Solidarity Sunday: It's About Unity
Isn't it interesting how both major political parties call for unity, yet neither is willing to give one single inch. We're surely not going to talk about politics here because for God sakes, we've all been bombarded into submission by the torrential downpour of political ads that invade every nook and cranny of our TVs, radios, text messages, and mailboxes.
But what we can talk about is unity.
Statistically speaking, half your members are going to vote for the "other" candidate. And if we're recruiting and organizing, that is something we take into consideration. Thinking we are going to find workers to fill job calls and become gainful members of our local union while expecting them to vote the way we want them to is a pipe dream.
The message is rallying around our singular purpose: to stand for the rights of the working people we serve, negotiate for better wages and benefits, and improve working conditions for our members. The further we get out of that scope, the more division we sow within our union halls.
As we move past election day this week and beyond, there are bound to be shenanigans. Shenanigans that, if left unaddressed, can seep into our local unions and tear us apart. Rest assured, politicians on either side at the national level do not give one single damn about our best interest or what's going on locally. Either side. They only care about money and power.
The real influence we have is at the local level. The beautiful thing about a local union is that we reflect the communities and jurisdictions we serve. Just because the powers that be want us to do one thing doesn't mean our membership feels that way. We are as diverse as the people we serve. I hope we will all remember that after election day.
The way we've been able to grow the local unions we serve is to use digital and traditional media to tell compelling stories and humanize our local unions so that others (regardless of race, gender, culture, or political affiliation) see themselves in what we do and want to come join our efforts. We focus on what unites us, not what divides us.
If it is to be, it's going to be up to the local union to stick together, move in solidarity, and affect change locally. What binds us is that we all are working people, and we want what's best for our members. That's something all working people can get behind. We can affect change by focusing on what we can control, what we do have in common, not what divides us. But it does not happen by itself. It takes cultivation, it takes honest dialogue, level-headedness, and leadership.
Speaking on Focusing on What Unites Us...
Those who organize into our local from working non-union do so for their reasons, not ours. Articulating those reasons in their own words is a way to have others see themselves in what we do.
