We Are the New I – Join Us on #GivingTuesday!

Dear Labor Guild members, students, and supporters,

Since our Guild School Fall Term graduation last Monday, the words of our valedictorian Diane Young of the Massachusetts Nurses Association have been ringing in our ears:

“We have all heard the phrase from time to time that there is no ‘I’ in team. Each week this fall session, we learned the importance of being good listeners, being able to communicate our issues, of educating ourselves, and the importance of getting others around us involved. No room for just ‘I’. In the word union, there is an ‘I’, right smack in the middle. That ‘I’ in union represents each one of us. Each one of us is an important part to our organization […] We are the new ‘I’.”

At The Labor Guild, these words are vital to what we stand for. Since our Guild School’s founding in 1952, we have been committed to empowering members of the labor-management community through education and collaboration. This past year, thanks to the support of our membership and generous donations, we were able to:

• offer 12 courses taught by expert practitioners through our School of Labor Management Relations,
• provide excellent, neutral space for arbitrations and collective bargaining,
• host workshops, forums, conferences, and special partnership programming, and
• stand in solidarity with many of our sisters and brothers across the state fighting for the rights of working people.

Building on the energy and spirit of these programs, our upcoming 50^th Anniversary Cushing-Gavin Awards Dinner is a moment when we come together as a community to honor the important contribution that hard-working individuals make to their organizations every day. This year’s four awardees exemplify both personal dedication and an ethic of collaboration that moves our community forward.

We hope you will join us in celebrating their accomplishments at CGA. In addition, and especially if you are not able to join us on December 2, we are asking for your support to continue to honor and empower members of the labor-management community through our programs.

Will you donate to our first ever #GivingTuesday campaign on November 29, 2016? Here are some ways you can participate in our #GivingTuesday campaign:

• Make a donation online. You do not need to wait to give your gift—kick off the holiday season early and donate right now!
• If you cannot donate, help us spread the word! Share this post with your friends.
• Repost from our Facebook page, and let your friends know that you are attending CGA, donating to this campaign, or both!
• Email our Community Outreach Coordinator Rachel Leiken if you would like your own template posts and emails to help us in our Giving Tuesday campaign.

This year, we are making every effort to become fully self-sustaining so that The Labor Guild can continue to provide valuable educational, networking and other services to our fifth generation of workers and our labor relations community. Your support of $10, $20, or some other amount would go a long way in helping us reach this goal. Will you join us?

With many thanks,
The Labor Guild Team

Fred Floreal, United Steelworkers (USW) Local 8751
I come to the Guild to learn… how I can serve my local better.

Dayana Ocasio, Massachusetts Nurses Association
I come to the Guild because…
It’s Empowering!

Gayle McMahon, SEIU 888
I come to the Guild to learn…
how to develop leaders.