Category Archives: Membership Building

JUST PLAIN UNIMAGINATIVE UNION LEADERSHIP Let’s assume that the federal government creates a new agency with tens of thousands of employees throughout the country and that agency quickly earns a reputation as a terrible employer. Obviously, unions would be deeply interested … Continue reading

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WHAT SHOULD THIS EMPLOYEE’S PENALTY BE? The employee in this not-so-hypothetical story has been with TSA for just over a year working as a Financial Specialist.  Prior to that, he had 22 years in the military. On the day in … Continue reading

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CAN SOLAR PANELS BOOST UNION MEMBERSHIP? One way unions attract new members is by offering benefits, especially economic benefits, only to members. The benefit must be attractive by itself, the savings substantial, and the deal limited only to members. But … Continue reading

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GAO GIVES UNIONS A WAY TO BUILD THEIR IMAGE, RELATIONSHIPS, & MEMBERSHIP An agency recently asked the General Accountability Office (Comptroller General) if it could use agency funds to buy refreshments for an employee CFC rally designed to boost contributions. … Continue reading

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FOLLOW THE MONEY AFGE has done it, NFFE has too, and now NWSEO has as well. They have all “put their money where their mouth is” and admitted that “it takes money to make money.”  The point is that each … Continue reading

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WHAT TO DO ABOUT ZOMBIE LOCALS What is a zombie local?  It is a single local of a successful national union, that has chronically low membership, e.g. fewer than 30% of the unit employees belong. It enjoys all the protections … Continue reading

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CONGRATS TO AFGE FOR MEMBERSHIP GROWTH According to the Dept. of Labor AFGE has increased the number of employees paying dues every year since 2000 when 197,000 federal employees were members.  Today, DOL reports AFGE has over 301,000 dues paying … Continue reading

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NTEU ADDS ANOTHER BARGAINING UNIT It has been a long time since the National Treasury Employees Union organized only employees of the Treasury department.  Today, it represents employees of dozens of federal agencies, and in the last few months has … Continue reading

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AN OPEN LETTER FROM UNION REPRESENTATIVES Outlined below is a draft of an e-mail message, flyer, posting, etc. that any union could use to remind the average unit employees how much more power union representatives have than employees, private attorneys, … Continue reading

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100,000 NEW UNION MEMBERS That is how much AFGE’s total membership increased between January 2001 and January 2013. It just reported to the Department of Labor that it has a total of 299,642 members. Congrats to them for all the … Continue reading

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