Public Employee Press



Viewpoint
WHY I BECAME AN ACTIVIST

“As I continued to educate myself, I learned about the brutal dilemmas that city workers face: pension cuts, loss of wages, job cuts, privatization, and contracting disputes.”

By TRACYE HAWTHORNE

As a new city employee, I initially did not understand why I had to pay union dues and why I needed a union. I didn’t even know where the dues were going. These were a few of the questions that popped into my head when I began working for the city.

In an effort to educate myself, I started participating in PEOPLE (Public Employees Organized to Promote Legislative Equality), our national union’s political action committee. I learned about the union by attending local and council-wide meetings.

I became a member of my local’s Next Wave committee, where we promote member involvement of newly hired employees and staffing opportunities for 18- to 35-year-old members. The committee’s goal is to engage members by using social media, networking events, and workshops to inform them of union activities and promote educational opportunities.

After beginning to understand why the union was so important, I decided to fully commit and run for shop steward. But with my newly elected position, I came to realize there was still a huge gap in my knowledge about unions. As I continued to educate myself, I learned about the brutal dilemmas that city workers face: pension cuts, loss of wages, job cuts, privatization, and contracting disputes.

While working to educate others, I completed a semester in business law, and received a certificate of completion in labor studies through Cornell University. My studies addressed terrible labor policies, strikes and their aftermath. The program hit home as we learned about the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike by sanitation workers affiliated with our national union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The strike was directly related to harsh working conditions — two workers had been crushed by a garbage truck. Ultimately, the strike resulted in better working conditions, pay and benefits.

While studying, I was also privileged to take part in the inaugural AFSCME Women’s Leadership Academy in 2013. The academy promotes ways to help build our unions through organizing, increasing member awareness and participation through workplace mapping and member engagement. As a participant in the program, I will assist members with their union- approved projects, personal growth as women leaders, organization and steps to build member participation.

As an activist, I have come to believe that we collectively forget the sacrifice, pain and suffering that others endured on our behalf. We somehow are able to simply dismiss those old stories and struggles because that fight was not ours.

I believe we have a sincere obligation to remember how those who came before us — labor and community leaders and activists — diligently sacrificed to pave the way for our future. We owe the same diligence as our predecessors to the future generations. Without our union, we would not have the following benefits: contract negotiations; bargaining rights; prescription drug coverage; job security; due process rights; representation for disciplinary actions; free legal services; access to free education; tuition reimbursement, and dental and vision coverage, and our pensions.

Unions are the last standing institute protecting working families from the attack on their standard of living. I challenge you with the following task: Take time to be involved; educate yourself; be motivated and become an activist.

Eligibility Specialist 2 Tracye Hawthorne is a member of Local 1549.