IBEW, OPEIU Members Honored at Labor College Graduation

by James Parks, Jun 27, 2009

Cathy Merkel
Ken Erdman

Among the 103 union members who received their college degrees in ceremonies at the National Labor College (NLC) today, two were singled out for special recognition.

Ken Erdman of the Electrical Workers (IBEW) received the 2009 Seidman Award, given to students whose senior paper best focuses on aging and retirement issues. Cathy Merkel, a member of the Office and Professional Employees (OPEIU), was honored with the President’s Award for Outstanding Scholarship, her contribution to labor education and exemplary service to her union, the NLC and the union movement.

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka told the graduates that the campus is one place we put aside our differences of occupation, geography or union.

Here we focus on what we all have in common: A legacy of great struggle and a deep commitment to build a better future for working families across the nation and everywhere in the world.

All totaled, 101 students received B.A. degrees and two others were awarded M.A. degrees as part of the Labor College’s 11th graduating class in a ceremony on the Silver Spring, Md., campus. The graduates are members of 23 different unions.

 The Labor College enables adults working full-time with families and other commitments to break the barriers they face in pursuing higher education.

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis delivered the commencement address.

Click here to read more about the NLC graduation and the graduates.

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