Union Plus: Green Programs Give You Back Some ‘Green’
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Union Plus has expanded its “Green” programs that not only help protect the environment, but can put a little “green” back into your pocket through savings on home heating oil, energy-efficient vehicles, home energy audits and more.
The newest green program from Union Plus is the Green Scholarship program. Union Plus is providing $5,000 in scholarships for the National Labor College’s (NLC’s) Green Workplace Representative Program, to teach union activists how to convert individual workplaces to sustainable environments.
Union Privilege President Leslie Tolf says:
With these programs and others, union workers can lead the way forward in a thriving green economy, embracing change and overcoming challenges to protect our families, our environment and our future.
Taking a Break at the Convention
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When delegates to the AFL-CIO Convention take a break from the serious business on the floor, they’ve had a wide choice of interesting things to do and see in the lobby outside the hall.
The hall outside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center offers balconies overlooking the impressive skyline above the Allegheny River, which runs alongside the David Lawrence Convention Center. Inside, our Union Shop has set up a booth with union-made buttons, T-shirts and books, and the lines of delegates and guests often has been long, as many delegates take advantage of the opportunity to buy a worker-related book or labor pin to take back home after the convention.
Another exhibit that’s drawing a lot of interest is the Union Plus “Tell Your Union Story” booth, where union members are videotaped as they tell how and why they got involved with union activities and what a union means to them. The booth is sponsored by Union Privilege, which provides consumer benefits to members and retirees of participating unions. “We want to help tell the union story,” says Jon Ross, vice president of Union Privilege.
So many people don’t know the union story. We want to help spread the word. Every union member has a story about why they became a union activist or how unions help their community. We wanted to capture that.
Strategic Research Training: Getting Ready for Labor Law Reform
The AFL-CIO Organizing Department and its Center for Strategic Research is holding a training course on strategic corporate research Oct. 5-9 at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md.
The training is designed for first-year strategic researchers as well as experienced organizers and communicators who are new to strategic research. It will benefit union staff who are expected to do corporate research as part of their duties and those who want to strengthen their campaign skills.
Says Ken Zinn, the AFL-CIO’s acting organizing director:
Strategic research can play a vital role in successful organizing campaigns. We are pleased to offer this opportunity to help strengthen and expand strategic research and campaign capacity in the labor movement.
The deadline for registration is Sept. 15. For more information, contact Robert Masciola, deputy director of the Center for Strategic Research, at rmasciol@aflcio.org or 202-637-3948.
Labor College Announces Sweeney Leadership Institute
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One of AFL-CIO President John Sweeney’s priorities throughout his years as labor leader has been to build and strengthen the union movement by educating workers so they can meet the challenges ahead in the workplace and at the bargaining table. Now, Sweeney’s efforts will carry on after he retires in September.
During a gala celebration of the 40th anniversary of the National Labor College (NLC) last night, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka announced the creation of the John Sweeney Leadership Institute, which will open this fall at the Labor College. Trumka says the institute will
help to foster the next generation of union activists and leaders. Goodness knows we need them now more than ever for the tough battles ahead.
AFL-CIO Executive Council Calls for Round 2 of Economic Recovery
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The nation’s working families and the economy desperately need a second installment on the Obama administration’s economic recovery plan. That plan, says the AFL-CIO Executive Council,
must focus like a laser beam on job creation.
Along with approving an economic policy statement outlining the urgent need for more economic recovery initiatives, the council, convening for a one-day meeting yesterday in Washington, D.C., also welcomed two new members, Letter Carriers (NALC) President Fredric Rolando and AFGE Vice President Rogelio Flores.
The council honored former council members William Young, who recently retired as NALC president, and AFGE Vice President Andrea Brooks, who died in April. To help support the work of the Alliance for Retired Americans, the council proposed the creation of the Preserving Union Values Charitable Foundation.
