Your Union is On the Job for the New School Year

By Teresa West, Chief Steward

This school year has been interesting to say the least and SEIU Local 205 is hitting the ground running to make a difference for our membership.

With the re-structuring of the I.T. Department and the Attendance Officers, SEIU has been helping its members get placed so they don’t lose pay or benefits. Thanks to your Union’s efforts, all of our affected co-workers have jobs instead of pink slips, with no loss in hourly rates or benefits. That’s the Union Difference!

On another front, SEIU fought hard to make sure that Educational Assistants who did not meet the requirements of “No Child Left Behind” weren’t left out in the cold. SEIU stepped up for those employees, working with Management to secure positions for affected employees. Some were placed in vacant positions, some chose to become Bus Monitors, and some are still waiting to be trained and placed as a Bus Monitor. Not a perfect solution, but this action preserved the hourly rate and benefits for our members. That’s the Union Difference!

Finally, I want to give you a good example of how being active in your Union makes the biggest difference of all. Two weeks ago, when our Union brothers and sisters who work at N.E.S. were faced with the possibility of a serious re-structuring of their payplan, workers united and turned out at a massive rally at Metro Council. Over 200 N.E.S. employees stood in solidarity at council to make sure that the politicians got the message to leave their paychecks alone. Rank-and-file union members also made phone calls to their councilmembers with their concerns. Thanks to this demonstration of strength, the scheme to raid the workers’ payplan was scrapped immediately.

This just goes to show that when you are pro-active and back up your words with action, you can make a difference. We are so blessed to have a Union and we are strong enough to make changes... if we take an active role. Find out more about how to get active with SEIU at the Ratification Vote on Sept. 27th or at the next General Membership meeting on Oct. 6 at 4:00 at the Union Hall on 521 Gallatin Road.

Remember, we are stronger together!