David Unger is a full-time Career Specialist at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies and a labor educator with more than 25 years of experience in labor leadership, worker education, organizing, and workforce development. He has taught and developed educational programs through the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, the Worker Institute at Cornell University, and SUNY Empire State University, focusing on leadership development, organizing, workplace equity, and communications.
Prior to his work in higher education, David spent fifteen years as a union organizer and representative with private-sector, public-sector, and building trades unions. He led organizing campaigns, contract fights, strikes, and large-scale mobilizations, while training and mentoring hundreds of union activists, member leaders, and staff organizers.
At SLU, David has supported working adult students through advising, labor education programming, internships, career exploration, and partnerships with unions and community organizations. His work focuses on helping students connect their education, skills, and values to meaningful careers that advance economic and social justice.
David holds a Master of Public Administration from Baruch College’s Marxe School of Public and International Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from Cornell University. He is also a graduate of the Cornell Worker Institute’s National Labor Leadership Initiative and holds an Organizational Development Certificate from the University of Minnesota. His writing has been recognized with the 2020 Debra E. Bernhardt Labor Journalism Prize.
