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Recognized as an Effective School-to-Work Practice, June, 2000

School-to-Work Initiative

A Comprehensive Program for Elementary, Middle, and High School Youth

Overview of the Project

Local Union 170 serves approximately 4,000 members throughout Worcester and the state of Massachusetts. The union represents truck drivers, dock workers, mechanics, nurses, teachers, teacher aides, police officers, police dispatchers, clerical workers, and others. The union reports that the occupational outlook for truck drivers, dock workers, mechanics, teachers and teacher aides, and law enforcement officers is particularly strong. There is high demand for workers in these job classifications throughout Massachusetts.

Local 170’s School-to-Work Initiative has been in operation for more than two years, providing a comprehensive range of school-to-work learning experiences for students from 20 elementary, middle and high schools in the community of Worcester, Massachusetts. This past year 920 students participated in one or more of Local Union 170’s School-to-Work Initiatives. The union has made a commitment to ensure that all students, including students from diverse, multicultural backgrounds, young people with disabilities and others at risk are fully involved in all aspects of the School-to-Work Initiative. Participating with Local 170 in this initiative is the Worcester City Council, school-to-work labor liaison (Massachusetts, AFL-CIO); Assumption College (University Transportation Center); Worcester Area Chamber of Commerce (Work for Worcester ’s Youth 99 Program); Millbrook Distribution Services, Parker Affiliated Companies, and one member of the U.S. House of Representatives. This partnership, that includes Local 170, has put into place a comprehensive career development program for students of all ages in the Worcester area.

One of the major goals of the School-to-Work Initiative is to educate young people on the benefits of being a member of the Teamsters union and working in the transportation and trucking industry. According to Dick Foley, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 170, "the School-to-Work Initiative program is an exciting opportunity for us to show students what it means to have a good paying job with great benefits and an excellent pension which will enable them to maintain a high quality standard of life. We want to show these students the benefits of working in the union employment situation."

Members of Local Union 170 volunteer their time to participate in making these school-to-work learning opportunities available to students. The program is comprehensive and serves elementary, middle and high school children and youth. The elementary school program includes several of the following components:

• Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type. This curriculum for children ages 3-7 teaches the basics of organizing, empowerment and solidarity. Cows join together to type a message asking Farmer Brown for electric blankets because the barn is cold. When he refuses, the cows go on strike. The strike soon includes the chickens. A compromise is reached with the help of an impartial party—the duck. But the benefits of collective action continue. Local 170 works with elementary school teachers to bring this message and curriculum into the schools as a basic primer on union organizing principles and values (available through: www.simonandschuster.com/kids/).
• Yummy Pizza Company: A Labor Studies Curriculum for Elementary Schools. The Yummy Pizza Company is an interdisciplinary unit that introduces the world of work to elementary school age students. Ten lessons are included that can be readily used with students in grades 1-5. This is also a labor studies curriculum that was, in part, sponsored and developed by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Teacher Scholarship Program. In addition to teaching children about the world of work, the Yummy Pizza Company curriculum helps students to learn about unions and concepts like bargaining and negotiating.
• Truck Days. This program provides an opportunity for elementary school students to learn about the transportation industry. Teamsters Local 170 members volunteer their time to make presentations to students in elementary classrooms throughout the Worcester area.

Specific school-to-work experiences for middle and high school students include job shadowing, a career day for middle and high school students, field trips to union work sites, and a work experience program that employs students for the summer months. The specific middle and high school components include:

Ground Hog Day Shadow Program. This program provides middle school students an opportunity to "shadow" an employee through their day and learn about careers first hand. Local 170 members volunteer their time to support this program.

Career Day. This provides middle and high school students the opportunity to learn about different occupations in a series of short presentations from workers of different businesses and companies. Union stewards are trained in how to give these presentations. In addition, videotapes are currently being produced of union members at work and will be used in classrooms.

Buffalo Soldier Program. During Black History Month, a Local 170 Teamsters member dresses in Civil War uniform and makes talks to public school students. The program is intended to inform students about the African American troops who fought in the Civil War and helped to settle the West.

Field Trips to Local Business Sites. This program provides small groups of students an opportunity to view work sites by touring local businesses and industries. Students can also tour the union offices to see what it’s like to work for a union.

Summer Work Experience Program. High school students are employed during the summer months in a variety of union work settings. Students also earn academic credit for the experiences gained at their summer job. These are paid work experiences where students work closely with union workers, and also learn about the benefits of working for unions.

