Teens' Labor Awareness Spurs Scholarship Awards

Relatives of four CWA members have won $1,000 Union Plus Scholarships to help pay for college next year. Their commitment to union values is evident from the 500-word essays they wrote as part of the application process.

• "My immigrant great-grandfather was shot by the Kohler Co. security police while peacefully picketing during the first Kohler strike," wrote Patrick Bauer of Sheboygan, Wis., son of Ronald and Nancy Bauer, both IUE-CWA Local 84800 members. "My grandfather retired from Kohler as a member of the United Auto Workers. Our family strongly believes that collective bargaining is the best leverage working people have to bring attention to and resolve issues that affect them. It is the foundation of what we are and what we have the potential to be."
  
  
• "I understand that if the common working person did not have the support of a union, then they would more often than not have no support at all," wrote Elizabeth England of Lagrangeville, N.Y., niece of CWA Local 1120 member Barbara Kernes. Elizabeth's aunt became her guardian after both her parents died while she was a preteen. "I also know that a lot of people do not understand if we did not have unions that many people would not have a job where they could take care of their families. I know that if it wasn't for unions, that many people of color would not be hired for many jobs. I know that as a woman, I owe a lot to unions."
  
  
• "My local area has suffered dramatically from factory foreclosures and high unemployment, and the results have been devastating," wrote Christopher O'Meara of Niles, Ohio, son of Jacklyn O'Meara of IUE-CWA Local 84717. "The only force that has prevented the situation from self-destructing is our union presence, urging the workers and citizens to fight for our jobs and our livelihood. I applaud their efforts and want to aid them by being responsible for creating a means for not only our local producers to remain in business but also our national corporations."
  
  
• "Unlike millions of children around the world, I am not forced to work as a matter of survival," wrote Daniel Toal of Germantown, Md., son of Stephen Toal of TNG-CWA Local 32035. "I have adequate food, clothing, shelter and medical care. My relationship to unions, organized labor and the labor movement is one of gratitude, respect and appreciation, because I know that all of it is the legacy of organized labor. I pledge to continue this tradition, at a time when international trade policy will not ensure environmental protection, child protection, workplace safety, wage and hour standards and the right to organize and collectively bargain."

These astute young men and women number among 106 students representing 38 AFL-CIO unions to win scholarships from the pool of $150,000 awarded through the Union Plus program. They earned top SAT scores and grades, and were well-rounded in their studies, extracurricular activities and career goals.

Since its inception in 1992, the Union Plus program has awarded more than $2 million in scholarships to students of working families.

Applications for the 2005 awards will be available in September 2004. To download the application from the Union Privilege website at that time, visit www.unionplus.org/scholarships, or send a postcard with name, address, telephone number and union affiliation to: Union Plus Education Foundation, c/o Union Privilege, P.O. Box 34800, Washington, DC 20043-4800.