MNA celebrates the successes of its first labor school grads

Congratulations to the MNA’s Labor School Grads. Standing, from left: Paul Corkum and Frank Bruno, Chelsea Soldiers Home; Holly Rakip, North Shore Medical Center; Sandy Murray and Marie Freeman, Northeast Health Systems; John Trainor, North Shore Medical Center, Joe Twarog, MNA Labor Educator. Seated, from left: Rose Ann DiCato, Chelsea Soldiers Home; Phyllis Berg, North Shore Medical Center; Patty Comeau, Methuen School Nurses; Diane Barrett, Merrimack Valley Hospital; and Brian Zahn, Lawrence Public Health Department. Not pictured: Mary Sue Howlett, MNA; Kim Paskalis and Julia Rodriguez, North Shore Medical Center.

The MNA’s new labor school, which was piloted in Region 4 (Essex County) in January, recently certified its first graduates of “Track I: Responsibilities of the Floor Representative and Grievance Handling.” Most of those students are continuing on now with “Track II: Collective Bargaining,” which started in late March. Students who are taking second-track classes will be fi nishing up their studies in early June.

All participants to date have responded with overwhelming enthusiasm to the school’s curriculum, referring to it as “tremendously relevant and helpful.”

While the concept of such a program had long been discussed at the MNA, it was Peggy O’Malley—MNA member, RN and the office manager for Region 4—and region’s education committee who were instrumental in getting the pilot program off the ground. Based on this initial success, other MNA regions are in the process of establishing labor schools in their respective areas.

The MNA’s labor educator, Joe Twarog, was on hand to teach each of the Region 4-based classes. O’Malley said that the students benefited greatly from the exchange of ideas that evolved from Twarog’s relaxed teaching style. “We had MNA union leaders from all over the North Shore at this program and—across the board—they recognized the value and importance of not only the school, but of Joe’s expertise."

For information on MNA labor school programs in your area, contact Joe Twarog at 781-830-5757 or via e-mail at jtwarog@mnarn.org.

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