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| GETTING INVOLVED: Justin Durgin, (UE Local 262 at Madico in Woburn, MA) and Ali Goguen were among those at the first meeting of the UE Young Activist program: 'It’s great to feel like there are a lot more younger people facing the same issues.' |
UE’s Young Activist Program got underway February 19, with a meeting of young members from the New England states preceding the council meeting of the UE Northeast Region. Six members from four locals participated in the event which included lots of information, lively discussions, and signing up for a number of future activities.
Participating in the event were Matthew Erff, Local 222/Sublocal 49, a dispatcher in Hamden, CT; Justin Durgin, Local 262 at Madico in Woburn, MA; Ali Goguen and Autumn Martinez, both members of Local 255 at Hunger Mountain Food Co-op in Montpelier, VT; April Edwards and Travis "T.J." Jewell, Local 203, City Market Food Co-op in Burlington. The meeting was facilitated by International Representative Kim Lawson and Field Organizer Jennifer Marsh.
These members responded to an issues survey, which led to a 45-minute discussion of which issues – both workplace and societal – they view as most important. Wages and healthcare scored high on the list, and other major concerns were affordable housing, marriage equality and retirement. They viewed a PowerPoint presentation, prepared by UE Research Director Karl Zimmerman, on the economic hardships facing young workers, and a short video by Eastern Region President Andrew Dinkelaker on young workers and UE’s tradition of struggle.
Big Issues; Future Leaders Needed
General President John Hovis opened the meeting and welcomed the participants. The idea for a young members’ program arose in discussions at the 2009 convention, he said, and the plan was further developed in meetings of UE’s national officers and General Executive Board. The goals, said Hovis, are to train future leaders of the union and to mobilize the younger generation "to fight for the issues that most concern you." Trends indicate that today’s young workers will be the first generation to be worse off economically than their parents. "We need to organize to reverse that, and to do that we will need young leaders."
The young members also reviewed a list of upcoming events, in the Northeast Region and around the country, in which UE plans to be involved. Before the meeting ended, each of them indicated which of these events they’d like to be part of – and in fact, each chose several events. These include an organizing push in North Carolina as well as one in Vermont; a leadership training in Connecticut; UE’s Political Action Conference in Washington; a peace march in New York City, and other events.
Justin Durgin will turn 30 in April and has worked at Madico for nearly 10 years, where he and his co-workers make industrial film. But he’s only recently become active in the union. "There was an opening for financial secretary, and I have an accounting background, so I kind of got thrown into that" at the beginning of this year. Since then he’s also become a steward. Durgin says that when he decides to do something, "I want to know everything, to read up and try to get as involved as I possibly can." He sees the Young Activist Program as a good way to get younger workers at his plant more involved in the union.
'A Lot of People Who Would Be Really Good ...'
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| INVOLVEMENT PAYS OFF: 'It makes you feel really good about yourself to be able to help someone else who you work with.' |
"People need to be more educated to be able to get involved," he said, "because a lot of young people either just take their job for granted and don’t understand what they have, or they don’t know what the union does. They need to see that there’s a lot of people who put in a lot of hours. Some people go, ‘Oh, you get paid for that.’ No, you don’t. You get your lost time, but most of the work that gets done, people want to do it and they put their own time into it."
Justin is in the younger half of the workforce at Madico, and says that most of the people active in the union are in their 40s and 50s. But there are many workers in their mid-20s who have been working at Madico for four or five years. "Once you know the job, you can start getting involved in the union, and there’s a lot of people who would be really good and have really good opinions."
Justin enjoyed the meeting. "It was nice seeing other perspectives from people around my own age from other shops."
Ali Goguen agreed. She’s 22 years old and a part-time grocery stocker at Hunger Mountain Food Co-op. "The meeting was really good, really informational. It’s great to feel like there are a lot more younger people my age going through the same things I am with wages, healthcare, housing and all that other stuff that really affects us." The workforce at Hunger Mountain is mostly young workers, and Ali thinks the Young Activist Program, "will help get people involved."
"A lot of it was just knowing what’s going on and what you can be part of, what you can stand up and fight for." She said she was looking forward to the rally planned for the following day, in support of UE Local 274 members who drive public transit buses in Greenfield. The transit authority had forbidden the drivers to assist elderly riders in getting on and off the bus, and threatened to discipline any driver who assists a senior. "I’m a pretty empathetic person, so when I hear someone’s not going to get help they need to get onto a bus, I think that’s wrong."
She’s impressed that UE takes on fights like this, but thinks an effort is sometimes needed to get young members to see the importance of issues that do not directly and immediately affect them. "Some of them think, I can’t help other people because I need to concentrate on myself. And they don’t realize that just a voice sometimes can have a big impact. I think that’s what we need to get across to younger people in our union."
Goguen also described the first workplace issue she handled as a UE steward. "It makes you feel really good about yourself to be able to help someone else who you work with."