Local 1150 Invests In the Future

Young People Learn Labor History

Leaders from Teamsters Local 1150 in Stratford, Connecticut are investing in the future by providing work opportunities to young people and teaching them labor history.

Local 1150’s School to Career Project is well under way. The local, which represents Sikorsky workers, has 12 student intern placements at Sikorsky Aircraft in Stratford and Shelton.

“An integral component for our interns, mentors, educators and management representatives is the Labor History Day,” said Joseph Grabinski, Local 1150’s Chief Environmental, Health and Safety Representative. The event took place Tuesday, July 22 at the Willimantic Thread Mill Museum, where participants learned how 19th century textile workers toiled.

The event also featured mock organizing meetings, oral presentations and hands-on, interactive learning.

Local 1150 Secretary-Treasurer Rocco Calo believes the School to Career program and events such as the Labor History Day are critical.

“We need to educate our young people about labor history and the struggles workers endured in the past. The rights we have today resulted from those workers’ struggles. Our young people are the future, and they are the ones who will continue to struggle for justice in the workplace,” Calo said.

Local 1150 leaders have been working closely with the International Union's Education Department in taking the union message to youth and teaching them about the world of work.

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