(The following news release was issued by the National Labor College on June 29.)
SILVER SPRING, Md. — Underscoring the commitment of union leaders, members, organizers, activists to education, leadership development and union building, the National Labor College (NLC) conferred 107 degrees to union leaders, members, activists and staff from across the country at its seventh annual commencement since becoming a degree-granting institution in 1997.
“Unions everywhere are facing challenges from globalization and the loss of good jobs,” said John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO. “It is essential in these challenging times that union members continue to strengthen their ability to organize, mobilize and negotiate by increasing their education.”
Graduates of the NLC, which predominantly serves the membership of the federated unions of the AFL-CIO, receive Bachelor of Arts degrees in Labor Studies, Labor Education, Labor History, Political Economy and Labor, Union Leadership and Administration or Labor Safety and Health. The NLC also offers a Bachelor’s degree in Technical/Professional Studies (BTPS) for union members with extensive vocational backgrounds, but who need general education courses to complete their degree.
Through its unique programming, the college is able to enroll students who juggle full-time jobs and families with limited time away from work and home. The NLC Bachelor’s program combines online learning with an intensive six day “degree week” during which students attend classes day and evening. The BTPS degree program enables students to study almost completely online combining service learning and local internships.
“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 Susan Schurman, NLC president, “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.”
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka delivered a fiery keynote urging graduates to win against the forces of greed, to organize more workers, increase education among the membership and mobilize workers at the grass roots.
In addition to its Bachelor’s program, the National Labor College also celebrated the graduation of 16 students from the college’s partnership graduate program with the University of Baltimore. Through partnerships with area universities including American University, NLC graduates are able to earn a Master of Arts, a Master of Public Administration or a Master of Science.
The NLC also conferred honorary degrees to three of the Labor Movement’s most stalwart supporters: Theodore W. Kheel, mediator, lawyer and philanthropist; Morton Bahr, president of the Communications Workers of America, and Gloria T. Johnson, former president of the Coalition of Labor Union Women.
Established as a training center by AFL-CIO in 1969 to strengthen union member education and organizing skills, the NLC is now the nation’s only accredited higher education institution devoted exclusively to educating union leaders, members and activists. The NLC became a degree granting college in 1997. The college is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, an independent, regional accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.