 By SHERRY HALBROOK How different would your life be if your home wasn’t connected to electrical power? Phone lines? Water or roads? Without such connections, you would be isolated and struggling just to survive. The better you’re connected, the more opportunities and choices you have. Great connections enable you to become efficient, effective and powerful. That’s why PEF is working so hard to get you connected to its network of fully mobilized divisions and its online member network. Every new connection builds the power and effectiveness of both you and the union. Grid expanding fast At least 68 divisions are now plugged into PEF’s grid of fully mobilized divisions. They stretch from Long Island all the way to Chicago, where an outpost of PEF members at the NYS Department of Tax and Finance are ready to respond to the union’s call, because they know decisions made in Albany can profoundly affect their work and their contract. They may be geographically remote, but through their mobilizer structure every member of Division 341 in Chicago is just as connected to other members and the union leadership as their counterparts working in Albany. “In just six months, nearly one in three PEF divisions have developed effective internal structures for member communication,” said PEF President Roger Benson. But 160 divisions have yet to achieve full mobilization, so the work continues — division by division, mobilizer by mobilizer, until each division has one mobilizer for every nine members. Meanwhile, PEF continues to build its online network of Active Informed Members (AIM) who receive updates at their home e-mail addresses every week, and sometimes more often, on the latest news, events and activities in the union and labor community. Feel the power “We’re building these networks, so every member can be fully informed and involved in this union,” Benson said. He advises members to “ask yourself: ‘Are the coming PS&T contract negotiations important to me? Do I want to talk to my contract team about issues and priorities? Do I want to support my team when the negotiations get intense? Do I want answers to my questions while the negotiations are underway? Most important of all, do I want the state to know that we mean business and it can’t brush aside our issues?’ If your answers are ‘Yes!’ then get connected. “When you are plugged into our Member Mobilizer Network and our AIM network, you know what’s going on and how to help,” he said. “And it’s not just for our coming contract negotiations, these networks work equally well for getting out the word about local as well as statewide events and issues, such as state budget cuts and important legislation. Join PEF’s AIM network Start getting connected by e-mailing pefonline@pef.org to enroll through your home e-mail address in the AIM network. Give them your name, job title and worksite. Tell them if you are a nurse or a military veteran, so you can get updates on those issues too. Any personal information you provide will be used only by the union to keep you informed and will not be shared with anyone else. Mobilize your division As valuable as being part of the AIM network is, it cannot give you or PEF the same advantages as getting your division fully mobilized. “Full mobilization gives your division the internal communications and structure it needs to get urgent messages to you and your co-workers fast and organize immediate, effective responses,” Benson said. “We’re not just talking about contract rallies. Your division may need to alert you to a worksite safety emergency, or to a local labor-management issue that requires an immediate show of solidarity,” he said. The Member Mobilizer network also gives you the power to quickly alert PEF stewards, officers or staff to problems or issues. If you are not sure whether your division is fully mobilized, ask your steward or a division officer. If it’s not, volunteer to be a member mobilizer and help recruit other mobilizers. For help or to register your fully mobilized division, call PEF’s Member Mobilization and Education Department at 1-800-342-4306, ext. 328. |
Tips
for getting your division fully mobilized: |
“I saw that by linking
individual members to a co-worker who was their member
mobilizer, that would put a real ‘face’ on PEF,
in a good way.”