WHEREAS:
In order to strengthen AFSCME’s power in the workplace, we must maintain and increase the share of employees who belong to and are active in our union; and
WHEREAS:
The best time to recruit employees to join a union is when they first start on the job; and
WHEREAS:
AFSCME’s New Employee Outreach (NEO) program connects new employees directly with the local union members and leaders in that workplace. NEO is a critical component of maintaining our union’s strength; and
WHEREAS:
NEO programs rely on membership chairs and committees at the local level to coordinate outreach to all new and potential members and develop new members as activists. As such, the NEO program enables members to build the organizing and leadership skills needed to sustain and strengthen their union; and
WHEREAS:
A union that is growing has a greater ability to fight and win gains in the workplace. This in turn enables AFSCME to organize more workplaces and expand our union’s reach; and
WHEREAS:
AFSCME has won contract language that provides the right to take part in new employee outreach and develop strong internal organizing programs, and in many states, we have won such rights through legislation.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:
AFSCME affiliates will continue to build and maintain robust New Employee Outreach programs, led by an appointed membership chair or a designated member of the executive board in each local, to drive union engagement with new employees; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:
AFSCME and affiliates will seek collective bargaining language and legislation mandating union access to new employee orientations, time for individual meetings with new employees and regularly updated lists of all employees and new hires; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED:
The International Union will support effective affiliate NEO programs through training and development of affiliate staff and local union leaders and by continuously identifying and promoting NEO best practices from across the union.
SUBMITTED BY:
Jason Evans, President
Kim Jackson, Secretary
Houston Organization of Public Employees (HOPE)/AFSCME Local 123
Texas