Unit 14 chair Robert Vega says “union power starts when we use our voices”

For Robert Vega, a 24-year state employee, being in a union means having a voice to change things for the better. He’s spent the last decade as a member leader helping hundreds of members find their voice and encouraging them to use it. 

“When you speak up, things happen,” Robert says. “Everything we’ve accomplished for our members and our union happened when a member spoke up.” 

Vega has served as a member of the Unit 14 Bargaining Team since 2008 and was elected its chair in 2015. 

He represents the state’s printing trades, where the state budget, laws and other documents are printed, as well as the graphic artists who create them. 

Over Vega’s career, there’s been a technology revolution in printing trades that has radically changed the workplace and the skills necessary to generate documents in a digital era. 

Vega is using his voice and the voices of others to protect and grow Unit 14 jobs by ensuring that training and upward mobility opportunities are readily available for today’s printers and designers as well as the next generation. 

Protect your hard-earned contract rights, wages, benefits and retirement. Have a voice in the direction of your union. 
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