WHEREAS:
AFSCME members value the legacy of providing educational opportunities for their families, and have been on the forefront of seeking to improve the quality of life and standard of living for workers and their families through education; and
WHEREAS:
More than 1,000 AFSCME members in Local 1224 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, employees of American Education Services (AES), serve nearly four million students through guaranty, servicing and financial aid processing systems; and
WHEREAS:
AES, a not-for-profit, public-sector, student aid services organization is the nation's fourth largest student loan guarantor and for forty years has been dedicated to providing affordable financial aid through innovative products and services underlined by a strong commitment to public service; and
WHEREAS:
AES strives to be a model union employer by offering on-site child care, a workplace training academy, tuition reimbursement for all employees, an on-site fitness center and career development opportunities for its workforce; and
WHEREAS:
AFSCME Advantage, Union Plus Education Services and AES have recently partnered to offer exclusive education benefits to AFSCME and other AFL-CIO affiliated union members and their families in order to help working families afford higher education; and
WHEREAS:
AES provides early awareness information free of charge about higher education opportunities to elementary, middle and high school students to encourage them to pursue education after high school at a college or university, technical, trade, nursing or business school; and
WHEREAS:
AFSCME seeks to help grow a union-friendly company in order to create more union jobs to be held by AFSCME members; and
WHEREAS:
AES's competitors include non-union companies, such as Sallie Mae, who are outsourcing jobs to Mexico and India, and who have close ties with the current anti-worker Bush/Cheney administration.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
That the AFSCME International Executive Board encourage every council and local to add a web link to their union web pages promoting the Union Plus Education Services Program (http://afscme.org/about/aa-educ.htm) in order to assist members in obtaining easy access to valuable information on higher education from an agency staffed with AFSCME members; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME publicize, through international, state and local publications, the educational planning materials available free of charge to students, parents, teachers and union leaders; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
That AFSCME urge its affiliates organized at institutions of higher learning to assist in the promotion of AES as their consummate choice for higher education planning and financing; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
That AFSCME will seek to actively promote AES throughout its membership as the principal source of affordable higher education financing and early awareness at international, state, and local levels to provide the quality services of a workforce staffed by proud members of AFSCME Local 1224.
SUBMITTED BY:
Susie Sprenkle, President and Delegate
Corrine Harvey, Secretary
AFSCME Local 1224, Council 90
Pennsylvania