Cruise on over to our AFL-CIO home page for two new features that spotlight an innovative training program from Chicago Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 597 (UA) and a look at the creative campaign music video dancers are waging for a fair contract.

Plumbers and Steamfitters (UA) Local 184 and West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC) earned national recognition for partnering to provide a unique "going green" training program for the union's apprentices and journeymen. The Paducah, Ky., union and school plan to follow up with a two-year college degree program for Local 184 members.

The AFL-CIO Working for America Institute (WAI) has been awarded a three-year, $3.4 million grant from the Department of Labor (DOL) to develop apprenticeship programs in five communities to train people for skilled manufacturing jobs and careers.

The National Labor College (NLC) is offering a new round of skills-building courses, beginning in January, in areas ranging from negotiation and organizing to working with new union staff.

Whether you need one more class to get your degree or two years’ worth, now is the time to look into the National Labor College’s (NLC) online bachelor’s degree programs. This year NLC is offering a new degree program just for union members and their families.You can earn a degree in Labor Studies, Business Administration, Construction Management or Emergency Readiness and Response. Register today for the fall semester at www.nlc.edu/new-students/degree.

Bridget Benjamin was unemployed for the entire two years she attended the National Labor College (NLC) and wasn’t sure from day to day where the money was going to come from for tuition. Dennis Miller balanced a full-time job, a family of four and traveling across country for classes at NLC.

April is Jazz Appreciation Month and AFT, one of the national co-sponsors of the observance, has developed a content-rich curriculum that includes the arts and music.

Courses in the National Labor College’s (NLC‘s) new Green Workplace Representative Certificate Program will begin on June 26. The program consists of four required, weeklong courses. Students must complete 12 credits to earn the certificate.