Two AFSCME Organizers to Study at Harvard

Long-time AFSCME organizers Deborah Bailey and Robert Sprague are this year’s recipients of the AFSCME Jerry Wurf Memorial Scholarship Fund. They won full tuition to attend the 88th session of the Harvard University Trade Union Program in Cambridge, Mass.

Bailey and Sprague will hone their leadership skills and tap into issues impacting public employees in the political, social and economic arenas during the intensive 10-week residential session January 4 through March 12.

For the past six years, Bailey has been a staff representative for the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association (OCSEA/AFSCME Local 11). She represents corrections officers in maximum-security prisons. Prior to joining OCSEA, Bailey worked as an organizer for the National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees (AFSCME).

Sprague has served as president of Local 113 (Council 2) in Everett, Wash., since 1997 and has been an organizer for more than five years.