Daughter of Teamsters 2010 Skilled Trades Worker Awarded $5,000 John Lyons Memorial Scholarship
Congratulations go out to Siena Quinn, daughter of San Diego State University facilities electrician and Teamsters 2010 member Steve Quinn, who was awarded a $5,000 John Lyons Memorial Foundation scholarship earlier this week. Her essay on the importance of labor unions along with her school grades made her the top choice out of all other applicants.
Siena starts at UC San Diego the first week of October and will be majoring in Anthropology.
Teamsters Local 2010 President Catherine Cobb and Skilled Trades Board President Cal Mason were on hand to congratulate Siena as Nate Fairman, Executive Board Member of the San Diego Labor Council, presented her with the scholarship.
“Congratulations to Siena Quinn, Steve Quinn, and the whole Quinn family, on your achievement! The Teamsters Union has always supported education. That’s why we support Union scholarships, and why we stand together in our Union to win strong contracts — so that working people can provide a good life and education for our children! We applaud the John Lyons Memorial Scholarship and the San Diego Labor Council for supporting the education of union members and their families. Siena, we wish you the best for your studies at UC San Diego!”
– Jason Rabinowitz, Secretary-Treasurer, Teamsters Local 2010
An excerpt from Siena’s essay:
“Contrasting life in the 1800s and early 1900s, labor unions today are extremely diverse. They represent women, people of color, a great hispanic population and others. This representation helps fight racial wages gaps via pay transparency and correcting salary discrepancies. One of the main goals of labor unions is to prevent discrimination, fight for equal pay and help middle and low-wage working people obtain their fair share of economic growth. They also prompt better benefits, and are generally safer jobs. These unions are helping every type of person in many different aspects of life.
Gravitating towards groups is part of being human. Our natural rights to sensible working environments are meant to be protected. Labor unions provide a means to satisfy a person’s need to belong. Banding together to defend these rights prevents others from taking advantage of the working-class. By allowing negotiation of wages, labor unions encourage individual voices to develop. They defend democracy within America by fighting for laws that will not only benefit their own members, but all working people. The cruelty displayed regarding workers during the industrial revolution cannot be repeated, and labor unions are here to do just that.”
Nate Fairman, Executive Board Member of the San Diego Labor Council, presented the $5,000 scholarship to Siena Quinn and her dad, Teamsters 2010 member and SDSU worker Steve Quinn.