Although the first round of economic stimulus has made huge strides is shoring up our economy, the council pointed out in its statement that the Bush administration’s economic legacy created such “economic devastation—in finance, housing and jobs,” that
The challenge of fixing this economic mess is enormous—and urgent. Creating good jobs that cannot be outsourced is central to the solution.
Unemployment is expected to hit 10 percent later this year and remain high in 2010. So far 6.6 million jobs have disappeared since the beginning of the recession in 2007, including 1.9 million manufacturing jobs and 1.3 million construction jobs. For those with jobs, wages are stagnant or shrinking and many workers face forced furloughs. As the council statement says:
It is crystal clear that urgent action from the federal government is needed to boost economic growth and jobs, and invest in America’s future.
Labor College to Celebrate 40 Years, Honor Sweeney
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For four decades, the National Labor College (NLC) has strengthened the union movement through education and training. Next week, the college will celebrate its 40th anniversary, and at the same time honor three union leaders who symbolize what the school means to workers.
During the July 28 anniversary gala, the Labor College will honor AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney for his strong commitment to the NLC and labor education and NLC graduates, James Williams, president of the Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), and Michael Sullivan, president of the Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA).
Former U.S. Labor Secretary Alexis Herman will be the emcee for the event.
For more information on the gala and to purchase tickets, click here.
IBEW, OPEIU Members Honored at Labor College Graduation
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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.
103 Students Set to Graduate from National Labor College
Rachelle Honeycutt works at an oil refinery in Washington State. Sam Schaffer is a skilled sheet metal worker from West Virginia. Javier Almazan organizes workers in south Florida and Cathy Merkel is a registrar in Maryland. They’re all union members. And in a few days, all four will be graduates of one of the crown jewels of the labor movement: the National Labor College.
With a 46-acre campus just outside Washington, D.C., the nation’s only labor college is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and grants bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The college evolved from the George Meany Center for Labor Studies, created in 1969, and now partners with the University of Baltimore and George Mason University for its graduate degree programs.
On Saturday, 101 students will receive B.A. degrees and two others will be awarded M.A. degrees, as the Labor College graduates its 11th class in a ceremony on the Silver Spring, Md., campus. U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will give the commencement address.
Organizing and Mobilizing with Flair
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For four days next week, the campus of the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring, Md., will reverberate with the sounds of music, poetry and creative chants and art.
From June 20-23, some 100 union and social justice activists will participate in the annual Great Labor Arts Exchange and Conference on Creative Organizing, programs that combine union mobilization and outreach with songs, skits, art, poetry, theater, posters, cartoons and film.
For 31 years, the Great Labor Arts Exchange has celebrated the rich cultural heritage of working people and served as a forum that brings together talented labor artists, activists, cultural workers, educators and students.
Last year, the Great Labor Arts Exchange featured a wealth of new, young talent. Some of last year’s featured events included a giant puppet show by two members of the United Steelworkers (USW) who showed participants one way to use street theater to deliver a message. Tayo Aluko, a Nigerian who now lives in Liverpool, England, performed a one-man show on the life of actor and human rights activist Paul Robeson.
Labor College Approved to Offer Federal Student Financial Aid
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Students and perspective students at the National Labor College (NLC) have a new option to help pay their tuition and other education expenses. The NLC has been approved to offer federal financial aid to its students.
NLC President William Scheuerman says the availability of federal student loans and grants for NLC students will provide more working adults with
the opportunity to complete their college degree. Our college offers online programming, affordable, union subsidized tuition and low-cost credit assessment. Our goal is to remove the obstacles that working adults, many with full-time jobs and families, face when considering completing their college degrees.
The NLC will begin accepting applications for federal financial aid on its website (click here) July 6. Students must be admitted into the Bachelor of arts or Bachelor of Technical Professional Studies program and establish attendance in a minimum of six credit hours (half-time status) a semester to be eligible for a federal student loan. Students may be eligible for federal grants with less than half-time status.
