National Labor College (NLC) and City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) Announce New Partnership (Labor Leaders Endorse CCC Agreement and Celebrate Labor Education in Chicago.)

Chicago, IL (August 7, 2006) -- Today, John Sweeney, President of the AFL-CIO and Chairman of the National Labor College Board of Trustees joined NLC President Susan Schurman, CCC Vice Chairman James Dyson and CCC Executive Vice Chancellor Deidra Lewis for the signing of a new agreement that encourages transfer of City Colleges’ associate degree credits to National Labor College bachelor’s degree programs.

“A good education plus a union contract makes a stronger America,” said John J. Sweeney, Chairman of the NLC Board of Trustees and President of the AFL-CIO. “This agreement with the City Colleges of Chicago will make it easier for Chicago students to continue their educations toward at B.A. and eventually to good union jobs.”

The CCC partnership establishes the first NLC transfer agreement with a community college in Illinois. The new articulation agreement enhances City Colleges’ construction technology program.

“We are very pleased that City Colleges’ initiatives in construction technology served as an impetus for establishing this agreement, which allows up to 60 semester credits for transfer from our Associate in Applied Science degrees in the building and construction trades,” said CCC Vice Chairman James Dyson. “These degrees are offered in partnership with union apprenticeship programs. The CCC / NLC alliance supports increased access to union jobs and higher education for City Colleges of Chicago students. It represents one more step in solidifying City Colleges’ progressive relationships with trade unions.”

CCC currently has partnerships with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 134; the National Elevator Constructors Educational Program; and the Painters Union, Local District Council 14. CCC’s Dawson Construction Technology Center staff is actively seeking additional building trade union alliances.

“Today’s agreement signing marks our largest such partnership with a community college system to date,” said Susan J. Schurman, NLC president. “We look forward to expanding our relationship with the City Colleges of Chicago and to graduating CCC students at the National Labor College in the future.”

The Chicago area construction industry will experience $10 billion per year in projects over the next few years, including the modernization of O’Hare International Airport and 10 years worth of road way projects.

“Chicago workers, like workers everywhere in America, have to keep up with a modernizing workplace and a global economy,” said Dennis Gannon, President of the Chicago Federation of Labor. “I am delighted that the National Labor College and the City Colleges of Chicago are making higher education access easier for our current and future workers.”

“Construction industry partnerships with our community colleges can help to ensure a skilled workforce as the industry faces a wave of retirements. Such alliances will also open doors to sustainable careers for disenfranchised minorities and women,” says Wayne Watson, chancellor of the City Colleges of Chicago.

“A new paradigm needs to be established in the United States where building trade unions and community colleges partner to create a skilled and educated workforce that can compete globally,” adds Chancellor Watson.

The National Labor College has received a $1.1 million grant from the Kellogg Foundation that encourages partnership agreements between the NLC, community colleges and union training programs. Traditionally, students pursuing vocational training entered the workforce during and after such training and did not pursue higher education beyond that point. The NLC approach allows students to pursue training, enter good jobs, and through a combination of online learning and short stays at the NLC, they are able to complete a B.A. It is a format that allows them to learn while they earn.

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.