The Need

Teamsters Local Union 170 along with the Alliance for Education, City of Worcester, Worcester Public Schools, Worcester Community Action Council, and the Sutton School Committee all work together to help form the School-to-Work Initiative program. The program was founded to address several needs within the community. First, Local 170 wanted to do more than make classroom presentations to middle and high school students. That is, the union felt that while making presentations has been very important, more could be done by the union to support the career development of Worcester students.

Second, the union believed that young people throughout the Worcester and surrounding communities needed to gain practical, work-based skills before they leave school. The schools were also trying to integrate academics along with practical, hands-on learning opportunities for students in the community. Local businesses joined in this effort by making available a wide range of career exploration and work-based learning opportunities. There was also a recognized need to present a labor perspective as these work-based learning experiences were being presented to students. It was at this point that Local Union 170 joined the partnership and made a consorted effort to participate in the development of a comprehensive array of career exploration, job shadowing and work experiences for Worcester public school high school students.

Third, the union believed strongly that high school students needed to understand that even though a college education is highly desirable, that it is also possible to obtain excellent jobs, with good pay and benefits without a college degree. This message was conveyed through presentations in elementary, middle and high school classrooms; through job shadowing and field visitations to work sites, and through community-based work experiences established in union workplaces.

Finally, the Buffalo Soldier program took on special meaning for Local 170. The program was developed after Dick Foley, Secretary-Treasurer, attended the Teamsters Black Caucus and learned of this forgotten part of U.S. history. A local Teamsters truck driver, Michael Washington, portrayed the role of an African American Civil War soldier and offered presentations throughout the Worcester Public School System. This year alone presentations were offered to over half of the Worcester Public Schools during Black History Month. This program was so successful that the event was filmed and run on local cable access television for the entire month of February, 2000.

Meeting the Need

A major strategy used by Local 170 for getting involved in the School-to-Work Initiative was to become a member of the Worcester School-to-Work Partnership. This partnership included the Worcester and Sutton School Committees, the Worcester City Council, School-to-Work labor liaison of Massachusetts/AFL-CIO, Assumption College’s University Transportation Center, Worcester Area Chamber of Commerce (Work-for-Worcester’s-Youth), Millbrook Distribution Services, Jordan Levy Parker Affiliated Companies, and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. After determining the needs for the program, Local 170 began meeting with union stewards to determine interest in participating in various program components such as career days, ground hog day shadow program, field visits, and/or the summer work experience program. The next step in the process was to provide an in-service training to stewards and other union members on how to conduct classroom presentations. Local 170 began by getting stewards involved in classroom presentations as a strategy for building positive working relationships between teachers, students and the union. The in-service was based on the publication Labor in the Schools: How You Can Help Teach the Next Generation about Unions (available through: International Brotherhood of Teamsters, 25 Louisiana NW, Washington, DC 20001). This and other publications were used to support the training of union stewards. In addition, each steward who would become a classroom presenter was requested to develop a video of their work place. The video was used to augment the steward’s presentation. Before entering classrooms, several practice sessions were held where union stewards would role play presenting to elementary, middle, and high school students. The cost for this program was relatively low as it involved only photocopying presentation materials, making inexpensive duplications of videotapes, and using the steward’s time away from work.

In addition to the classroom presentations, these stewards soon became interested in participating in career days, Ground Hog Day Shadowing, supporting field trips, and making available work experience opportunities for high school youth in the Worcester area. Through all of these experiences, Local 170 developed a strong cadre of volunteers who continue to provide students work-based learning opportunities through the School-to-Work Initiative.

The Results

This is the second year that the School-to-Work Initiative program has been in operation. Local 170 reports that excellent results have been achieved thus far. Not only do union members who make classroom presentations welcome the opportunity to be involved, but the Worcester Public Schools now schedules the program a full year in advance. Some schools and classrooms have been placed on a waiting list because of its popularity. In addition, the union’s involvement in the schools has also expanded to three new charter schools in the area. According to Vanessa Williamson, trustee and lecturer coordinator at Local 170, "it is most impressive to see the students so animated during our discussions with new and interesting questions for each presentation. We have had many students approach our stewards with requests for job applications upon graduation from school." The program has also had the full cooperation of employers who have often offered to help with the production of the videotapes and the reproduction of pamphlets and curriculum. Teachers have also been very supportive of the program. In fact, Local 170 reports that teachers have been surprised when they hear about Teamster salary levels and the excellent benefits members receive. Vanessa Williamson also comments that, "The program has been so successful and several of our stewards have handled children so well that the schools have offered several of them full time positions."

