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Back then, the IBEW successfully negotiated for AT&T plants to open on-site training centers to give members an educational boost in case of possible layoffs. Today, with 8,000 members from AT&Ts successor companies Lucent Technologies, Agere Systems and Avaya Communications out of work, ETOP has never been more valued as a vital tool for the former employees. Many of them have found other jobs more quickly or at higher wages than those who did not participate in ETOP.

Five of the original 11 ETOP centers have been closed and more are in danger of shutdown. But as a program that has expanded beyond AT&T plants, ETOP is rebuilding and finding new relevance in a leaner domestic manufacturing industry.

ETOP and IBEW officials met in July with representatives of Illinois Gov. George Ryan to discuss the possibility of ETOP providing workers in IBEW-represented plants with skills upgrades for new manufacturing techniques to keep plants open and preserve jobs. ETOP plans to apply for a $1 million state grant to implement the training program for 5,000 IBEW members employed by Cooper Industries, Federal Signal Corp., Zenith Controls and Penn Aluminum International, among others, said ETOP Co-Executive Director William Dussling.

In Indiana and Ohio, IBEW members at Thomson Multimedia are taking advantage of two new training centers.

IBEW Manufacturing Department Director Bob Stander (left) at the grand opening of the ETOP center at Circleville, Ohio. Line worker Sandy Frazier cuts the ribbon. At right is Tracy Wagnor, Thomson Multimedia human resources general manager.

Over the years, ETOP has helped thousands of members learn new skills, earn a general education development (GED) or work toward a college degree. The ETOP centers, always located on site at the plant, are tuition free.

Though he remains out of work a year after his layoff from Agere, IBEW member Robert Leone credits ETOP for encouraging him to return to school 30 years later. In between shifts, he visited the ETOP center regularly, attending college courses, non-credit classes and familiarizing himself with computers.

"Continuing my education was something I always wanted to pursue but I worked a lot of off-shifts," Leone said, adding that he embraced the convenience of continuing education through ETOP. "For me, it was a new world and a wealth of knowledge." He said he had taken three semesters of courses toward a two-year degree in applied science when he was laid off. He remains eligible for tuition assistance for one more year as part of his Agere benefits.

In April 2001, IBEW negotiators bargained for the programs expansion in the national agreement with Thomson, which operates four IBEW-represented plants. In the 1990s, Thomson opened production and assembly facilities in Mexico. The company later shipped about 3,000 IBEW jobs from plants in Indianapolis and Bloomington, Indiana, to the Mexican site. Recognizing the hardship caused by such a loss of jobs, the IBEW wanted to ensure that the remaining Thomson workers in the United States had the opportunity to increase and diversify their skills in order to have stronger employment prospects in the rapidly changing industrial climate. The two largest plants, Circleville, Ohio, and Marion, Indiana, opened ETOP centers this year.

At the Circleville Glass Operations plant, which produces glass funnels used in color television picture tubes, nearly half of the 750 IBEW members have signed up for fall courses, said Local 2331 Business Manager Tony Blankenship. "On average, probably two-thirds of our members will take some type of training in the next year," Blankenship said.

The Circleville center, which opened in May, is a 4,000-square-foot facility with three classrooms and 40 computers. "Workers can come in before work or after work," Blankenship said. "ETOP accommodates our workers, not the other way around."

ETOP officials opened the Marion, Indiana, center in late August. Approximately 1,000 IBEW members of Local 1160 work at that plant.

The onsite facilities offer several advantages over traditional educational venues. Each has at least two full-time instructorsone offering computer skills assistance and the other career counseling. ETOP boasts a wide range of courses and training based on the particular needs of the work force in each location, said IBEW Manufacturing Department Director Bob Stander.

"The IBEW and ETOP recognize that the programs and their delivery must be tailor-made to fit the individual circumstances of the employers and their workers," Stander said. "Each is unique unto itself. Its not a cookie-cutter operation."

ETOP computer instructor John Conley demonstrates a computer program for Local 2331 members in Circleville.

ETOPs guiding philosophy governs how, where and under what circumstances people will have a positive learning experience. For instance, Dussling said, the centers exist inside four walls in a space completely separate from the work factory. No classrooms are scattered outside the training center. Comfortable chairs, painted walls and easy access to computers, instructors and courses make ETOP an ideal atmosphere for learning.

"People like the ease and comfort of being there and not having to commute between home or work to a training site," Stander said. "We make it as easy as possible for people to participate."

The online courses are particularly helpful for smaller Thomson plants such as Indianapolis, Indiana (Local 1048) and Lancaster, Pennsylvania (Local 1666), where building large ETOP centers is not practical, Dussling said.

A recent study determined that work place learning is the fastest growing sector in adult post-secondary education in the United States, due to a volatile job market where layoffs are common. No one understands the tenuous nature of employment better than the manufacturing industry, which has shed hundreds of thousands of workers in recent years. Programs like ETOP provide an extra measure of security for workers in need of more occupational skills and greater education, just in case.

Downsizing by Agere, Avaya and Lucent demonstrated the value of ETOP just as its founders anticipated. An ETOP survey showed workers who took advantage of ETOP were finding jobs more quickly and/or at higher wages than those who chose not to use ETOP.

ETOP is jointly administered by labor and management but is paid for by signatory manufacturing employers. It is open to IBEW members only but does not cost members or the IBEW anything.