It’s Your Union –
Do Something About It

Whenever I speak with new members at one of our orientation meetings my focus is on membership involvement and opportunities for participation. Local 5 is not just interested in “dues payers,” I say. We are looking for people who want to help build and strengthen our union. Outlined below are a number of opportunities for all members who want to help us in that important task:

 Steward Program

Each Local 5 field representative is responsible for more than 1000 members at as many as 20 or 30 worksites. Simply stated, they can not be in every location every week. The steward is the “eyes and ears” of the union on a day to day basis. Stewards help with simple contract questions, orient new members, distribute information from the union office, and perform a number of other important duties. We offer training and some small compensation for those who are willing to accept this important responsibility. Most of our contracts allow our steward to take a day off with pay to attend a full-day steward training once per year. Don’t think that just because you are a new member or a part-timer that you can’t serve in this capacity. All you need is a strong commitment to your co-workers and our union. If you’re interested in our steward program, contact your union representative.

 Political Activity

Unions get involved in politics in a big way and we do so in the interest of our members and all working families. By electing worker-friendly politicians to office, we help avoid harmful legislation and increase the possibility of passing new laws that benefit all of us. From school board and city council races, to state and federal elections, Local 5 is on the scene working for union-endorsed candidates that will represent the interests of our members. While health care, immigration reform and the Employee Free Choice Act are our current priorities, there are always many issues that require our attention and action.

While we will never be able to match the money of the pro-business lobbyists, we can make our difference with volunteers. Each election year we bring hundreds of members together to talk with voters by phone or in person in order to turn them out to vote for our candidates. The historic election of President Obama was made possible in part, by thousands of union members who worked on the campaign throughout the country. We also do voter registration and fund raising. You can make a huge difference by joining us in this effort. For more information, contact our political director Tony Alexander.

 Community Work/Wake up Wal Mart

By working with religious groups, environmentalists, consumer organizations and community activists, Local 5 helps with worthy causes while building good will for our union. We are at festivals, church and temple events, schools and many other venues to spread the message of our union and to enlist supporters for our critical campaigns. Hundreds of Local 5 members have participated in the last year, many of them focusing on the Wake up Wal Mart campaign. Unless you have been hiding in a cave for a lengthy time, you understand that Wal Mart is the number one enemy for our members and our union. Through our campaign we have made great progress toward changing the shopping habits of consumers and putting economic pressure on this low-wage, low-benefit, low-life employer. If you want to help, call Kelly Martinez at the union office.

 Organizing

Organizing new members is one of the most important roles that any union has. When non-union companies pay their workers below our union scale and offer inferior benefits, it creates an unfair competitive disadvantage for our employers, and a difficult time for us at the bargaining table. Local 5 is moving forward with a number of organizing campaigns in retail stores, food processing facilities and a variety of other industries. If you know someone who is working at a non-union job, get them together with our union organizing department. If you want to work on a campaign, let us know.

There are a number of other ways that you can get involved in our union’s programs and activities. A good start would be to attend a union membership meeting. From there, you can get up to date information on our upcoming activities and have an opportunity to sign up to help.

Finally, most of the activities described above will qualify you for a rebate on your dues of $5 per month as part of our Market Share Protection program. All you need to do is spend four hours of time on behalf of your union to qualify for a $60 total rebate. It’s important, it’s easy and it’s fun. I look forward to seeing you soon at a meeting or at an event.