NATCA Recognizes Scholarship Winners: Anna Forbord

Sep 25, 2025

Every year, NATCA offers a scholarship program for spouses, children, stepchildren, and legally adopted children of active, retired, and deceased members in good standing for at least two consecutive years. This scholarship is for full-time attendance at accredited colleges and universities within the United States and its territories for an undergraduate degree program.

This year's prompt asked candidates to examine the factors that can either strengthen or weaken labor unions.

Anna Forbord, child of Jared Forbord (Minneapolis Center, ZMP) is among this year's 20 scholarship winners. Read the essay that Anna submitted below:

American workers are divided, and today's volatile political climate is to blame. At this moment, thousands of unionized federal employees, regardless of political beliefs, are anxious at the prospect of losing their careers. Thousands more have already been fired. Union members who support the current administration are conflicted about whether they should continue to obey President Trump by complying with the DOGE's demands, or support the efforts of their unions in protecting job security. Conversely, Democratic employees may feel resentment towards their Republican-voting coworkers, who inadvertently enabled the current overhaul of federal agencies. Besides conflicting political beliefs, seniority can also drive a wedge between union members. Some companies hire employees on a lower pay scale than their experienced counterparts, creating an omnipresent culture of inequality in the workplace. Furthermore, probationary employees are often the first to be laid off, exemplified by the recent mass firings of government workers across multiple agencies who had been on the job for less than a year. Today's frequent firings and two-tier pay scales contribute to employees feeling dissatisfied with their union's representation of them. However, in ideology and priorities, America's unionized workforce is incredibly divided. While it is impossible for all union members-the young and the old, the Republican and the Democrat-to agree completely, there are steps union leadership can take to build a more harmonious union.

To address the growing political divide among union members, it is imperative that unions refrain from formally endorsing a political candidate. Republican members of many labor unions may feel alienated due to the AFL-CIO's 2024 endorsement of Kamala Harris for President, and this endorsement likely contributes to many Republicans not joining their local unions altogether. Although the Democratic Party is arguably the more pro-labor party, due to their championing of workers' rights and focus on rebuilding the middle class, it would be in the best interest of union leadership to remain neutral in national elections. This would not only help improve the working relationship between the union and the new administration in the event that the union's preferred candidate didn't win-it would also reduce the "us vs. them" mentality that plagues modern politics among union members with diverse beliefs. As a result, unions would be stronger and more collaborative. Removing the focus on politics would free up leadership to purely advocate for improved workers' rights, pay, and benefits, which would increase the trust that union members place in their leaders. Leadership should act in their members' best interest by fighting all unfair questions about worker productivity, and aggressively pushing back against mass firings. They should also oppose any two-tier pay scales instated by the government or the company; not accepting a new contract until these discriminatory tactics designed to create a rift between employees are abolished. These actions would help establish an environment of trust in unions, because it would be apparent to union members that their leadership was placing their rights, pay, and dignity above all else.