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In my new member initiation organizing conversation, I tell member to keep their ticket on them at all times, that it's sacred, that before unions were legal we used to hide them in our boots for fear of an ass whooping or worse if discovered. I then go one to say...(1/n)
That there is a whole history of labor in this country that they gloss over, if they even cover it at all, in history class. I go into how this country favors the "Great Man Theory" of history...(2/n)
As well as one other theory of history in particular that I wish I could remember. @as_a_worker I'm hoping you might have some idea of what that other theory could be...(3/n)
anyway, I bring that around to these "Great Men of History" and those who aspire to join their ranks don't want the rest of us to know our power and how much the rest of us have driven history and shaped the world.
That even though our local only has 10% of electricians in Central Texas organized as members, that we STILL drive the wages and conditions here because, even though we are few, the power of solidarity is mighty.
I've found this conversation point to be a very effective tool in sparking a lot of ideas in new members who I get very little time to interact with in the middle of a pandemic. Our goal with this administration has been an empowered rank & file.
Our organizing department now makes sure that we have bound physical copies of the agreement to distribute to members. We tell them to keep that in their tool bag. That hopefully they won't need to reference it too often, but they will need to refence it at least time to time
and if they need, they can always text me and I'll send them a link to a digital copy. If somebody calls me with an issue on the job, the first thing I do is ask them what the CBA says. If they need, I walk them through the CBA.
I then tell them to first, simply bring up the issue with their foreman and show the foreman the language. Often, the foreman hasn't read the CBA either and corrects the issue on the spot. If the foreman refuses, that's when I start making phone calls and emails.
I used to think that some members were a little over the top when it came to enforcing the CBA. I see now that those members knew exactly what they were doing. If we give these fuckers an inch, they take a mile. There's very good reason why we fought for even the oddest...
stipulations in our agreement and if we, the members, don't enforce the agreement, then no one will. Staff at the Hall don't know what's going on at the shop floor unless someone tells us. It's up to the individual member to know the agreement, to call out encroachments...
and alert union officials. Being a union member in a thriving union takes work. Healthy democracy requires work. Not just from staff and officers in the Hall or governing body, but from EVERYONE. When you leave the work to someone else, you're leaving these institutions to rot.
They will fester and fail you just when you need them the most. The Hall is not the union. Decisions are made by those who show up. If you don't show up, some other asshole will.
