109 National Labor College Graduates Report to Front Lines—of Union Movement

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/06/25/109-national-labor-college-graduates-report-to-front-lines8212of-union-movement/

109 National Labor College Graduates Report to Front Lines—of Union Movement

by James Parks, Jun 25, 2007

It’s been said that an employer’s greatest fear is an educated union member. Today, there are 109 more educated union members ready to work for economic justice on the job.

These union leaders and members and staff from across the country received their degrees June 23 at the ninth annual National Labor College (NLC) commencement in Silver Spring, Md.

The 2007 graduates received 91 Bachelor of Arts degrees and 18 master’s degrees through the NLC’s partnership programs with the University of Baltimore and the American University.

Ceremonies at the NLC campus featured keynote speaker Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who was awarded an honorary degree along with retiring NLC President Susan Schurman.

Several graduates received special honors, including Christopher J. Valverde, a member of the Sheet Metal Workers (SMWIA) from San Jose, Calif., who won the Bert and Annabel Seidman Prize for advancing social policy. Valverde won the prize for a research paper on the failure of union members to vote in the best interests of themselves and their unions in national elections, despite knowledge that doing so could put their health care and secure futures at risk.

Valverde surveyed 116 apprentices from SMWA Local 104 in the San Jose area. While 97 percent of those surveyed confirmed the importance of union membership in their lives and more than 80 percent of respondents value union political recommendations, less than 50 percent actually voted in the 2006 midterm elections. The study further suggested the importance that get-out-the-vote campaigns could have on enhancing the political involvement of apprentices.

FULL story at link.