Helmets to Hardhats assists veterans find a career in the trades
Wrapping up the National Apprenticeship Week coverage on America’s Work Force Union Podcast, Martin Helms, Executive Director of the Helmets to...
1 min read
Season 4, Episode 45
awfblog March 3, 2023
Guest Name:
Fred Redmond
Guest Website:
Guest Social Media:
Supportive Documents:
Fred Redmond, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, joined America’s Work Force Union Podcast for another installment of First Friday with Fred as he discussed the Permission to Dream initiative.
Redmond is a part of the Chris Gardner Foundation’s “Permission to Dream” initiative, as he helps educate high school students on alternative career paths instead of college. According to Redmond, the partnership ensures all students, especially students of color, complete their high school education. The students selected for the program must complete North America’s Building Trades Unions Apprenticeship Readiness Program. After graduation, students will be placed in a Local building trades union’s registered apprenticeship program. As apprentices, they not only get paid to work but also receive a stipend to cover the cost of all tools, required equipment and transportation assistance.
He then spoke about the Battle of Homestead Foundation, which helps to remind people about the importance of studying labor history. The Battle of Homestead Foundation comprises a group of Pittsburgh historians who work to maintain Pittsburgh’s labor history. They also regularly provide lectures and educational sessions out of the historic water pump building, which was part of the former Homestead Steel Mill complex.
Redmond believes educating the younger generation on the history of organized labor would help them build a pro-union sentiment. As many younger workers continue to fight for union rights, Redmond is reminded of historical labor fights. He thinks these younger workers who are attempting to organize would be more motivated by knowing the real history of organized labor.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more.
America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.
America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.
Wrapping up the National Apprenticeship Week coverage on America’s Work Force Union Podcast, Martin Helms, Executive Director of the Helmets to...
Continuing the America’s Work Force Union Podcast coverage of National Apprenticeship Week, we welcomed Lee Worley, Executive Director of...