Learning is a Lifetime Commitment for 49ers
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Members of the Local 49 are proving that you are never too old to learn. Recently five more members were presented with their Labor Education Certificates from The University of Minnesota’s Labor Services, for completing the required 75 hours of classroom training. This brings the number of 49ers to reach this ambitious level of academic achievement to 18 and counting.
Business Agents Kyle Jones, Greg Waffensmith, Victor Ruzynski and Steve Haro, along with Business Manager Glen Johnson completed a variety of courses to further their skill set.
Offered as night courses at the Local 49 Union Hall, the classes teach students a variety of subjects. Classes offered include collaborative problem solving, conflict management, stress management, basic unionism, collective bargaining and steward training, just to name a few.
Instructors Larry Casey, Tony DeAngelis and Deb Rosenstein from Labor Education Services at the University Minnesota
As a worker, Waffensmith says there is always a time to learn. “There is no such thing as being overly educated. “This program satisfied my hunger to learn.”
“I’m driven to learn,” Johnson said. “If I didn’t continue to have an appetite for learning, I could not adequately prepare myself for all the challenges I face everyday.”
Johnson’s commitment to education and his passion for bettering the lives of workers was the impetus for developing one of the top apprenticeship programs in the country. Local 49 has become well known for producing the most highly skilled, best-trained and most productive operating engineers in the industry.
Since December of 2007, when the first 49er received his certificate, the following members have also completed this training: Mark V. Adams, Todd Doncavage, Adam Duininck, Jim Hansen, Jack Kocak, Kent Korman, Geno Pickering, Steve Piper, Mark Pothen, Bruce Stahnke, Ron Sunboom, John Wells and Doug Zila.
With this proactive classroom culture in place, the Local 49 has been recognized as leaders in continuing education efforts across the nation. That strong dedication to learning and growth, gives all 49ers a solid foundation on which to build their careers.