The most important thing to know about your union is that YOU are the union. A union is only as strong, effective and powerful as the members who participate in its operation and activities.
Our union is a democratic organization where the membership has ultimate control over every decision of our union and its priorities. The power lies with you. You can best exercise that power by being informed, involved and active in your union.
Every member can take a number of simple steps to make our union a more powerful and effective vehicle for advancing your interests and the interests of your colleagues. Those steps include:
- Read your contract and keep it handy – your contract delineates your rights and benefits at work and represents the focus of your union’s activity. You need to read it, refer to it and understand it so you can use it to your benefit, as well as to understand what it doesn’t address so you can advocate for changes to improve it.
- Submit ideas for contract proposals – through this website you have the opportunity to submit proposals to be considered for inclusion in the negotiation. This is your opportunity to propose changes or new ideas to improve your workplace. You don’t need to know how to draft a proposal, just let us know what would you like to change by submitting your proposals below.
- Take surveys posted on this website – We need hard facts and evidence to successfully negotiate our new 2015 contract with improved pay, benefits, and working conditions. The best way to collect facts and evidence is through various surveys that will be periodically posted on our website.
- Use “Assignment Under Protest” form: (1) to protect your license, (2) to document unsafe working conditions, and most importantly, (3) to protect our patients.
- Go to your union leadership if you have a question – if you are unclear about what your contract says, or what your union is doing to address an issue, post your question here, or go to one of your elected leaders and ask them. We are here to represent your interests.
- Attend meetings – if you can’t attend a meeting, visit this website, express your views, and stay informed. This website was designed to be highly interactive, user-friendly, and easily accessible from any smart phone or mobile device.
- Stay tuned– We have stepped up efforts through this website to keep members informed of ongoing issues. Visit our website regularly so you know what is going on. If something is happening you don’t understand or agree with, let us know about it. You can post your thoughts, discuss the issues on our Discussion forum, and reply to our posts.
- Participate and vote in all union elections – If you have the time and interest, run for a position. If you don’t have time, learn about who is running. If you know of a member who shares your views and is a strong leader, encourage them to run for election. And, of course, make sure you vote in all union elections.
- Participate in all union activities – As our union does its work on your behalf, it will engage in a number of activities. The success of all union activities depends on broad participation by the membership. If your union is engaged in an activity, participate.
Again, you are the union and by engaging in some or all of these activities you can guarantee that the union is successful in representing your interests.
