ALBANY — For his considerable and consistent efforts to engage members in unionism, Capital Region Judiciary Local President Scott Gartland was honored with CSEA’s 2016 Membership Achievement Award.
The recognition highlights an individual, group or local whose outreach to new and potential members translates to high membership levels.
Gartland, a New York State court officer, started on the path of union activism in 1998, first becoming a shop steward, then a grievance representative. Since 2009, Gartland has served as his local’s president.
Known as gregarious and keen on debate, Gartland said he was truly “caught off guard” by the award that was presented at our union’s 106th Annual Delegates Meeting in front of hundreds of activists.
“I had no idea and was actually at a loss for words, which doesn’t usually happen to me,” joked Gartland.
Gartland stressed that the award is earned by “the team” at the Capital Region Judiciary Local, who all share in ongoing recruitment efforts that have translated to a consistent 95 percent or higher rate of membership since 2009.
“This is our award, not my award,” said Gartland.
So, what kinds of actions do local officers and activists implement to engage new and existing members? Here is Gartland’s response:
“It’s about activism and having members involved. When we talk with potential members, we never say, ‘You are paying dues, anyway.’ That’s the wrong way. We talk about the two biggest positives, voting on union representation and your contract.
We try to be friendly and inclusive in our approach and we maintain consistent communication with our members through newsletters and meetings.
We also target agency fee payers with contract updates. We even did a special newsletter on women’s health
issues targeting agency fee payers.
We focus on getting in front of new hires. We coordinate with management to make sure our member application is in the new employee packet. New court officers come through the training academy here in the Capital Region, so I do a lunch and learn and explain to them that they are union members, what some of the benefits are and I bring applications right there.
All this resonates with people. That, and the fact that we have a presence. We have a large local in 14 counties, yet we make it a point to do visits, get in front of people as much as possible and stay in touch. Our members know who we are, who their reps are and how to reach us.
Our goal is to make membership mean something and to continue to cultivate a ‘members-first’ culture.
Someone came up to me after a membership meeting recently and said they noticed how well our local works together as a team. That was probably one of the proudest moments I have had as the leader of our team; to have our members recognize that our union is a team, not one person.”
— Therese Assalian
