During the past year, many of our leaders, activists and staff have been deeply involved in efforts to build and strengthen our union.
We have spent countless hours reaching out to our CSEA brothers and sisters across the state, including knocking on doors, making telephone calls and meeting them at their work sites. Some of you have personally participated in these membership blitzes.
During the blitzes, we learned a few things: that our members welcome one-on-one conversations about their concerns, that they strongly care about their union and that communication is one of the most crucial pieces of unionism.
Even as we must adapt and change to face challenges, we are determined to Never Quit on our union or each other.
During your active careers, many of you have stood strong with your union through some of our toughest times.
After your retirement, you have shown that you are still dedicated to the fight for fairness, whether it’s about your pensions, Social Security and health care, or it’s about ensuring that future retirees are able to have solid retirement security.
You have stood strong with your brothers and sisters — working and retired — whenever politicians or corporate leaders have tried to undermine and everything we have earned. You have helped us use our voices — and our votes — to elect people who make working and retired middle-class people a priority.
In short, you have never backed down from a challenge, and you have Never Quit our union.
We need all of you to help us meet these challenges. Speak with each other; speak with your neighbors and communities. Communication is really the first step in making our union stronger.
For 106 years, we have fought hard for fairness not only for ourselves, but for our communities and future generations.
That’s the heart of CSEA.
That’s the heart of our drive to Never Quit.
