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Texas Afl-cio Scholarship Program Awards 28 Grants; Scholarship Amounts Raised to $1,500 Starting in 2018

 Students from 28 union families in Texas received $1,000 scholarships toward the college, university or trade school of their choice following completion of the 2016-2017 Texas AFL-CIO Scholarship Program.

In a major development that will affect the program in the future, delegates to the 2017 Texas AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention voted to raise the grant amount for future winners to $1,500 – the first time the amount has been raised in more than two decades.

“The Texas AFL-CIO Scholarship Committee, the Executive Board of the Texas AFL-CIO and delegates to the convention all agreed that funding for the scholarship needed to increase significantly to give students more help with ever-increasing bills for their educations,” Texas AFL-CIO President Rick Levy said. “This increase makes up for much of the buying power of the scholarship that has been lost to inflation.”

“The program remains one of our favorite tasks at the state labor federation,” Levy said, “and it would not be possible at this level without the continuing generosity of donors to the Texas AFL-CIO Scholarship Fund and to volunteers in local labor bodies across the state who help run the program.”

In addition to providing assistance to students, the scholarship application process involves discussion of the basics of the labor movement with a couple hundred applicants each year. A revised Texas AFL-CIO Scholarship Exam this year placed a heavier emphasis on fundamentals of union history and the scholarship process continues to include an interview with committees set up by Central Labor Councils and the Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation.

Besides the exam, criteria for the scholarships for high school seniors include academic achievement, extracurricular activities and financial need.

Continuing Scholarships, which go to a pool of college students who won a scholarship as high school seniors, place emphasis on students’ volunteer and public service actions. This year, six students received the continuing award.

To be eligible for the program, one of a student’s parents or legal guardians must be a member of a labor union that is affiliated both with its Central Labor Council and the Texas AFL-CIO. The CLC requirement is waived if the student lives in a part of Texas that does not have CLC (or ALF) jurisdiction.

The Texas AFL-CIO pays the one-time grants directly to college financial aid offices to be credited to the accounts of recipients.

The Scholarship Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization, allowing donors to deduct contributions on federal income tax returns to the full extent of the law.

Levy thanked the Texas AFL-CIO Scholarship Committee for its service. Panel members include Jeff Darby (AFGE), Chair; Katherine Thompson (OPEIU), Co-Chair; Clara Caldwell (APRI); Lee Medley (USW); LaTonia Benoit (TWU); B.R. Williams (ILA); Ray McMurrey (AFT); Judy Cortez (AFSCME); and Michael Murphy (IBEW).

Once again, the death of beloved labor leaders spurred donations to the scholarship fund. The Texas AFL-CIO is posting lists of all donors and those memorialized along with the list of scholarships winners.

Donors of one or more full scholarships include: IBEW Local 716, ILA Local 28, IUOE Local 450, Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 286, Plumbers Local 68, Texas AFT, Joe D. & Dorothy Gunn (memorial), Texas State Council of Machinists (in memory of George Hooper), American Income Life and the Texas Building & Construction Trades Council.

The Scholarship Committee voted this year to designate one scholarship in honor of former Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller.

The Texas AFL-CIO Education Department mailed scholarship packets for the 2018 program to Central Labor Councils in late October and is in the review process of applicants we recieved. 

