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The Education Fund is a Labor/Management Taft-Hartley Trust Fund benefit negotiated by employers and the unions as part of their collective bargaining agreements. Programs and services are paid for by contributing employers and offered at no charge to eligible employees.
Education Fund
By the Numbers
Updated July 2010
- 74,000 - eligible employees
- 32 - participating employers (including seven Long Term Care systems)
- 6 - participating unions in 5 states
- 37,000 - employees reached since 2006 (thru workshops, career days, program applications)
- 17,000 - enrollments since 2006
- 7,700 employees trained
- 300 new nurses trained since 2006 (mostly RN/ADN; some LVN, BSN, MSN)
Skills Assessment & Career Counseling - Gateway service includes career seminars and 1:1 counseling.
- 15,000 employees counseled since 2006
Prerequisite/STEP Program (Success Through Educational Preparation) - Core science courses required for nursing or other allied health fields. Includes Chemistry, Anatomy, Physiology, Microbiology, as well as math and English to help build students' success.
- 3,800 enrollments since 2006
- 373 classes offered since 2006
- 85% - completion rate for science prerequisite classes in 2009
- 89% average coplete rate with an A or B for college credit classes in 2009
Academic Support Program- Exam preparation and Academic Success Workshops, "Bridge" Courses and Tutoring services.
- 1,700 enrollments since program began in January 2008
Professional Development Courses - Continuing education and specialty credentialing courses/workshops for licensed professionals
- 4,800 enrollments since program began in fall 2007
- 137 courses offered since 2007
Forgivable Loan - Allows workers enrolled in school to reduce hours of work to focus on school (Ex. Radiologic Technologists, RNs, LVNs)
- 1,200 employees have receivedd payments since 2006
- $4,562 - average annual payment per student
Career Upgrade Program- Medical Coding, LVN-to-RN, Phlebotomy, Sterile Processing.
- 877 employees enrolled since 2006
- 94% average completion rate
Job to Job Training - Supporting redeployed employees - 87% of affected workers successfully redeployed since 2006
2008 Annual Report
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Our Mission
The purpose of the SEIU UHW-West & Joint Employer Education Fund is to provide healthcare workers with counseling, education and training opportunities to advance their careers, ensure job security and provide the highest quality of patient care possible.
A Taft-Hartley Trust, the Education Fund is governed by equal numbers of Employer and Union trustees who are responsible individually and collectively for ensuring that the trust's funds are used solely for the benefit of eligible employees. The Trustees reserve the right in their sole discretion to change or discontinue benefits and/or programs at any time.
Some 81,000 healthcare workers who are SEIU members across California and parts of Colorado, Oregon, Nevada and Washington are eligible for Education Fund programs and services. This benefit is obtained through collective bargaining agreements negotiated by SEIU United Healthcare Workers-West and participating employers.
Our History
In the late 1990’s, during the dot com boom, many employers began experiencing difficulty in recruiting staff into entry-level healthcare positions. A group of long-term care employers, in response to Union concerns about understaffing, asked the Union to assist with the recruitment of Certified Nurse Assistants (CNAs). The Union responded with a plan to recruit, train and support people from low-income communities in Oakland to become CNAs. Our first programs were funded with grants from the City of Oakland and federal workforce development programs.
This led to the birth of the Shirley Ware Education Center. SWEC worked with employers, such as Kaiser Permanente, to provide training for incumbent workers. This training was funded primarily through public and private grants. At the end of this initial program, 98% of participants successfully completed the training program and were subsequently hired into higher-level positions.
Hundreds of workers benefited from the SWEC grant-funded training programs. A key to the success of these programs was the partnerships of labor and management working together. While these programs were successful, there were limits to what could be done with grants alone. Consequently in 2004, SEIU UHW-West and a number of employers bargained the Labor Management Trust Fund, which became the SEIU-UHW West & Joint Employer Education Fund. SWEC has since been integrated into the Fund.The Shirley Ware Education Center was founded by SEIU UHW-West in 1998 (then Local 250) with funding from the city of Oakland. Partnering with long-term care employers, SWEC provided needed training for new workers from Oakland's low-income neighborhoods. After that the union took an interest in implementing career upgrade training programs for the benefit of west coast healthcare workers and to fill the healthcare workforce skills gap.
SWEC is now jointly administered by the same trustees who oversee the Education Fund. Through SWEC, the Education access grants to provide additional programs and training opportunities, including upgrade training for existing acute care workers, and LVN to RN training for Kaiser workers in Southern California. With grants from the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, NIEHS, and the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration, OSHA, SWEC has provided Health & Safety and Hazardous Materials training for healthcare workers throughout California. More
Shirley Ware, Labor Pioneer
1941-1998
Shirley Ware was one of the first African-American woman to lead a major California labor organization. She dedicated her life to the cause of helping workers and their unions, serving as Secretary-Treasurer of the Health Care Workers Union SEIU Local 250 from 1988 until her death from cancer at age 57.
Up Through the Ranks
Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Shirley came to California with her family at a young age and settled in Oakland. She was schooled at Oakland's Fremont High and Chabot Community College, where she earned certification as a Licensed Vocational Nurse. Taking a job in 1963 at an East Bay nursing home, Shirley quickly organized the facility into Local 250 and became a militant voice for fellow healthcare workers and their families. Shirley joined the staff of Local 250 in 1971, assuming a pioneering position as the first African-American woman field representative in the union's history. Through the 1970's and '80's, she represented workers in all facets of the healthcare industry, including Kaiser, nursing homes and hospitals, clinics and public hospitals.
Shirley rose to her top elected position in 1988 as part of the New Leadership Team that brought renewed vigor and strength to Local 250.Building the Union
As Secretary-Treasurer for 10 years, Shirley guided the union back to financial health, managed a multi-million dollar budget and helped direct a staff of more than 100. She had a special talent for mentoring members, new and old, about the rich history and critical importance of unions. Shirley was an extraordinary teacher and a great woman who gave all she came in contact with the inspiration to change things for the better.
Her memory is forever etched in the hearts and minds of all who knew her.
Our Work
The Education Fund benefit has been negotiated through collective bargaining agreements into contracts with 30 acute and long term care employers throughout California and parts of Colorado, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. The number of participating employers continues to rise as contracts with new employers are negotiated and contracts with current employers renegotiated. With the addition of new employers comes new programs and services.In 2008, the Education Fund launched two new programs: Academic Support and STEP (Success Through Educational Preparation). Aimed at improving academic performance, our Academic Support program provides exam preparation courses, tutoring, and workshops on college preparedness, success and workplace English skills workshop courses to help students prepare for and succeed in college. Our STEP program is designed to help healthcare workers complete the core science classes with the highest possible grade point average in order to improve their chance of being accepted into nursing or allied health programs. We do this by offering Anatomy, Chemistry, Physiology and Microbiology in a series that includes the English and math classes needed to succeed in these classes.
In 2009, the Education Fund continued to expand our services to reach new segments of eligible healthcare workers, including foreign-trained nurses and newly eligible employees in Las Vegas, NV.
The Education Fund was created in 2005 and programs fully launched in 2006. Since then, the Fund has reached 31,000 eligible employees through workshops, Career Days and program applications; enrolled 14,000 in college-level science prerequisite, support and continuing education courses and workshops and counseled more than 11,000. In addition, 1,068 employees have have received loan payments/stipends; paid time off work to attend school.
