Published 08 Dec, 2014
By Bob Wechsler, TWU Education & Training Coordinator
The question inevitably comes up at the membership meeting, “Why can’t we afford it?’ Twenty-five local union officers, most of them Secretary-Treasurers came together at the Maritime Institute in Lithnicum, MD for an intensive 2.5-day training to learn and practice the tools of their position that will help them to answer that question accurately.
As part of its commitment to training local officers, TWU conducted a Secretary-Treasurers’ seminar that included hands-on training so that officers can do the local union accounting and reporting work easily. Greeted on the first night by International President Harry Lombardo and International Secretary-Treasurer Alex Garcia, these officers joined the ranks of over 350 treasurers who have taken this course since 1991. Education Coordinator Bob Wechsler gave them a background of TWU history and structure.
Secretary-Treasurers and other staff spent time with TWU Chief of Staff and Accounting Director John O’Donnell who answered many of their questions. The core of the program was spent on learning how to use QuickBooksPro. The group worked with instructor Paul Delaine who taught them how to use the software for accounting and budgeting purposes and for International and government reporting.