District 1199C Training & Upgrading Fund |Helping Today's Healthcare Workers Prepare for Tomorrow's Workplace
The Training & Upgrading Fund was created by collective bargaining agreements between District 1 199C of the National Union of Hospital & Healthcare Employees, AFL-CIO and 9 Philadelphia hospitals in 1974. Under the provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, the parties agreed to create the Fund to provide educational benefits to union members and the community..
These contracts and subsequent agreements have provided the financial support for the Fund by the employers. In the early contracts, the employers agreed to contribute 1% of gross payroll to the union-management Board of the Fund. After 1992, contracts gradually increased this contribution to 1.5 percent. Today, 55 employers contribute to the Fund.
The trust agreement included a unique clause which has made the mission of the Fund extremely unusual. Most management-union trusts are created to serve only the union members covered by the collective bargaining agreement. But the Fund’s trust agreement directed the Fund to serve the broader community by providing the workers needed by the healthcare workforce. This provision led to an organization which became recognized, particularly in the minority community, as the place to go if you wanted a career in healthcare in Philadelphia.
The basic benefit of the Fund is a Full Time Scholarship Program which allows workers an educational leave, pays tuition costs up to $10,000 per year, provides a cost of living stipend and continues all benefits. There is Tuition Reimbursement Program which pays for courses up to $5,000 a year. The Continuing Education benefit provides all the educational programs offered by the Breslin Learning Center operated by the Training Fund.
- To provide union and community members the opportunity to acquire new skills and jobs with better wages, benefits and working conditions through the establishment of career ladders and the articulation of Fund coursework with college credit and degree programs.
- To identify and respond to changing employment and work requirements in the industry
- To increase labor union and management support of economic and workforce development
- To expose in-school and out-of- youth to careers in health care and human services and help them access educational opportunities.