SFT Call To Action
I don’t want to take up your time by presenting my views on the horrific legal, political, and social ramifications of it. Instead, at the bottom of this email I’ve included some links to resources that explain why the court’s rationale behind this decision is both wrong headed and destructive.
What I do want to say to you as the president of SFT 2275 is that we will not let this defeat us.
By imposing the “Freeloader Law” (I refuse to perpetuate the fraudulent phrase “right to work”) the anti-worker forces have dealt us a severe blow, make no mistake about it. We will not succeed by minimizing or diminishing the significance of what was done to all of us yesterday.
However, we can fight back, and fight back we must.
Here are five concrete steps you can take as a member of SFT 2275 to start that fight. Some of these may seem small or inadequate given what we facing. Remember though that almost anything is possible with the cumulative power of us all acting together. We saw this a year and half ago when we fought back against the state in our battle over a lack of contract.
- Change your identification on your social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) to reflect that you are “Sticking with the Union”. Be as creative as you like but make sure the message is loud and clear that you will not let this anti-worker movement sweep you up. If you go on the web you’ll see there are a number of “Frames” you can put around your picture that will let you unequivocally state your commitment to the union.
- Make sure you know whether you are a full member or an agency member. We have had several conversations with folks who thought they were full members but it turned out they weren’t. Checking your status is easy to do; you simply contact Sue Burrows at the SFT office and she will help you. You can email sft@stockton.edu or call during the week 609-652-4399.
- Become a full member, if you are not already. Up until now for one reason or another some of our colleagues wouldn’t commit to becoming full members. They said the union didn’t do a good enough job for them in the past or they didn’t agree with some particular action SFT took or they felt the financial pinch was too much. Since they were already paying .85 of the dues, they felt they weren’t really undercutting the cause. That is no longer the case. Any decision to refuse to become a full member means that the anti-worker movement is that much closer to decertifying the union and eliminating it entirely from our lives.
- Contact the Union office and ask what you can do to help. We are all the union. It is not a small subset of the professional staff, full time, part time and adjunct faculty, or librarians. It is all of us. We all have to find ways to pitch in and contribute. Everyone is busy, whether it is our family, our research, our social organizations, our teaching, our spiritual commitments. While those demands are real and powerful we cannot think of the union as something “others do for us.” The union must become integrated into all our lives or one day it will be gone.
- Join and use your SFTunion Google Suite. Through the industrious efforts of SFT volunteers we have obtained a Google suite for every SFT member. If you haven’t already, get your SFT password to it and then begin using it. As we move forward we will be hosting chat sites there, videos, links to resources, and much more. The more we use it, the more it becomes second nature to use, the more we will strengthen our community.
I am proud to be a member of SFT 2275 and I am proud of all the work that we do every day. We deserve to be treated with respect and to have the right to shape the nature of our working life. That is the essential message of the union and it is worth fighting for.
In solidarity,
Rodger L. Jackson, Ph.D.
President, Stockton Federation of Teachers, Local 2275
rodgerjackson@sftunion.org
Related Links:
http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/21240/anti_union_janus_supreme_court_black_women
