A new call for the 6th edition of the school is out now, see below call and link to applications!

6th Labour Transfer School (LTS), Buggerru, Sardinia, Italy, 9th to 15th June 2027

We are happy to launch a new call for participation in LTS.

The school is attracting growing enthusiasm and support in the international community of labour scholars and activists. We started in 2022 with a three-day event with 30 participants, to double this number in 2023 over a four-day school and have hosted 120 participants over five days in the third and fourth edition of the school in June 2024 and 2025. In 2026 we extended the school to 7 days to include extra activities linked to broader local cultural events (see programmes and pictures in our webpage; www.labourtransfer.org). This growth can be seen in the new themes and topics added every year and in the support different university institutions and labour-oriented foundations have been granting us.

LTS is an independent, not for profit, international initiative of global labour scholars interested in collaborations, synergies and knowledge exchange between academia and social organizations, aiming at producing emancipatory knowledge on labour and social issues. LTS gives participants a chance to exchange their research interests with academics, labour activists, artists, journalists and trade unionists from all over the world. LTS is not a traditional academic summer school or a training centre for trade unionists but a networking place for labour activism and social justice.

The learning objectives of LTS are threefold:

1) to provide a new and sui generis learning environment for labour activists and organisers and for postdoctoral, doctoral and master students specialising in labour studies from different disciplines.

2) to create a global network of students, scholars, institutions, unions, activists, artists and journalists committed to the advancing of knowledge about society and economy from a labour perspective.

3) to raise public awareness and debate on the centrality of labour within our societies

The idea of the school is that of conjugating knowledge exchange, research, conviviality and relax. Buggerru, where the school is located, is a small lovely place by the sea in Sardinia. However, Buggerru is also symbolically important for labour history. It was a mining village where workers organised a boycott to demand better working conditions. In response, the army was sent in and three workers were killed while many others injured. That Sunday 4 September 1904 is still remembered today because The Buggerru Massacre sparked the first general strike of Italian history.

 Applications

We are aiming this year to select about seventy activists and students. Selection will be on the basis of a letter of motivation and a CV. Please also include a short bio and a sentence or two on your current research work and/or political activism for labour in your application. We would publish these in the programme of speakers and participants and also for structuring some of the afternoons at the school. In order to submit your application please fills the form you can find here https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe5K0O3IsyjzHginpItmcJzPE4Zb9j8x2u4ARcxQUmTyZA0CQ/viewform?usp=publish-editor

Applications will be open until the 22nd of November 2026. Selected participants will be notified of their acceptance to the school by the 30th of November 2026. For further information please send email to: labourtransferschool@gmail.com

 Registration and Costs

LTS is self-financed and the fees we collect are meant to cover living costs: accommodation (6 nights); meals (for the duration of the school); transfer from Cagliari to Buggerru; extra local activities (mine visit, boat trip).

We have a fee structure on two layers:

·   Basic fee: participants without or with very limited institutional support – 580 Euros (double or multiple room); 860 (single room)

·   Institutional fee: participants with institutional support - 850 Euros (double or multiple room); 1085 (single room)

 These fees are for participants paying by the 20th of January (Early bird) to allow room reservation on time. Late payments will increase by 20%. The number of available single rooms is limited so early payment for this is requested.

A limited number of bursaries will be available for participants without institutional support, unemployed or in precarious working conditions. We particularly welcome applications from scholars and activists committed to research/activism transfer of knowledge, from or with research on the Global South and with grassroots organising experience.