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New Year's Union Resolutions

by Brenda Shields

Happy New Year to all the members of SEIU Local 205 Memphis City Schools chapter!

I hope you all had time to rest and share fellowship with your families and friends. As we return back to our schools, we face the New Year with a new challenge. I’m talking about consolidation, of course. I, like you, have been following the issue closely and I can say there are a lot of unanswered questions out there. The question that is the most important to me is: will we the workers get a say? It seems clear now that we will only be heard if we demand someone pay attention. But before we get there, we must as one decide where we want to go.

We must protect the things we have built over the years, but we cannot bury our heads in the sand and miss out on any opportunity to make real gains for our families. The future will offer us some difficult choices but we as one must rise to those challenges if we are to be in charge of our destiny.

I remember the words of what newly-elected President Obama said in his inaugural address in January 2009: “Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends—hard work and honesty; courage and fair play; tolerance and curiosity; loyalty and patriotism—these things are old. Those things are true.” True for our country and for our union in these times.

Our union is only as strong as you the members, so that is why I am asking you to take the Union Activist New Year’s Resolution. Can you pledge to come to four meetings a year and participate in one union activity each semester? I know we all live busy lives, but those lives won’t get better until we stand together and make it better. Especially in these uncertain times we have to work together or we will all fall apart.

I wish the best for you and yours this New Year.

Clannon Williams

Clannon William

The Member Spotlight shines on a rising star within the local union: Clannon William. Clannon is the Supervising Building Engineer at Florida Kansas Elementary, he is also a shop steward, and he served on the Memphis City Schools chapter’s Bargaining Committee.

Latest News in Memphis

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    During the first weekend of October, SEIU Local 205 members from all across the state went to Washington D.C. to participate in the “One Nation Working Together” rally, which was held at the Lincoln Monument.
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    We have just started the 2010-2011 school year, and we’re already right back at it. I hope you got some rest during the summer because we have some hard work ahead of us.
  • Memphis Schools Bargaining Committee Chosen
    Building engineers and cafeteria managers from across the city came together to nominate and elect a new Bargaining Committee to represent support staff from Memphis City Schools in upcoming contract negotiations. 
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  • Memphis Workers Cry Foul on Benefit Cuts
    SEIU members from across Memphis came to the School Board to protest cuts to their dental and vision coverage and a 10% increase to individual coverage, which would be a devastating blow to workers and their families.  These draconian cuts come just one week after School Board Superintendent Kriner Cash was voted a doubling of his vacation and sick time and a 2% raise.
  • VICTORY: Workers Win @ Medical Action!
    Inclement weather affected our brothers and sisters in the private sector at Medical Action Industries in West Tennessee. When a supervisor told employees that they had to use paid time off (PTO) after a snowstorm, the workers wanted to have the right to choose between PTO, vacation leave, or unpaid leave. Union stewards heard the workers complaints and delivered the concerns to Management. The next day, the policy was reversed.

Memphis Chapters

  • Medical Action
  • Memphis City Schools