When people think of labor unions and their “representation,”
they usually think about collective bargaining at the negotiating
table, or organizing to represent workers at a particular
worksite, or even representing a worker in a grievance or
contract enforcement process.
When Local 1000 talks about “representation,” it means all of
those things and much more.
When we refer to representation, we are talking about bringing
people together based on a common vision of how things should be.
We know that people who come together for a common purpose grow
power, and it takes power to change anything. Local 1000
understands that our representation at a worksite directly
impacts the workplace, but it also ripples out to impact our
members’ families and their communities.
For instance, the contract we negotiated for our members allows
workers time off to vote, to work the election polls, to
participate in established mentoring programs, to donate blood or
organ transplants, and to engage in important family activities,
among many other things. Certainly these contract
provisions allow our members to hold fruitful and satisfying
employment, but they also allow them to live balanced, happy
lives, because they can perform their civic duties, physically
and emotionally support their families, and raise up their
communities toward betterment.
Our representation also extends beyond our members’ lives.
Some of the most important work we do is about representing
working families everywhere in their struggles to survive
constant attack and their need to be lifted above a system that
unfairly diverts prosperity and opportunity to only the most
wealthy.
