Beirne Foundation Board Approves 130 Scholarships

Directors of the Joseph Anthony Beirne Memorial Foundation approved partial college scholarships of up to $3,000 each for 30 first-year and 100 second-year students, and also granted funding to eight projects devoted to labor education and workers' rights.

The scholarships are awarded on a competitive basis each year, with selections made by professional evaluators. Eligible are CWA members and retirees, their spouses, children and grandchildren. The program is announced each year in the fall, and applications for scholarship assistance are available from each local union office.

Normally, only 60 scholarships are granted each year. However, last year an extra 70 first-year scholarships were given out because of a financial windfall, and the directors extended second-year funding to those students.

The foundation is named in honor of CWA's founding president and was created shortly after Beirne's death on Labor Day, 1974. The foundation is funded by voluntary contributions from CWA locals and individual supporters. Assets currently are almost $3 million.

At their annual meeting last month, directors approved new grants for:

The American Labor Museum/Botto House National Landmark, $5,000, to help develop a curriculum guide for grade school teachers based on earlier research on the 1947 telephone strike by the National Federation of Telephone Workers, CWA's predecessor.

The National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, $5,000, to help educate and mobilize the religious community in support of fair wages, benefits and working conditions, especially for low-wage workers.

The Working Group ($15,000), a pro-labor TV documentary production company that produced the "Not in Our Town" series, with help from the Beirne Foundation in 1995, to inspire communities to combat hate violence. A new show, "Not in Our Town III," will look at hate crimes directed at gays and lesbians.

The Virginia Tehas/George Meany Memoirs, $2,500, to help support publication of an insightful biography of the former AFL-CIO president by his long-time secretary.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, $5,000, to help develop a curriculum on the Vietnam War Era to be provided free to all 17,000 high schools across the country.

Mint Leaf Productions ($5,000), to help with production of the one-hour documentary "A Day's Work, A Day's Pay," about workfare and the organizing efforts among welfare recipients, their advocates and organized labor to demand jobs creation, training opportunities and quality child care.

The W.J. Usery Jr. Center for the Workplace, Georgia State University, $7,000, to help develop among scholars and labor relations professionals a better understanding of labor-management relations and methods to resolve disputes.

Glen Pearcy Productions, $5,000, to help expand a video documentary on the noted labor artist Ralph Fasanella, previously produced with help from the Beirne Foundation for use in classrooms, into a broadcast quality show for PBS and cable outlets.

The foundation directors elected CWA Executive Vice President Larry Cohen to fill the position on the board being vacated by former Executive Vice President M.E. Nichols, who retired recently. Other directors include CWA President Morton Bahr, Secretary-Treasurer Barbara Easterling, Maureen Houston, a daughter of Joseph A. Beirne, Monsignor George Higgins, a leading labor advocate within the Catholic Church, and CWA President Emeritus Glenn E. Watts.