Local 170 is also very pleased with the Buffalo Soldier Program and the positive impact that it has had on the community. The program has become so popular that Local 170 can only meet half the requests they receive. The Buffalo Soldier program is currently booked for the entire next year with teachers still calling and asking if they could be added to the schedule. This program has had a positive impact on students, teachers and the community. The program has been covered by local media and featured on local cable television. While hard to measure in terms of numbers, the Buffalo Soldier Program has created a highly visible and positive role for the Teamsters in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Learner Examples

Teamsters Local 170 employed Sandra for the summer of 1999 as an assistant to the union’s clerical staff. Sandra is a child of Asian immigrants and is the first of her family to learn to speak English. Going out into the workforce was a new experience for this young woman. Not only were there problems with language, but she had to learn things that others take for granted like taking the bus and learning the layout of the city. This was the first time that she had filled out a job application, received a paycheck and paid taxes. Sandra learned the basics of office work that included using the computer, word processing, adding machine, waiting on customers, and other duties. She enjoyed her work so much that she was prone to coming into work a full half hour early every day.

The Teamsters Health and Welfare Fund employed Fran for the summer of 1999 as an assistant to the enrollment coordinator. As an employee of the Health and Welfare Fund she learned the rules of the union’s health plan, basic knowledge about prescription drugs, and information on health screenings. Fran assisted in signing new people up for the health plan, terminating expired members, and filling out application forms. Local 170 found Fran to be a quick learner and especially helpful with the application process.

Teamsters Local 170 employed Jack for the summer of 1999 as an assistant to the organizer. In this role, Jack worked on two different organizing campaigns while learning the basics of how the union works. Jack assisted in charting potential members, observing house calls, distributing literature, and attending meetings. It was also helpful to have Jack on staff because he was bilingual and helped translate when the need arose.

Reflections

Local 170 feels strongly that its emphasis on elementary, middle and high school programs is important. Both younger children as well as adolescents need an early start in thinking about future work roles. In fact, the union stressed that even more emphasis should be placed on addressing the needs of elementary school children in the future. These younger children also need to be familiarized with unions and their role in the U.S. workforce. Local 170 offers several start-up and replication suggestions for other local unions interested in initiating school-to-work programs. First, they recommend assessing what’s going on in the elementary, middle and high schools in your local community. This includes developing an understanding of the types of career exploration and work-based learning programs that are made available for elementary, middle and high school students. In addition to gathering information on the types of school-to-work learning experiences students are provided, unions should also inquire as to whether or not there are school-to-work partnerships, Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs), or other advisory councils and committees that have been established to support students in their career development. These partnerships provide an excellent forum within which to discuss the union’s role in supporting community-wide career development programs for students. Local 170 also suggests assessing whether or not other unions have or are in the process of getting involved. If other unions have already taken initial steps to get involved, it is important to learn about their involvement and the types of activities they have sponsored.

Second, the unions should make contact with the public schools and begin a dialogue. This can be done by contacting the superintendent of public schools at their central administrative office or by contacting the principals of individual elementary, middle or high schools. These initial meetings serve the purpose of developing relationships between the schools and the union and helps both to assess the types of development activities needed by students. This also provides an opportunity for the union to volunteer to serve on a partnership, WIB, or local school advisory council or committee.

Third, the union needs to assess the interest of stewards and other union members for getting involved. Local 170 suggests that stewards and other union members need to be involved in formal discussions and planning meetings regarding plans to participate with local schools. Fourth, interested stewards and other union members should be provided in-service training on how to conduct classroom presentations. A formal written description of the union along with other informational materials needs to be assembled for the presentation. Local 170 reported that they were able to draw upon several already existing training materials, curricula and videos about unions that were appropriate for elementary, middle and high school students. Their message to other unions is that you don’t have to "reinvent the wheel" but rather, rely on other already existing materials and resources that can be used in conducting presentations, organizing career days, supporting Ground Hog Day Shadowing experiences, and making available part time employment opportunities for students.

Also emphasized is the importance of acknowledging and rewarding union members who volunteer their time to make this program a success. Acknowledgement from the local union’s leadership is important in fostering a supportive climate within which union members feel that their participation is valued and important to the union.

More Information

For additional information about School-to-Work Initiative: A Comprehensive Program for Elementary, Middle and High School Youth, contact:

Vanessa Williamson, Trustee/Lecturer Coordinator

Teamsters Local 170

805 Millbury Street (Mailing PO Box 70634)

Worcester, MA 01607

Phone: 508-791-3416

Fax: 508-792-0936

See Secretary-Treasurer Dick Foley's Report, January 2001

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