June 27—Some 123 union leaders, members, activists and staff from across the country took a big step forward when they received their degrees at the seventh annual National Labor College (NLC) commencement June 25 at the NLC campus in Silver Spring, Md.
The 2005 graduates include members of 26 unions who received 107 Bachelor of Arts degrees. In addition, 16 students from 14 unions received master’s degrees through the NLC’s partnership program with the University of Baltimore.
In the keynote address, AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka urged graduates to fight against the forces of greed, enable more workers to win a voice at work, increase education among the membership and mobilize workers at the grassroots.
“The founders of our unions and the National Labor College believed that if we want to maintain a decent standard of living in our country, we must invest in the knowledge and skill of our workers,” Trumka told graduates. “Changing our world can only be done at the grassroots, and that’s where you will be able to put your new skills and knowledge to work. And that’s where you can be a leader in making sure we’re all working together to organize and mobilize.”
NLC Graduates About 800 Since 1997
“Unions everywhere are facing challenges from globalization and the loss of good jobs,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. “It is essential in these challenging times that union members continue to strengthen their ability to organize, mobilize and negotiate by increasing their education.”
The NLC also conferred honorary degrees to Morton Bahr, president of the Communications Workers of America, Gloria Johnson, former president of the Coalition of Labor Union Women and Theodore Kheel, a labor lawyer and mediator.
“Today marks not only a milestone in the lives of each of our students who have earned an important credential for their careers and their lives,” said National Labor College President Susan Schurman, “but also for the NLC whose mission to help strengthen the labor movement by educating its membership has become more critical today than ever before.”
About 800 working men and women have earned degrees from the NLC, the nation’s only union-based college. Established in 1997, the college received full accreditation in 2004 and offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in seven major areas and more than 70 intensive, weeklong continuing education programs in organizing, union building and leadership development. The National Labor College focuses on preparing union leaders through training sessions such as the leadership development program and the university accredited degree programs.
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