At home you often hear the question, “Can we afford it?” The same question is often raised in the union hall.  Over twenty local officers and staff came to the AFL-CIO’s National Labor College in Silver Spring Maryland for an intensive 2-day training program to learn how to intelligently and accurately answer that question and more. 

Now, in its thirteenth year, the Secretary Treasurers’ seminar has been totally revised to include hands-on training so that officers can do the detailed accounting and reporting work easily. Greeted on the first night by International Secretary Treasurer Joe Gordon, theses officers joined the ranks of over 300 treasurers who have taken this course since 1991.

Education and Research Director Bob Wechsler gave them a background of TWU history and structure. 

Secretary Treasurers and other staff spent time with TWU Accounting Director John O’Donnell who, along with Wechsler worked on the curriculum for the program. The core of the program was spent on learning how to use a customized version of QuickBooksPro in the College’s computer lab. The group worked with instructor Declan Murray who taught them how to use the software for accounting purposes and for International and government reports. 

The position of Secretary Treasurer is governed by very specific legal and fiduciary responsibilities that are spelled out by the TWU Constitution, local union by-laws, and federal government regulation.  It’s a complex maze of requirements that need to be explained in a careful manner.  Participants learned how to properly fill out all of the required government forms and monthly TWU reports. 

The class was well-received by all participants. It was an "unbelievable class," said a new Secretary Treasurer. "You can’t miss it if you are a Secretary Treasurer of a local." 

Class participants included Greg Moore (Local 550), Ralph Darnell (Local 555), Michael Sullivan (Local 2054), Marcy Bruins (Local 505), Allison Lamb (Local 545), Greg Cosey (Local 590), Dennis Stark (Local 513), Patrick Flannery (Local 2001), Miguel Pumariega (Local 568), Paul Lee (Local 200), Matthew Smith (Local 576), Michael Walsh (Local 582), Joyce Kramer (Local 225 Branch 4), Victoria Smith (Local 1460), Kevin Hagn (Local 512), Mitch Holin Sr., (Local 540), Robert Higgins (Local 1400), and staff members Jerome Lafragola and Fred Fink.