BLE Feature

Winter 2002
Volume 109 - No. 4

"In the past, a newly-elected division level officer learned most of the duties of his new position by spending time with the person vacating the position he was assuming," said Education & Training Department Coordinator Ken Kroeger. "But there was not always a smooth transition or flow of knowledge.

"We now have both formal and informal educational opportunities for BLE members. It is our hope that those who attend the classes and structured programs will take the information back to their divisions and share it with other members. That secondary sharing is what we consider the 'informal opportunities' "

Brother Kroeger is one of the instructors for the various workshops that are conducted by the department. BLE International staff members Dr. Elaine Reese and Bob Broka provide training to secretary-treasurers in dealing with the many Department of Labor and IRS reports that they must submit on a regular basis. These classes are offered four times per year at each of the BLE's four regional meetings. A Local Chairman's Class is offered at the regional meetings by General Secretary-Treasurer Bill Walpert, who heads the Education and Training Department. Brother Kroeger assists with these classes.

Another important venue for ongoing BLE Training and Education workshops is the George Meany Center for Labor Studies (GMC) in Silver Spring, Md. This "Labor University," available exclusively to AFL-CIO affiliates, is the setting for a three-day training workshop for Secretary-Treasurers and a week-long workshop for Local Chairmen. Brothers Walpert and Kroeger are joined by International Vice President Rick Radek, International staff members Marcus Ruef and Greg Ross, and George Meany Center Adjunct Professor Don Spatz for the Local Chairman's Workshop. The GMC is located on a 47-acre campus and has a full time resident teaching and support staff, dormitories for housing students, and a large cafeteria.

To make the Local Chairman's workshop more accessible to members who live and work on the West Coast, the Education & Training Department has taken its show on the road in 2001 and 2002, holding the workshop at the Clark Kerr Campus at the University of California, Berkeley. It has also been conducted in locales where a General Chairman has worked together with the Education and Training Department to organize a class specifically for his General Committee.

The BLE pays the cost of books, equipment, tuition, and a graduation banquet for the workshops. Members who attend are responsible for their transportation and cost of room and board. In 2002, Kroeger worked on getting some money to help the attendees offset their costs. In August 2002, the BLE received a $32,000 grant from the North American Railway Foundation to help members with those expenses when attending the Local Chairman's workshops offered at the George Meany Center. BLE Divisions are paid $85 per day, or $425 per week, when their appointed representative successfully completes the workshop. He also has been able to get financial support from designated legal counsel, BRCF, LE&CMPA and ORBA to help offset the BLE costs.

The Local Chairman's workshop is accredited, so that members who attend may apply for college credit for the class and Kroeger is working with the GMC to get the same accreditation for the Secretary-Treasurer Workshop. He is also working with the GMC to establish some type of degree program specific to the BLE and to set up a haz-mat program at the BLE's regional meetings.

"Our workshops are designed with several parts. The parts fit together and what is learned in one segment is incorporated into future segments," Kroeger said. "We offer sessions that give practical experience and we have very positive feedback on these courses."

The department is currently reviewing its presentations and materials. In the process, the staff is updating, adding to and deleting some of the information so that the material presented is the latest and most up to date. Walpert and Kroeger are also developing an intensive workshop for Legislative Representatives that will be available at the regional meetings.

As the BLE looks to the future of education and training, technology will play a greater role, but nothing can replace the hands-on training of workshops and classes. The programs offered by the BLE's Education & Training Department provide an invaluable resource to the members. Education builds a stronger union. The membership of the BLE is among the most educated of any labor organization and the BLE intends to keep it that way.

Photo captions: Top photo: BLE and GIA members attending an educational workshop in 1980.

Middle: From left: Rich Vogt, Local Chairman of BLE Division 387 (Camden, N.J.); D.A. Dalton, Local Chairman of BLE Division 526 (Willard, Ohio); Angela Glenn, a member of BLE Division 489 (Covington, Ky.); Richard Dixon, SEPTA General Chairman; and E&T Coordinator Ken Kroeger.

Bottom: BLE International President Don Hahs speaks during a recent workshop at the Meany Center.

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