What I Hope To Accomplish

This past year I volunteered to be a part of the bargaining team to work on the negotiations for our new contract. I knew there would be a lot of hard work and long hours, but I never realized that I would push to start this members’ column. I hoped to start a forum where we could share ideas on all things union, which could start a sense of pride and dedication to our membership in SEIU.

If at anytime your life is not “perfect”, changes can make it better. That goes for your job, relationships, home; anything that you deal with on a day-to-day basis. The change can be simple or complex, but in the end, the changes we make to improve our situations are welcome after a short period of alterations to our lives.

Much is the same in improving our union. Often I am met with the attitude of “What have you done for me lately?” This, although somewhat warranted, is only part of the problem. The solution is two-fold, and must be met equally by both the member and the union in order to find an equitable solution.

The first thing that members can do is becoming more active in the union. By attending the monthly general membership meeting, members can have the chance to hear what our union is doing at the facilities to improve our situation. You can talk to our executive members that we elected to represent us, as well as meet members from other facilities. It is disappointing that more members do not take the time to attend these meetings.

Another thing that we as members can do to strengthen our union and others is pay attention to what is happening in other unions. With less than 15% of our nations workforce represented by collective bargaining agreements, we are the true minority in the labor force. However, without us effecting change in our work environments, all of us as a society stand to lose the protections that we all have from the struggles of the past. Pay attention and visit other union websites, we can see what positive things our brothers and sisters are doing in their workplaces, as well as seeing where we can be supportive of work stoppages and boycotts that have been called for.

When we patronize any business that has a work stoppage or boycott for legitimate reasons, we are only placing ourselves at risk, because we essentially are saying to the business that it is all right when they are not working towards making their workplaces more equitable for all concerned.

You can also participate in writing your ideas in this column. I am only one voice in this, and it is my hope that other members will have ideas and thoughts to pass on and share with all of us. Don’t be shy or embarrassed to share your ideas, but let’s work towards building our union up with constructive ideas, rather that hashing over only negatives.

Constructive debate. This is probably the main reason I wanted this column to begin. Too often in blogs and writings, we start to tear down rather than build up. That is the difference between constructive versus destructive debate. Let us work towards logical and positive interaction to improve our situation.

Too often, we as members begin to look at our union as a business providing a service rather than a collective force working together for common interests. When this happens, the union quickly loses power and influence which is needed to defend the members interests. When the employer sees only a small group of paid union staff or elected union officials with no one standing behind them, the employer will see a union that is weak and nothing to concern himself with, and in fact, when this occurs, the employer is probably right.

Let’s not give the employers more power than they deserve! Let’s take our power back and work towards positive changes in our workplaces and communities! To paraphrase and change slightly the words of John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your union can do for you, ask what you can do for your union!”

Remember it is Solidarity Today, Solidarity Tomorrow, Solidarity Forever!

Mark Freeman
SEIU member
Methodist Hospital