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DONORS
ABC BANK • AFL-CIO• LEONARD AGUILAR • APRI FORT WORTH • JOE ARABIE
RICHARD ARRIOLA • ASBESTOS WORKERS LOCAL 22 • RICHARD BARBOUR
BETTY BAUGH • JOHN BENAVIDEZ • BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD ILLINOIS
BRAZOS VALLEY CLC • BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS  
JAMES “SLICK” BYERLY • COASTAL BEND LABOR COUNCIL • PAULA COATES
CORPUS CHRISTI AFT • MARK CRANDELL • CROFT AND STRAUGHAN FAMILIES
CWA 6132 RMC • CWA 6201 RMC • CWA 6202 • CWA 6215 • 
CWA DISTRICT 6 HEADQUARTERS
DALLAS BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION TRADES COUNCIL • LYNN DARDEN
DAVID & ALLYNN DEALY • CRAIG DEATS •LORRI & GLENN DONNAHOE
JOHN EASTON • KENNETH EDWARD • CONNIE ENGLISH • JOE FISHER
G. HYATT CONSTRUCTION INC. • MATTHEW GONZALES • KENNETH GREER
STEVEN GREER • GINNY GOODMAN HALLMARK • RICHARD & NANCY HARRISON
MARILYN HARTSOOK (DEEP E. TEXAS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD)
MARY E. & JOSEPH HAWTHORNE • LAURA & JOHN HEBERT
 MARK & AMY HENDERSON
RAUL HERNANDEZ JR. • MARCUS HERFANDEN • GARY HORTON
BRAD HOVIOUS • IBEW 716 • IUOE LOCAL 450
DIANE DWIGHT & ANDREW JACKSON • JOANN JENKINS • LEILANI JENSEN
ELAINE JONES • JENNIFER JORGENSON • LEONA KENDRICK
LESLIE & MIKE KENNERLY • BOBBI LAFOND • RICHARD “HOOT” LANDRY
MICHAEL LARAMIE • RICK LEVY • LACY MARTIN • MARTA MATTOX
MICHAEL MCKENNA • CAROLYN MITCHELL • DON & CATHY MITCHELL
BECKY MOELLER • MICHAEL MOELLER & NORA LINARES-MOELLER
JOHN MOSES • OPEIU 298 • JAY DEE PATRICK • JOHN & LINDA PATRICK
TREY PEDIGO • PLUMBERS LOCAL 68 • PAUL PUENTE • MILTON RADWAY
DOUG RICHARDSON • BOYD & BETTY RICHIE • JOHN RICHIE & FAMILY
WAYNE ROBERTS • TERRY ROBINSON • ROOFERS LOCAL 123
RUNKLE LAW FIRM, PLLC • KENNETH SCHNEIDER SR. • MICHAEL SHEA
ED SILLS • NEVA SKRABANEK • SOUTHWEST LABORERS DISTRICT COUNCIL PAC
EMILY & DENNIS SPEIGHT • JACKIE ST. CLAIR • TARA • MATT TAYLOR
ELLEN TEMPLE • TEXAS AFL-CIO
TEXAS BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION TRADES COUNCIL
TEXAS GULF COAST AREA LABOR FEDERATION
TEXAS STATE COUNCIL OF MACHINISTS • SARAH JANE & INA JANE THAMES
USW DISTRICT 13 • KRISTIE VEIT • ROSA WALKER • DARBY WOLF
LACY WOLF JR. • JOHN R. YOUNG

MEMORIALS AND HONOREES 
LUELLAN ADAMS • RONALD ANDERSON • CHUCK BERTANI
JOE CAMPBELL • ART CASILLAS • IDA BELLE COLE
ROPER COPELIN • LAURO CRUZ • RONALD H. DARBY
SCOTT DEEM • MARTHA DOBBS • JACQUELINE ELLIS
RUBEN R. FLORES • KARLA GABRIELA GONZALEZ
JAY GUNN • JOHN HARRIS III • REV. W.D. HARRIS
GARLAND HARTMAN • KATHLEEN HAWKINS • ROOSEVELT HENDERSON
CARLTON HUGHES • GILBERT KISSLING• DR. JIM KLEIN (HONOREE)
SONNY LAGUNA • NELDA LANEY • CANUTO MARTINEZ, JR.
RAYMOND MCGILL, JR. • BOB MCPHERSON • CHOCO MEZA
BILLY RAY MILLER • BRUCE MOSIER • EARL PACE
TERRY NEAL RAMSEY • KEVIN RUH • BONNIE SMITH
SHANA RENEE TEDDER • HARLON TUMLINSON • GALE VAN HOY
TERESA VERA • STEVE WILLIAMS