President's Perspective
The Value of a Union Education

(Dec. 7, 2009) I’m writing this in the wake of the recent passing of Sy Syms. Sy was the co-founder of the Syms discount clothing store chain. You can’t help but have Syms’ slogan etched in your mind: “An educated consumer is our best customer.”

Much the same applies in the union movement. An educated union member is our best member. Leaders in some unions have resisted the risk of getting talked back to by an educated union member. That’s their problem. In today’s union movement, the more minds applying themselves to the critical issues facing labor today – up to and including the shop floor – the better.

That’s why the Washington-Baltimore Guild has increased the number of training opportunities for its shop stewards and unit officers. We’ve even hired staff in the past based on their training record. We’ll conduct more in-house training in 2010, and point members to other training and education opportunities provided by The Newspaper Guild and the Communications Workers of America, our parent union.

Now, though, rather than wait for the next education opportunity to come about, Guild members can click to a link from our site to Union Communication Services (click on "Bookstore"), based in Annapolis and run by a long-time Washington-Baltimore Guild member, David Prosten.

UCS publishes Prosten’s highly popular “Steward Update” newsletter, which WBNG has used for at least a decade to provide valuable information to our unit chairs and shop stewards. UCS also publishes a catalog chock full of great books. I can remember finding a terrific book in the catalog one year and not-so-subtly hinting to the appropriate relatives that it would make a perfect Christmas gift for me.

When I was first preparing to teach a college course in labor journalism, I paged through the catalog to find relevant books on union education, and bought four of them. At the 2009 CWA convention in June, UCS had a vendor’s booth outside the registration area. Again, I ordered a four-pack.

The latest UCS catalog came in the mail just before Thanksgiving. I dog-eared several pages and circled several books that I’d like to add to my library. But this time, I think I’ll place my order from the wbng.org link. (The "Labor's Bookstore" link is also on the WBNG home page, under "Education Corner.".)