BCTGM’s Jason Thomas Excels in BCTGM Power Free College Program
Representing manufacturing, production, maintenance and sanitation workers in the baking, confectionery, tobacco and grain milling industries.
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03 Aug BCTGM’s Jason Thomas Excels in BCTGM Power Free College Program

Posted at 08:58h in International Staff, Union Plus BCTGM Power Benefit by

BCTGM International Organizer/Business Agent Jason Thomas had worked at the Bimbo Bakeries USA bakery in Oklahoma City, Okla. for 25 years when he began thinking about earning a college degree.

It was in 2018 while attending the BCTGM’s International Convention as a delegate, that he learned about the Union Plus Free College Program.
“It sounded like a great opportunity for me. I thought why not give it a try,” Thomas recalls.

The Union Plus Free College Program partners with AFSCME and Eastern Gateway Community College to offer online courses and degree programs with no out of pocket cost to active or retired union members and their eligible family members, including spouses and children.

Thomas worked full-time at the bakery while also serving as a business agent for BCTGM Local 65 in Tulsa, Okla. With a 20-year-old daughter attending college, Thomas places a high value on education. He wanted to utilize the unique opportunity to earn a college degree while working full time as a union leader.

Thomas enrolled in Eastern Gateway’s Business Management associate degree program, with a focus on Labor Studies. He has taken classes in a range of subjects, from computer science to the history of the American labor movement.

Thomas has maintained a 4.0 GPA and recently completed his fourth semester. “I’m on the honor roll and I’ve gotten an A in every class I’ve taken. When I got the letter that I made honor roll, I thought, ‘Wow, I did it!’”

Because the classes are all online, union students can work on their own time between coursework deadlines. “I really like it,” he says. “I can go at my own pace and that makes the experience even more enjoyable for me,” he says.

Thomas enrolls in one to two classes at a time. While he says he is not exactly sure when he’ll complete the degree, the pace allows him to enjoy the learning experience while juggling work and family responsibilities.
“I’m taking my time, one class at a time, and enjoying it,” he says.

In March, Thomas was hired as a BCTGM International Organizer/Business Agent, working as organizer and assisting International Representatives and Vice Presidents in the field. Thomas believes that a college degree will contribute to his work for the International Union.

Thomas comes from a long time of proud BCTGM union members. In 1995, Thomas joined Local 173 in Oklahoma City, Okla. when he went to work for Rainbo Bakery. He follows his mother, father, grandfather and grandmother as hardworking members of Local 173. Both his father and grandfather worked for Bond bakeries, and later, his Grandfather retired from a Rainbo Thrift shop. His Grandmother worked as the secretary for Local Union 173. Later, his mother was hired by the Local as secretary and eventually was elected as Local 173 Business Agent. (Local 173 merged with Local 65 in Tulsa, Okla. in 2001.)

To learn more about the Free College Program and its associated benefits, unionplusfreecollege.org.

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