The result was ten long years of fighting and taking cutbacks and concessions. When the labor movement started organizing more workers, bargaining efforts began to improve resulting in breakthroughs in wages, expanded benefits and common solutions to workload issues. At a meeting held in January, the SEA Board of Directors drafted a bold plan of action to increase the union's membership by 1,700 new members this year. Their theme encompassed building strength and unity to achieve fair pay. The plan of action includes expanding and improving services to members to retain current members, creating active work site structures that focus on recruiting new members and offering lucrative incentives for employees to join the union before Labor Day.
Current members have the opportunity to serve as recruiters and earn a host of great prizes.
Work site leaders are putting together organizing committees within key agencies to recruit new members. Members active in those organizing committees have the opportunity to attend training on how to effectively recruit employees into the union. Four trainings are currently scheduled in the Concord area and more are being scheduled throughout the state. SEIU, your national union, reached out to SEA to provide assistance in the area of staff and educational materials.