced helped me see the ways in which different structures of labor relations could create increased protections for workers. Specifically, our research on Tesla’s labor rights violations is meant to be comparative, and speaking to the other co-authors on the report helped me specifically see how workers were better able to oppose similar conditions in Sweden and Germany as compared to the US. Additionally, most of my research involved sifting through legal documents, like lawsuits, OSHA violations, and NLRB filings, to find common threads and perform data analysis. I believe this experience has improved my ability to read and understand dense legal phrasing, along with my understanding of the structure of lawsuits and unfair labor practice (ULP) filings. Overall, my research experience in Brussels opened my eyes to a different part of the world and a new way of living. I hope to take the lessons I’ve learned there and apply them to my professional and personal life.