” I don’t want a target on my back!”
So many times we hear this from the membership whenever it is suggested that they speak up, file a grievance, or actively participate in our union. It’s clear that fear remains, and probably will always be, a powerful motivator to keeping workers in line.
I hate to break it to you, scooter, but if you’re union, you live with a target on your back. Your union officers, or anybody who sticks up for their rights at work, can attest to this. The company target the weak, the non-committed, those who are content to “go-along to get-along”.
Every wrong committed by management is a gut check to see who will stand and who will fold.
It’s common, with a union, to have certain shops or work centers to have stronger solidarity within their groups than other departments. These are the people who use the union as it was meant to be used by being active and participating members. It’s not that these people catch less flak from management, it means they deal with it as a united front, often getting better results than other departments who have less solidarity.
Too many times, our members are called into the office and told that they have to change their timecard because they don’t get this or that for their time worked. They meekly acquiesce and blindly obey what their manager tells them and obeys. No sooner than they leave the bosses office, they are complaining to co-workers or blaming the union for them being cheated.
For the union to stand up for you, you have to be willing to stand up for yourself! If it’s in our collective bargaining agreement, you can count on the union to back you 100% with all the resources at its disposal.
If it’s NOT in the CBA, and you think it should be, the union will address it in the next CBA’s bargaining session. This is how a collective bargaining agreement develops and evolves. It does so with precedents set from grievances, arbitrations, and memorandums of understanding (MOAs), adding to what we bargain at contract time. Our bargaining power comes from YOU, the membership. Our strength of bargaining is directly proportionate to the amount of solidarity, commitment, and engagement of the union body at large.
If you’re afraid of that target on your back, you’ll carry it a lot easier with the whole union helping you bear the load. After you get used to speaking out and standing up, you’ll wear that target like a badge of honor.
That’s what it means to be union!
