SILVER SPRING, Md. (Map, News) - National Labor College President Susan Schurman praised Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley as a friend of organized labor, and said he would create a union-friendly environment after years of hostility.

“I think the workers of Maryland will find that the new governor is a great friend” of organized labor, Schurman said. “He appreciates not just the job that unions do in terms of collective bargaining, but in training.”

The governor, along with numerous labor leaders, was on hand Thursday for the National Labor College’s new Lane Kirkland Center dedication in Silver Spring.

The center’s dedication is part of a campuswide refurbishment project, which began in 2003. The refurbishment is part of the college’s push to improve education for union leaders to keep labor organizations relevant in an increasingly global economy.

“The way in which the economy works is changing,” Schurman said. “Most of that is the result of the public policies of free trade as opposed to fair trade. That really has resulted in the outsourcing of manufacturing work. At the same time, the public policy, at least in the last six years, has been aggressively anti-union in terms of allowing workers who want to form a union to do so.”

The power of unions, which was once unrivaled both politically and economically in the U.S. has decreased dramatically in the past two decades. The outsourcing of manufacturing jobs, especially in the auto and steel industries, significantly decreased this power. Globalization has further diluted it.

Schurman said the global environment has changed the makeup on unions. Now, its private sector workers that are in need of union representation to ensure their jobs are not eliminated or shipped overseas. She said the college works to educate union members on this new reality.

“What workers find out if that unions and collective bargaining are important, no matter what kind of industry you’re in, if you want to get a fair shake.” Schurman said. “Union leaders have to do the best job they can to make that case. I think it’s absolutely false to think that unions are not essential to a middle-class standard of living in today’s economy.”

dfrancis@dcexaminer.com