Our time spent so far!

We’re halfway through the Union Summer Program and couldn’t be more pleased with what we’ve done so far. We worked at collecting the district zip codes of State Senate and Assembly members. It was more difficult than we expected but we prevailed, resulting in a feeling of gratification at the end of the three-day process. It included phone calls, faxes and tedious Internet searches but overall we were very proud of all our work. Sean, our site coordinator, made sure we were motivated and tried to help as much as possible in the process also. We went to Queens to meet with the IAMAW to learn about house calls. We had training where we learned how to speak to the workers who we would be trying to have join the union. The more workers are in a union, the stronger the union is that can then use their power to help protect workers and their rights. Unions are an important part of the structure of a workplace because it allows for workers to voice their opinions about issues without risking being fired. When we went on the house calls it was frustrating that some people no longer worked for the company or no longer lived at that address, however those that we had the opportunity to speak to were responsive. We’ve worked with Pathmark to help leaflet about the possible strike that might take place in Pathmark, Stop and Shop, and King Kullen We went to an informational picket with the American Postal Workers Union that supported the workers fighting to work on Saturdays. Less days worked means less days of pay and more layoffs that would result in overworking of the remaining postal workers. Our work with the Machinists continued over the next few weeks starting with a visit to the Delta shareholders meeting. While shareholders met inside to discuss the company, we and other Delta employees stood outside to distribute informational flyers on what the union hoped to accomplish. While we continued to leaflet for the Delta campaign outside the office, inside the office time was spent calling council members and asking them to sign letters of solidarity supporting the employees organizing campaign. This past week we saw the results of all our leafleting at a barbeque aimed at the JetBlue and Delta employees. Other work that we have done included a visit to the Carpenters union rapid response event where we listened to the unemployed voice their concerns. We also distributed information about how to speak with creditors and how certain organizations can help with health insurance support, amongst other information about immigration services, how to file for unemployment and a packet on how to cope with being unemployed while at the meeting. All in all our time has been spent experiencing the movement and learning from our experiences.