Membership Engagement Matters

—guest post by Casey Parr, respiratory therapist and Local 328 membership chair and bargaining-team member—

Last November, I was elected to a brand new position on the AFSCME Local 328 executive board: membership chair. The goal in creating this position was to better engage both new and existing members of our union. Under ordinary circumstances, engaging the members of a bargaining unit as large and diverse as our union’s is difficult. The COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of in-person access to members and the fact that many of us have converted to remote work have provided additional challenges. We’ve taken steps to digitize our union’s onboarding process, as in-person orientation has been put on pause. We’ve also begun to regularly reach out to our non-members to understand the reasons why they aren’t members.

It is important to us to also appreciate those of you who have stood by your coworkers and your union as we’ve endured the difficult work and life conditions of the pandemic. That’s why we held our inaugural 328 Day last month, on 3/28 — to say thank you to our members. On 328 Day, we handed out free shirts and union swag, dished out 800 burritos from the Tamale Boy food truck and signed up new members. We also had volunteers canvas the OHSU campus to talk about bargaining and hand out snacks to those who couldn’t get away to join the festivities. I’m proud to announce that we’ve signed up more than 100 new members of our union in the less than a month!

Union membership is so important. It doesn’t just mean revenue to help our union pay for resources, trainings, bargaining support and more, but it also shows our union’s strength. OHSU knows how many employees in our bargaining unit pay dues, and takes note of it during bargaining especially. If our membership numbers are weak, it means folks are not engaged with our union. If our membership numbers are high, it means people are paying attention and are willing to stand up and fight for a better contract.

If you haven’t joined our union yet, you can do so clicking the “Become a Member” link on our Local 328 Linktree. If you are unsure about your membership status, or if you have questions about union membership, please feel free to reach out to me at membership@local328.org.