CWA Next Generation Partners with Jobs with Justice on Student Loan Debt

CWA's Next Generation and Jobs with Justice have created a partnership to help families dealing with student loan debt. Inspired by the JwJ Debt- Free Future Campaign, CWA Next Gen Lead Activists are organizing five "debt clinics" to teach CWA members how to significantly lower or even eliminate their student loan payments.

The clinics will be held in St. Paul, Minnesota, Aug. 5 and Aug. 6; in New York City and Newark, N.J., Aug. 12; and in Trenton and Ewing, N.J., on Aug. 13. Registration details are available here.

"We're really excited about making a difference for our members," says Richard Shorter, Next Generation Lead for IUE-CWA. "We hope the clinics will help members in a very real way and introduce CWA to some who haven't felt the power of the union in their lives before."

CWA members who have federal loans through the Department of Education are eligible for the clinics and could significantly lower their monthly payments. Government workers and employees of emergency services, public health organizations, or public schools also could be eligible to eliminate their debt entirely after 10 years of on-time payments. An estimated 33 million Americans are eligible for loan forgiveness, but few take advantage of it.

CWA Chief of Staff Ron Collins, who oversees the Next Generation program, says he views the debt clinics as a way of serving and educating members at the same time.

"So many workers need the kind of advocacy we provide, but they aren't aware of all that we do. Next Gen Leads Victoria Fisher and Richard Shorter, who are conducting the first clinics, are making a great contribution to building our movement. We're forward to expanding this work to other locations and to a long partnership with Jobs with Justice on this issue," Collins said.