|
How King County Library was won
Organizing a campaign to recruit 550 employees for union membership takes careful planning, coordination and intense effort.
It also takes time. After all, the benefits of belonging to a union need to be explained to each individual if possible. Questions need to be answered. The message needs to be reinforced. Co-workers need to convince their colleagues why union membership is so valuable.
King County Library employees celebrate their decision to join Council 2
 |
All that work faces the ultimate test when the employees vote. So it was that, when hundreds of King County Library staff voted for union membership Dec. 3 2002, a year’s strenuous work was put to the test.
It passed handsomely.
In an 88 percent turnout, librarians, library assistants and technicians voted by the strong margin of 298 to 157 to join Council 2.
All the effort put into a year-long campaign was rewarded.
“This is the largest local government election in memory that we have won,” says Council 2 President/Executive Director Chris Dugovich. “Congratulations go to the employees who made it happen. We are looking forward to representing them for a long period of time.”
Dugovich thanked full-time campaign assistant Susan Cole and Council 2 staff organizers Bill Keenan and Bill Dennis for the work they did in coordinating the efforts of the new members.
Keenan, who spearheaded the campaign, attributed the successful outcome to several factors.
• One was the hard work of the organizing committee of 47 who put huge amounts of their own time into the campaign.
The committee consisted of employees from nearly every one of King County Library’s 42 branches, with some of the bigger branches having more than one member. They volunteered early in the campaign. “Without them, this would not have happened,” says Keenan. “They were willing to use their names and their pictures on flyers and campaign materials.
“And they put together several effective newsletters as well as establishing a sophisticated Web site.”
The committee was formed during a series of public meetings held in March 2002 by Council 2 for all the employees at various sites throughout the county. “We told them about the union, introduced ourselves and recruited people for the committee,” Keenan explains. “We decided right from the outset that we were not going to be able to campaign successfully until we had the committee in place.”
• Another factor was the leasing of a van to serve as a “vehicle for change.”
Dubbed the KCLS (for King County Library System) Organizing Van, it was driven by Council 2 staff to all 42 branches where organizing committee members helped serve refreshments, distribute union materials and field questions. Magnetic signs on the van urged library staff to “Make a choice, gain a voice” by voting union.
• A third factor was the hiring of Cole to work full-time on the campaign shortly after it began. She is a former president of the Pierce County Library Local and therefore brought with her knowledge both of Council 2 and of libraries.
Working with Council 2, the organizing committee put together a mission statement and set out goals for the campaign. After that Cole ensured the goals were met.
“All information, newsletters, e-mails and telephone calls were funneled through Susan,” Keenan says. “She did an outstanding job of working with the committee.”
Keenan says the library staff voted to join Council 2 because they believe the union can help them obtain a voice in the policies and procedures of the library and a say over their working conditions, two major issues that concern them. They say many policies and procedures are implemented with little notice and no input from them.
Changing technology also is a concern, as are changes in job duties. Staff fear that work will increasingly be shifted to employees with lower classifications without the commensurate compensation. Involuntary transfers between branches are an additional concern.
The newly formed union is proceeding with new committees to adopt a constitution, conduct an election of officers and initiate contract negotiations. Council 2’s John Cole will serve as their staff representative. |
|
