Vote for Your Favorite Union Plus Scholarship Video
Each year, hundreds of college students from union families get a boost toward financing their education through the Union Plus Scholarship Program. Now you can check out some of the scholarship winners in a new Union Plus Scholarship Video Contest. Among the entries are an Actor’s Equity member and an 18-year-old who’s “100 percent union made” with both parents belonging to a union. There’s also a young woman who wants corporations to understand the difference between “management” and leadership.
Check out the videos and vote for your favorite here.
Since 1991, the Union Plus Scholarship Program has provided more than $2.8 million to help fulfill the educational dreams of 1,813 students who represent millions of working families across the nation. This year some 133 students won $200,000 in scholarships. The winners represent 41 unions and will be attending colleges, universities, trade and technical schools across the country.
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.
Union Plus Story Booth: Union Members Tell Their Stories
One exhibit that’s drawing a lot of interest at the AFL-CIO Convention is the Union Plus “Tell Your Union Story” booth, where union members are videotaped telling how or why they got involved with union activities or 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.
We serve union members all the time and the booth is another service.
Union Plus Awards Scholarships to 133 Winners
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The Union Plus Scholarship Program awarded $200,000 in scholarships to 133 students this year. The winners represent 41 unions and will be attending colleges, universities, trade and technical schools across the country.
Since 1991, the Union Plus Scholarship Program has provided more than $2.8 million to help fulfill the educational dreams of 1,813 students who represent millions of working families across the nation.
All members of unions participating in the Union Plus programs (as well as their spouses and dependent children) are eligible to apply for scholarships. In addition to demonstrating academic ability, applicants submit essays describing their career goals, detailing their relationship with the union movement and making the case for why they deserve a union scholarship.
This year’s scholarship recipients demonstrated strong commitments to community service and social programs. Many are members of families whose union ties go back for generations. Click here for information on eligibility and to apply for next year’s scholarships.
May 30 Deadline to Apply for Union Leader Scholarships
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Time is running out to apply for the Union Leaders of the Future Scholarship and Mentoring Program. The deadline is May 30.
The scholarship program provides annual awards of up to $3,000 to help women and people of color with the cost of continuing their education to build leadership skills and pursue their union careers.
Scholarships can be used for tuition, books and travel for leadership training at accredited labor schools, colleges, universities and community colleges. Many students have used the program to attend the National Labor College. Click here to apply or learn more about the program.
By affording opportunities for women and people of color to continue their education, the scholarship program is helping build a skilled, diverse leadership for the union movement to continue to reach out and provide benefits to more workers.
Applicants must be members of a union or union leaders or staff. Each applicant will be asked to write an essay on how their leadership goals and aspirations will help strengthen the labor movement.
The scholarship program is sponsored by the Union Plus Education Foundation, an arm of Union Privilege, which provides consumer benefits to members and retirees of participating unions.
So far, the Union Leaders of the Future Scholarship Program has awarded $74,000 to 28 winners.
All applications must be postmarked by May 30, 2009. Scholarship winners will be contacted by July 7, 2009.
Bill Now in the Senate Addresses Credit Card Abuse
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If you have a credit card, and most of us have more than one, you’ve likely opened a monthly bill and seen your interest rate jump, even if you have an on-time payment record. Or worse: A company will increase the interest rate on a card raised because you’re not using it enough.
Then there’s the fine print, fees, penalties and changes in the rules that credit companies are piling on consumers, usually buried in a legalese-loaded notice too small to read without a magnifying glass.
A bill that could come to a U.S. Senate vote this week—debate starts Monday with a vote expected Wednesday—would put an end to deceptive and abusive credit card practices that are hurting honest and hard working families.
The AFL-CIO, Union Privilege, the Consumers Union and dozens of consumer, civil rights and community groups are urging the Senate to pass S. 414, the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act.
New Financial Help from Union Plus for College
Union Privilege’s Jennifer Wright Dorr sends us the latest on a new Union Plus College Savings Grant for working families.
With the economy in a seemingly endless free fall, the rising cost of a college education is putting working families in a bind. However, if you open a new college savings account, your union may be able to help.
The new Union Plus College Savings Grant offers $500 to qualified union members who open a new tax-free “529″ college savings or prepaid tuition plan by June 30, 2009. You are eligible for the $500 grant if you have had a Union Plus credit card, mortgage or UnionSecure insurance policy for one year and contribute at least $1,000 dollars in the account by Nov. 30, 2009.
Union SAFE Helps Workers During Hard Times
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Working families in financial distress can turn for help to Union Plus, which provides consumer benefits to union members and retirees of participating unions.
The $3 million Union SAFE program—which stands for Security, Assistance and Financial Education—demonstrates the union movement’s answer to President Obama’s call for a new era of responsibility to help those who have fallen on hard times, says Leslie Tolf, president of Union Privilege, provider of the Union Plus benefits.
We are all hopeful today because President Obama is working to help middle class Americans struggling in this worsening recession. America’s unions and Union Plus are doing what we can right now to assist members in trouble—especially those who participate in a Union Plus program.
New Union Plus Benefits Build SAFE Harbor
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Union Privilege Vice President Jon Ross sends us the latest on initiatives by Union Plus to help union members survive the stormy economic seas that are threatening jobs, homes, health care and financial survival.
With many working families in financial distress as a result of the sharp downturn in the U.S. economy, Union Plus is launching a program of new and enhanced benefits to assist eligible union members facing hardships.
Union SAFE expands the Union Plus Safety Net by providing a wide array of benefits targeted to Union Plus program participants including help for those suffering from layoffs to soaring hospital costs to problems paying their mortgage to help saving for college.
Apply Now for Union Leaders of the Future Scholarship
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With the cost of college going up every day, every student needs help making ends meet. At the same time, the union movement needs a skilled, diverse leadership to continue to reach out and provide benefits to more workers.
To help build a more diverse and strong union movement, the Union Leaders of the Future Scholarship and Mentoring Program is helping more women and people of color become union leaders.
The scholarship program provides annual awards of up to $3,000 to help future leaders with the cost of continuing their education to build leadership skills and pursue their union careers. Scholarships can be used for tuition, books and travel for leadership training at accredited labor schools, colleges, universities and community colleges.
