Nevada State AFL-CIO Scholarship Program
Each year, the Nevada State AFL-CIO awards various scholarships to high school graduates seeking post-secondary education such as college, university, vocational or trade school. The 2025 scholarship application is currently open. Please start the application process by visiting thepef.org/scholarships and clicking “Apply Now.”. See below for more detailed instructions.
- Nevada high school seniors in the graduating class of 2025 with a 2.0 or higher GPA may apply for this scholarship. One parent must be an active or retired member in good standing of any local union affiliated with the Nevada State AFL-CIO. Student must be planning to attend a college, university, vocational or trade school. Five scholarships in the amount of $2,000 each will be offered.
- Verification of college enrollment (class schedule) will be required during the summer before the check is mailed to the college. Scholarship funds must be applied toward tuition, fees and other appropriate educational expenses. These funds will be disbursed in equal payments over two semesters.
- Five scholarships in the amount of $2,000 each will be offered. Deadline to apply is January 31, 2025.
Supplemental Questions
- Are you a 2025 Nevada high school graduate?
- Is your parent an active or retired member in good standing of any local union affiliated with the Nevada State AFL-CIO?
- Please list the Local Union & Local Union number of your parent who is an active or retired member in good standing of any local union affiliated with the Nevada State AFL-CIO.
- Statement of your career goals. Please include the name of school you will be attending after high school and your career goals.
- Essay – 1,000 words minimum: Labor unions often play a pivotal role in educating their members about current events, labor policies, and ways to get involved in their union. Politically, most labor unions interview and endorse labor-friendly candidates at all levels, from local to presidential, make campaign donations to these candidates, and conduct campaign programs to mobilize their members to vote for them. Although most labor unions endorsed candidates in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, some unions opted not to endorse any candidate. Should labor unions get involved in politics? Why or why not? What are the advantages and disadvantages?
About the scholarship
The Nevada State AFL-CIO Arnold/Jones/Evans scholarship program is named after three labor leaders who worked tirelessly to behalf of Nevada’s working families to make our labor movement stronger.
In the late 1980’s, Jim Arnold took over the leadership of the Culinary Union Local 226 and increased the membership from a mere 18,000 to over 50,000 members. He successfully guided the organizing of the new Las Vegas hotels and casinos during the 1990’s and headed the union during the six and a half year Frontier strike — the longest labor dispute in U.S history. During his tenure, the Culinary faced several challenges, including a strike at the Horseshoe and organizing the MGM Grand after the resort’s opening in 1993.
Stanley Phillip Jones joined the Sheet Metal Workers Local 26 in Reno, Nevada on May 31, 1946, and graduated from the union’s apprenticeship program in 1948. He was elected as a Local 26 business representative in 1949 and to the same position with the Building & Construction Trades Council of Northern Nevada in 1950. In 1967, Nevada Governor Laxalt appointed him as state labor commissioner, a post he held until 1979. During his tenure, he became the first Nevada labor commissioner elected President of the International Association of Governmental Labor Officials, representing the United States and its territories. In 1983, Governor Bryan appointed him executive director of the Nevada Employment Security Dept. He served three terms on the executive board of the Interstate Conference of Employment Security Agencies. Overall, he worked under five governors of both major political parties in his 33 years of public service while maintaining his status as a dues-paying member of his union.
Claude “Blackie” Evans, who hitchhiked to Henderson at age 17, fibbed about his age to get his first union job and became a major voice of organized labor in Nevada for nearly half a century. At age 17, Evans got a job at Titanium Metals after claiming he was 18, the minimum age for workers. At first, he refused to pay the $3-a-month union dues, but reluctantly joined the union to help obtain a promotion. A short time later, Evans was elected vice president of United Steelworkers of America Local 4856. He was promoted to president in 1961, when Local President Johnny Clements suffered a nervous breakdown during contract negotiations. He held the position of Secretary-Treasurer for the Nevada State AFL-CIO for 21 years.
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