Union Participation Required

Your unions are only as strong as your participation. All union members of all unions need to read and understand their union contracts , and the rules and regulations. They need to know all elected officials of their unions, local and national. Are your dues paid to the local or national union coffers? Also, where, exactly, do your union dues go? What are unions’ supporting or investing our dues in? Trust but verify. When and where are your union meetings held? When are the election of your officers? What elected jobs are there and what volunteer jobs are there in your union. What is happens if a union member is charged with a violation of union rules? What training is there for your union? When you have the answers to the above questions, then it’s time to learn about your union’s history and the labor movement. The good and the bad because you cannot defend your union if you don’t know all bout your union’s history and the history of the labor movement. Just like the Art of War says, know yourself and also you must know your enemy—the nonunion people and if you know both you have a good chance to win your fight with the ignorant and the GOP anti-union people. This fight will never end. How willing are you prepared to protect your union? There should be classes and films on our history shown at union meetings and also on how to act on picket lines on strikes. we need to know the laws and history. There are lots of books available on the history and importance of unions--should labor halls have library for books to be available to check out? There is a lot to know about being a good union member. It is not just paying dues and going to work. There are a lot of greedy people who would like to see unions go away and have you working at a minimum wage with no healthcare, pension, and no safety on the jobs. Remember, a union is only as good as the members makes it.