ORGANIZING
Organizing is the solidifying of relationships among workers, citizens, and supporters to create a community of interest with political power. Organizing is not an event, a website, or a social function. It doesn't happen when you sign a petition, pay your union dues, or merely join an organization. Organizing happens when you share your interest with others, build a relationship between individuals, and then create a structure that will help others grow your organization and create institutional memory. Because we lose one quarter of our unit each year, GAU is in a constant "crisis" to organize new leaders and members.
Unions are not "services" like car washes or attorneys on retainer. Your dues barely cover the fundamental operation of our organization. The work we do is for each other. It might be said, ask not what your union can do for you, but what you can do for the union! If you don't help, the union could be gone tomorrow. At the very least, we will lose our contract gains.
GAU learned the value of grassroots organizing when the state legislature threatened its existence in 2003-2004. Choosing to avoid an "easy" legal route in the courts, we had thousands of conversations with grads like you, almost all of whom signed "authorization" cards saying they wanted GAU to remain their union. In these conversations, we also built volunteer cadres in the lab sciences, medical fields, and strengthened our existing ties to the humanities grad employees. Most imortant, we renewed our commitment to international issues and won the struggle for health benefits. This all happened because of thousands of one-on-one conversations, not because of a slick communications campaign or efficient email list-serve.
GAU could certainly use more money, more resources, and more paid staff to help our cause. But we have learned over the years that cash and help from our national organizations, while appreciated and important, is no match for the collective work of hundreds of volunteers. The most important thing you can do for the union is to organize your colleagues, fellow scholars, neighboring teachers, and laboratory partners. Conversation, dialogue, and question-answering (not argument) are the vital ingredients to building relationships that will sustain organizing.
Our budget is small. Most of our work is done by volunteer grads like you. All it takes is an hour a week. The members of our organizing committee tell us that the time they spend doing union work is the most rewarding work they do at the university.
Let's not wait for administrators, faculty, and staff to make UF the best place to teach and research. Take responsibility for your own future, the future of the union, and the future of UF. Become a member of the organizing committee today. Contact us at organizing@ufgau.org for more information. We hold training sessions throughout the year on how to talk about the union. You don't need to know a lot, you just have to care enough to get involved.
Organizing is the solidifying of relationships among workers, citizens, and supporters to create a community of interest with political power. Organizing is not an event, a website, or a social function. It doesn't happen when you sign a petition, pay your union dues, or merely join an organization. Organizing happens when you share your interest with others, build a relationship between individuals, and then create a structure that will help others grow your organization and create institutional memory. Because we lose one quarter of our unit each year, GAU is in a constant "crisis" to organize new leaders and members.
Unions are not "services" like car washes or attorneys on retainer. Your dues barely cover the fundamental operation of our organization. The work we do is for each other. It might be said, ask not what your union can do for you, but what you can do for the union! If you don't help, the union could be gone tomorrow. At the very least, we will lose our contract gains.
GAU learned the value of grassroots organizing when the state legislature threatened its existence in 2003-2004. Choosing to avoid an "easy" legal route in the courts, we had thousands of conversations with grads like you, almost all of whom signed "authorization" cards saying they wanted GAU to remain their union. In these conversations, we also built volunteer cadres in the lab sciences, medical fields, and strengthened our existing ties to the humanities grad employees. Most imortant, we renewed our commitment to international issues and won the struggle for health benefits. This all happened because of thousands of one-on-one conversations, not because of a slick communications campaign or efficient email list-serve.
GAU could certainly use more money, more resources, and more paid staff to help our cause. But we have learned over the years that cash and help from our national organizations, while appreciated and important, is no match for the collective work of hundreds of volunteers. The most important thing you can do for the union is to organize your colleagues, fellow scholars, neighboring teachers, and laboratory partners. Conversation, dialogue, and question-answering (not argument) are the vital ingredients to building relationships that will sustain organizing.
Our budget is small. Most of our work is done by volunteer grads like you. All it takes is an hour a week. The members of our organizing committee tell us that the time they spend doing union work is the most rewarding work they do at the university.
Let's not wait for administrators, faculty, and staff to make UF the best place to teach and research. Take responsibility for your own future, the future of the union, and the future of UF. Become a member of the organizing committee today. Contact us at organizing@ufgau.org for more information. We hold training sessions throughout the year on how to talk about the union. You don't need to know a lot, you just have to care enough to get involved.
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