Page 10 - Work Force November 2016

Danny Donohue, Statewide President
Member Engagement requires Awareness, Relationships, Responsiveness
Mary E. Sullivan,
Statewide Executive Vice President
We must return to our roots
CSEA’s 106th Annual Delegates Meeting is one of the most exciting opportunities in our history.
Our nation is on the verge of an historic choice and so is our union.
We can embrace hope or we can fall to our fears. We can seek to lift each other up and move forward or we can slide backwards into polarizing bickering.
It’s a free country and we are a democratic union. Each of us must recognize the consequences of our individual choices and what they mean for us both individually and collectively.
It’s the choice before us in our national election and it’s the choice we face for the future of CSEA. Nothing is more important.
on things they care about. Things that matter. Things that affect us all.
We discover those things by listening carefully.
We move forward together when we hear each other and recognize we each have a role and responsibility to make the union work.
Member engagement is about three related things: Awareness, Relationships and Responsiveness.
Awareness begins with caring about who you are, what you value and what you can do about it. CSEA, at its core, is about valuing people and a commitment to advocating for fairness and respect — on and off the job.
It must be the mission of CSEA leaders — at all levels — to communicate our common
Good afternoon CSEA brothers and sisters, We are at a crucial point in our history, where we have to decide if we are going to be proactive in bringing about a resurgence of union strength, or whether
we will continue to stand on the sidelines
and watch the successes of those who came before us — the strength and power that we have gained — be continually diminished by corporate and legislative greed.
The labor movement’s beginnings were simple. Those who came before us didn’t always agree on everything, but they believed working people should be afforded certain basic rights: a living wage, safe working conditions, a quality public
— which had defined unionism for so long — has declined. The union spirit has lost its relevance; to many, it’s now something we
just do: Another meeting to check off the
list, another form to complete. We are losing the heart and soul of what made the labor movement both powerful and meaningful. We’ve lost the sense of belonging to something greater than ourselves.
Brothers and sisters, it is important for
all of us to remember why we are here, and we must return to our roots. We must have meaningful conversations and bring back our sense of community. We should all take time to learn more about the history of the labor
I know each of you will make the right choice. I’m confident you never quit.
You never quit on the job. You never quit on your co-workers. You never quit on your community and
for damn sure never quit on your union.
“The efforts of CSEA leaders must focus
on making all feel welcome and creating an environment that brings people together, as individuals.”
values. We also have to share information in a way that makes sense. It’s not enough
to tell people something if they don’t really understand what
it means for them. We can’t expect people to be responsive if we haven’t done all we can to help them understand. Talk to people, not at them and ask
education system, health
benefits, job security, and
dignity in retirement.
These shared principles
brought workers together,
and they were willing to
put aside their differences
and dedicate time and
energy to increasing labor’s
strength, working united
toward common goals.
Our predecessors attended
meetings, went on strike,
walked on picket lines, and sometimes, were even killed, all for the right to proudly proclaim, “We are the UNION!”
Unfortunately, times have changed.
There are a number of reasons why the labor movement has lost its way, but one
of the hardest ones to swallow is that we have, collectively, become complacent. Our movement no longer feels like collaboration, it feels like a transaction. We’ve become grievance handlers instead of allies, contract negotiators instead of activists. We’re pushing fewer social causes, and instead pushing
more paperwork. And over time, the sense of community and shared social responsibility
I know you care and are
committed to working together — using our diversity as strength to make our union better.
for their feedback and hear it.
It is also our responsibility as leaders to
ensure that our values are modeled through all that we do and communicate as a union. Actions speak louder than words.
All of this leads directly into Relationships. If the members ARE the union, then all have to feel it and embrace ownership. CSEA members must feel connected to one another directly, not simply as dues payers to some third party that just provides services for them.
The connection comes from Relationship building. It begins worksite by worksite.
There are many things we can do on a statewide basis to make individual members feel better connected to their union. But there
President, continued on page 15
When we say we never quit, it’s not just a slogan. It’s an oath to work harder and do better because it will lead to a better result.
The world is changing rapidly around us every day. CSEA must change, grow, and adapt just to keep up.
That is no small commitment.
In this time of fundamental change, there’s good news to appreciate. We continue to have strength in numbers and our collective power is a tremendous asset.
But we must better harness our collective power.
That’s what it means when we say member engagement — it’s bringing people together
10 The Work Force
November 2016
“We have seen and experienced first-hand that our members still believe in our union and the labor movement — no matter how frustrated they might be with their individual situations — and they WANT to talk about our union.”
movement, the history of our Union. Our children should hear about unions and the labor movement when we sit down for supper. Our schools don’t teach labor history anymore. It’s now our responsibility.
The Never Quit blitzes are a very promising first step in starting those conversations, and they were well received. We have seen and experienced
first-hand that our members still believe in our union and the labor movement — no matter how frustrated they might be with their individual situations — and they WANT to talk about our union. They want to be heard, and they also want to listen. These conversations need to continue on the local level and on the worksite level — we need
to start them at union meetings, over the phone, in the workplace lunchrooms, and in our homes with our families. We need to be asking each other: “what will we lose if the union goes away?” And, more importantly,
Executive Vice President, continued on page 15
2016 Annual Delegates