Dear Brothers & Sisters in Solidarity,
Just because you haven’t heard from me in a few months doesn’t mean we have been slacking. During the last calendar year the new Executive Board has worked well together to meet the goals we hoped to achieve for the local, and we anticipate continued progress in 2009.
Our newly formed committees have been a success, with most EB members assuming a committee chair position. We have been involved in approximately 47 meetings to date, and I have appreciated both the EB and membership participation. Over the next few months we will extend invitations to the few ‘new members’ we have not yet met, and finish up our ‘unit specific’ meetings which will include our members on Rehab, Wood 4 and Wood 2. The unit reps are indispensable to our local, and the ‘unit rep’ meetings will increase in frequency this year to enhance membership communication.
I hope you are enjoying the flavor of the bulletin boards with our calendar of events, announcements of new unit reps, UNAP legislative agendas, member activities within the community, and last but not least our monthly “Highlight”. We are really having fun with it, and the response from both members and non members has been overwhelmingly favorable. Most everyone has expressed surprise and appreciation to learn a little something extra about someone they thought they knew. People have reported that they look forward to the beginning of the month to see who will be on display next. Maybe you’re secretly considering being a “Highlight” yourself. Just choose a month and it can be yours!
Although we are selective, over the past several months, there have been several grievances filed. While our goal is to settle a dispute without filing a grievance at all, sometimes we are given no choice. Once a grievance is filed, we follow the grievance procedure attempting to come to a settlement. Most of the time this is possible, however there are some grievances for which the parties are unable to come to an acceptable solution. In these cases the grievance moves to arbitration. Currently one grievance is actively being arbitrated, and a few others may also find their way to an arbitrator. While most of you will never be involved in a grievance, let alone an arbitration, you should be aware that some of your colleagues have been called upon to defend themselves, or come to the defense of another member.
To come to the defense of another is quite remarkable. To step out of your cocoon for someone you may have never met before is even more impressive. Yet this is what our members have done in the past, and when called upon, continue to do for each other to this very day. It is after all what being a union member is all about. While it may not be your reputation, your credibility, or your job on the line today, you know that tomorrow is a different day. Maybe that is why, when called upon, members of our local have consistently demonstrated support for their colleagues. Their willingness to participate in the process of defending actions they believe to be right and just is predictable, and has been a cornerstone of our local for many years.
If there is one thing that is emblematic within our local it is the unquestionable strength of our individual members to welcome a challenge, to be respectfully assertive, and never be intimidated into silence. It is for all of these reasons that I am honored to represent you as President of the Local, and will try my best to never let you down.
Rita Brennan, RN
President