Benefits for AFGE Members

When you join the union, you have access to these AFGE benefits. These benefits are backed by the collective strength of over 10-million members of AFL-CIO unions. By using one or two of the programs, many members save as much as their annual dues.

These Money-Saving Benefits are Available Only to AFGE Members:

2012 Union Plus Scholarship Winners

Union Plus has awarded $150,000 in scholarships to 129 students representing 44 unions, including three winners representing AFGE, in the 2012 Union Plus Scholarship Program. In this 20th anniversary year of the scholarship program, more than 5,600 applications were received from union members and families in all 50 states.

This year's AFGE winners are:

•        Eve Chase of Springfield, VA, whose mother Tana Adde is a member of AFGE Local 3615, has been awarded a $500 scholarship.

•        Adia Coleman of Silver Spring, MD, whose mother Denise Burriss is a member of AFGE Local 1000, has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship.

•        Salina Upton of Columbus, GA, who is a member of AFGE Local 54, has been awarded a $500 scholarship.

"Education is a core value for the American union worker," says John Gage, the National President of AFGE. "With rising tuitions, the Union Plus Scholarship program can make all the difference in enabling AFGE members and their families to further their education."

Meet the 2012 AFGE Honorees

Eve Chase

Eve didn't grow up giving labor unions much thought. Her image of unions and union workers seemed far removed from her own life. But when her family moved to Northern Virginia after Hurricane Katrina, and her mother joined AFGE, she discovered that unions can benefit all workers—and that her family's union roots run deeper than she knew. AFGE helped her mother keep her job after an illness. And she learned her two uncles had been union shop stewards and had fought for workers' rights. With a solid foundation of union pay and benefits to stand on, Eve is aiming high. She plans to become a physicist and work for NASA.

Adia Coleman

Adia Coleman is the daughter of an AFGE member. Her husband, Franz, belongs to the Elevator Constructors. And since, as Adia puts it, "a labor union is only as strong as its members," she is a union member as well, and proudly fights with other AFSCME members for dignity and respect for all workers. Adia will use her Union Plus scholarship award to help pay for her master's degree in information science. "Information is power," she says. So is a unionized workforce!

Salina Upton

Salina joined AFGE because, she says, "There's strength in numbers." And Salina knows a lot about strength. She is a proud U.S. Army veteran who is now pursuing an RN degree. "I want to become more involved in the union and not just be a member," she says, adding, "I feel that everyone has a voice and can make a difference in something." Salina has demonstrated she has the strength, smarts and determination to make a difference in everything she does.

Union Plus Scholarship awards are granted to students attending a two-year college, four-year college, graduate school or a recognized technical or trade school. Since starting the program in 1991, Recipients are selected based on academic ability, social awareness, financial need and appreciation of labor.

_{updated July 2012}