Solidarity Sunday: We Believe
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
This time of year, we reflect on what we believe.
Christians believe in the birth of a savior, which we celebrate as Christmas, and the stories from that event have endured for over 2000 years.
Whether we are religious or not, everyone has a belief system.
It's how we orient ourselves in the world. It's how we make sense of things. We live our lives based on who we believe ourselves to be. It gets instantiated into our identity. And identity drives all behavior.
We are attracted to people who exemplify a similar belief system. We connect with people who share that identity, and we are most likely to trust those who share our beliefs.
We make decisions on employment, on goods and services, on the social groups we belong to, etc. all to validate who we believe ourselves to be in the world, even when we don't realize it.
Union Up was born from a fundamental belief that young people need purpose. They need to be able to learn and leverage a skill set that will sustain them, and wages that can support them, all without driving them into debt. We believe in the dignity and nobility of work in the trades. That belief came from our identity as parents of three very different boys (one of whom makes his living in the trades), raising them at a time when young men are being marginalized.
Union Up was also born from years of working in corporate America and seeing how workers were treated. We believe in free markets and an opportunity economy, however we believe that there must be a hedge against unfettered capitalism, and that there must be a balance between people and profit. We believe that profits exist to serve people, not the other way around. And we believe that the skilled trades unions are uniquely positioned to provide both opportunities.
I knew we could bring our experience and understanding of marketing technology, media, story-telling, persuasion, and digital infrastructure to help grow the community of local unions who believe the same things we do. It's what gets us up in the morning and keeps us going year after year.
We feel most connected and fulfilled when we receive feedback for doing things for our local unions that help them get to where they want to go and serve as many people as they can. It not only helps our clients, but it also validates our own belief system. There is nothing more satisfying than receiving messages like we received this week from one of the locals we serve:
"We just initiated 206 apprentices and we've been averaging 20-25 Journeymen per meeting. We have roughly 750 more members today than when we started. We're 50 members away from 4000. It's exciting times."
We are grateful for every business manager, every E-board, every administration, and every union body who believe what we believe and entrust us with their marketing and communications. We do not take that for granted. Ever.