As another year comes to a close, we need to evaluate what worked, what didn't work and what we need to improve in order to provide our members the best representation possible.

The Good News

The good news is that we were able to settle all of our contract negotiations for hundreds of workers without one day of work lost due to a strike or lockout. Local 853 contracts, for the most part, are still the best in the nation in the industries that we represent.

We organized hundreds of new members and negotiated first contracts for them. Also, Local 921, a great union with a great history, merged into Local 853 this year, bringing the newspaper drivers from the San Francisco Chronicle into our Local. We welcome these new members with enthusiasm .

We added hundreds of new members to the International Union's political action fund, DRIVE, and also registered more new voters among our members than all but one other Local in the state!

Our union is strong because we keep it strong, because our members are informed and involved, and because we care about each other. Also, we continue to push to the edge, developing new programs like the immigrant assistance project described in this issue of Connections, and building on our successes, like our membership appreciation day program. If we become complacent, that’s the beginning of the end. In the coming year, let's keep pushing.

Keep our union strong

Here's how each member of Local 853 can keep our union strong, and keep those good contracts coming in the next year:

• Make sure that you speak positively about your union to outsiders. We can complain among ourselves, but speak positively to those who don’t have the advantages of union representation.
• Greet a new worker in your place of employment positively on their first day. Make them feel comfortable, answer their questions about the job and about the union.
• Talk to a non-union worker about the advantages of the union.
• Come to at least one regular monthly union meeting in the coming year.
• Register to vote, if you haven’t already.

It is not very hard to do these things. If all 6,000 of our members took an active part in our local union, you'd be amazed at how much we could accomplish.

The bad news, of course, has to do with many things that are out of our control. After 8-10 years of good times, the economy is in trouble. The cost of health care is skyrocketing.

And last month, the nation’s voters decided to back President Bush because of the threat of war. They paid little attention to the sagging economy or to the Republican's anti-worker sentiments and their total disregard for what is happening to workers who are losing their jobs by the thousands. The Republicans now control the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. So you can forget about any assistance on the issues that affect workers the most -- health care, safety, and job security -- at least for the next two years. We did a great job in California, though, electing a pro-union governor and state office holders, and with a strong pro-labor majority in the State Legislature. That means that the gains we made in improving the unemployment insurance and workers compensation benefits will be secure. It means that the prevailing wage in the construction industry will be sustained.

A final note for the holidays

The spirit and solidarity of Local 853 was perhaps best exemplified when our members helped our office manager Janine Vanier receive a national award from the Multiple Sclerosis Society for being the largest individual fundraiser in the country! We have made fund-raising for research to cure this disease a goal for our Local. This was a great project for our union, and it shows what we can accomplish for our community. Thanks to all of you who made contributions of time and money for this cause .

Best wishes for a happy and safe holiday season. Spend time with your families. Let us all give thanks for the things we have, and particularly for our ability in this great country to belong to a union that helps win a decent standard of living for our families and ourselves.

Fraternally,
Rome A. Aloise, Secretary-Treasurer

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