Public Employee Press


At Medgar Evers College
Workforce development program established

With one-third of the municipal workforce expected to retire in a few years, District Council 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido wants to make sure union members are prepared to compete for the best jobs that city government has to offer once those workers retire.

To prepare those members DC 37 and Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn have agreed to collaborate and develop courses to help union members become better prepared to compete for job promotions and advance in their careers.

The new Leadership Preparedness Program, an initiative by the union and Medgar Evers College, aims to address the wave of retirements and the challenges it poses to the city, Garrido said. "Together we expect to create courses that will help develop a well-educated and capable municipal workforce," Garrido explained.

Garrido wanted to make the courses available to the thousands of union members who live and work in Brooklyn. The main campus of Medgar Evers, a City University of New York college, is located in Crown Heights.

"The faculty of the Dept. of Public Administration looks forward to teaching and mentoring the newest members of the Medgar Evers family," said Professor Wallace Ford, hairman of the Dept. of Public Administration. Ford will be working with DC 37 to recruit students for the program.

The union has also established similar programs at Hostos Community College in the Bronx and LaGuardia Community College in Queens.

Union members interested in studying at Medgar Evers College should visit the school's website at www.mec.cuny.edu for more

— AA