Karen Bright works the PEOPLE table at a recent conference.
WAMPSVILLE — When Karen Bright isn’t working her day job as a supervisor in the Madison County Department of Social Services’ Office of Children and Family Services, there’s a good chance she’s out somewhere trying to recruit CSEA members to join the union’s federal political action program, the CSEA/AFSCME PEOPLE Program.
It’s something she’s passionate about and it’s one of her top priorities as a union activist and the Central Region PEOPLE Committee Chair.
She’s been at it since 2008 and it’s why she’s been recognized many times as Recruiter of the Month and in 2016, as Recruiter of the Year.
Bright, who also serves as CSEA Madison County Unit vice president, Madison County Local 2nd vice president, and Statewide Board of Directors representative for Madison County, says that recruiting members for the program is challenging, but it’s a challenge that she won’t back away from.
“It’s not easy to recruit members, but it’s worth every ounce of effort,” she said. “It’s the only political action tool we have to fight and it’s the only thing that puts boots on the ground fighting bad legislation and fighting for good legislation that protects all workers. Because no one is going to fight for us, we need to fight for ourselves.”
Bright said the best way to introduce the benefits of the program to our members is to allow a few minutes at membership meetings to explain its importance. Beyond that, she notes the best way to recruit members is with one-on-one conversations.
“The one question I ask everyone is ‘if you’re not willing to fight for yourself, who will?’” she said.
And what keeps her going?
“The knowledge that there are other people out there willing to join our fight,” she said. “That’s what keeps me recruiting.”
— Mark M. Kotzin
