But it's a new year, and we have new opportunities ahead of us. There will be new challenges, to be sure, and there will be even more changes in the postal service, as well as in the union. Some of the changes may not be welcome or pleasant, but that doesn't change the fact that they are coming.
We need to bond together as a union, now more than ever, as the postal service changes and morphs into something completely different than it's ever been before. United we stand. There is strength in numbers. It's cliche, but it's very true.
Do you work with someone who's a scab? Encourage them to join the union. I used to cringe when I heard the word scab, and I was reluctant to apply it to anyone. But that's no longer the case. The fact is that a scab is a scab; they benefit from the work of the union and the dues of the members, but don't commit at all to the cause of the union or the work that needs to be done.
How do we encourage non-members to join? It's a challenge to be sure. There are some people who simply will not join the union, regardless. But there are others who need the right nudge or motivation or encouragement... these are the ones to encourage, to educate, and to work on.
I worked with another clerk for many years. She was a scab and said she wouldn't join the union because she'd never known the union to do anything for her personally. She couldn't see the forest for the trees. The big picture of wages and benefits negotiated for all postal workers was lost on her, because she'd had minimal or no representation by the union when she needed it. She is an MAL and has no local to turn to; her district rep was busy and somehow she fell through the cracks.
An occasion arose when this person was disciplined for an alleged safety violation. I went to bat for her, representing her as wholeheartedly as I would represent a union member. The result was that she joined the union immediately. She's no longer a scab.
We're busy enough representing members, and there is a degree of resentment toward those among our ranks who are parasites, benefiting from our wages and hard work, and expecting to be represented when they need it, without contributing anything to the union, financially or otherwise. Yet these are the people we need to recruit and to organize. Membership is down; PSE's are encouraged to join the union, and that's wonderful. We need every member we can get. But new employees alone aren't enough.
Reach out to a scab... see if you can figure out a way to persuade them to join forces with us and to become part of our union, to be a brother or sister in our family.
In solidarity,
Maria
