5 Questions With Local Presidents about Janus

Mike Bliss
President, Local Union 9110
Employer: City of Dublin, Liberty Township, Ghahana, Hilliard, Westerville, Franklin Local Schools, New Albany, Pataskala

How are you preparing for the dues dodger decision – also known as the “Janus v AFSCME” case – from the Supreme Court?

We’ve already approached people that are paying but not very active in the union, reminding them about their days off, vacation with pay, health insurance and fair wages.

No matter what, I put my personal feelings aside when I reach out to fair share payer or to inactive members. You have to treat them equally. It can be difficult. It’s one of the hardest parts of the job, but it’s got to be done.

I had one fee payer, I stuck out my hand to shake his and he didn’t even acknowledge me. He didn’t say anything for two or three minutes. And then when he did speak, he had a cold look on his face and said, “I don’t want hear anything that comes out of your mouth.” I didn’t get mad. I said “OK” and I promised myself that I’d try again.

You can’t let that get you – though, it’s tough. I still talk to that cold-faced guy on a weekly basis. I say “Hi” and ask him how he’s doing. He may never come around, but he just might fight less hard against us.

What’s the most common question you get from inactive members and fair share payers?

What has the union done for me?

My answer changes a little bit from member to member. What I say at the beginning depends on the person. For instance, I ask, “How do you like your weekends off?” I like to go to fair wages, health insurance – things that are important to families.

What the hardest part of the process for your local?

The hardest thing for our local is that we are amalgamated, so it’s hard to recruit volunteers from each unit who is a skilled persuader. Not everyone is good at it, it's hard sometimes to talk to people who don’t see the benefits of the union that are just so obvious to the rest of us, but we want to encourage them that there are jobs for everyone. So I try to find a job for each of them that’s a good fit.

Have you had any surprises?

I’ve approached people who have not been involved and didn’t seem interested in the union. In a few cases, I suspected that they’d opt to be non-paying when this decision hits, but it turns out that they had a lot of questions and they wanted to know everything about the dues dodger case and what it means.

Now I use two of them to talk to other members. I think there are people in many locals who wanted to be involved but simply don’t know how. This crisis situation is the excuse they need. So when we reached out to them, they jumped on board.

What’s your best advice for other locals facing this?

First, educate yourself on the topic and then educate your board and then go after others. Most importantly, reach out to people early because it’s easier to keep a member than it is to get them back after they leave.

Jason Daniels
President, Local Union 6621
Employer: City of Lorain

How are you preparing for the dues dodger decision – also known as the “Janus v AFSCME” case – from the Supreme Court?

During our new hire orientation, we emphasize the all the things that come with membership. For example, the free college program we just rolled out. We talk about the Union Plus programs – free legal advice – they offer a lot. We also point to our contract which is better than many.

In a workshop at the Public Employee Conference in Pittsburgh, a local union officer told a story about a guy who was a fair share payer. But then he wasn’t getting his overtime pay. The union filed a grievance and got the pay for him. And then he became a full member. We gotta make sure that, when things like this happen, everybody in the local hears about it. Really, examples like this say “You’re smart to belong to the union.”

But that example is unusual. There are guys who bad mouth the union – until they have a problem. So we help them fix their problem and then they often go back to bad mouthing the union again. So we help them remember when they really needed the union, we stepped up for them.

I think we’re going to do well in retaining pretty much everybody.

What’s the most common question you get from inactive members and fair share payers?

What have you done for me?

Our contract is pretty strong. In the last round of negotiations, we compared it to those in other municipalities. Our benefits, including sick time, vacation time, longevity pay, and our rules for overtime are better than those of other municipalities. We remind our members that better contracts come from better solidarity – that it works for them.

What the hardest part of the process for your local?

Hardest thing for our local are the newer workers. Often, they haven’t seen the struggles nor heard the stories. The battles at US Steel in this area helped establish higher pay and better benefits for all workers in this community. That happened because of the union. The younger workers don’t know this history. This means we have to be the source of information on the benefits of union membership and history of our movement.

Have you had any surprises?

No, not that’s gotten back to me.

What’s your best advice for other locals facing this?

You gotta get out in front of things – I’m a firm believer in this. Get your story – our union story – out early. Identify anyone who seems weak and go seen them. Make sure other union officers see them too. This will give you a better chance of making it an even battle rather than an uphill fight.

Joe Davis
President, USW Local 1408
Employers: New Kensington, Carnegie, Fallowfield, and East Deer Township Municipal and Sewage Authority workers

How are you preparing for the dues dodger decision – also known as the “Janus v AFSCME” case -- from the Supreme Court?

When I found out about this at the Public Employees Conference in Pittsburgh, I started the next day.  Eventually I called all my public sector members. We discussed the issue and with their feedback, I expect no drop off

What’s the most common question you get from inactive members and fair share payers?

Well, they’ve never heard of it. At the same time, they’re interested. We talked about how it’s going to get tougher for the unions -- particularly public employees unions – under this decision and this administration

What the hardest part of the process for your local?

I didn’t have a problem. The response from the membership was strong I told them where to go on line to read about the lawsuit. A lot of my members like to go on line so I sent them there: www.usw.org/union/mission/industries/public-employees.

Have you had any surprises?

No

What’s your best advice for other locals facing this?

Start right away. Help each member understand what this means for them and the local. Could this affect their pay, benefits, their pension? Show them how it can. You gotta make personal contact

I’m a firm believer in bus trips. We should get down in DC to mount a hell of a display. Bring us there so we can speak to members of Congress and the Senate. We need to get up there in the thousands so that we get the message out to them. Some will listen – they are not all bad. Even a few Republicans.

I want to encourage the international to get the information right away about this and everything else that affects the health of unions.