Ft. Benning Employees Get Educated and Organized
The NAF workers at Ft. Benning have had our union for a long time. We organized it more than 30 years ago, but over the last several years the former leaders retired out and didn’t work to rebuild the membership and educate the younger generation of employees about the union. Therefore, our union membership lowered, and the power that we had to effectively change workplace problems weakened.
All that is changing! Ft. Benning employees are fed up with management changing the rules all the time! We are sick of being Flex workers for years at the discretion of management and receiving no benefits! We are tired of being threatened with privatization or told that if we don’t like it then we are replaceable! In Child Services, we are through with being treated like the children that we care for!
Through our union, we have the tools to change problems on our job. This fall, we will sit down with management and negotiate a new contract to improve our rights, benefits, and working conditions. If we continue to let our union be weak, we will get nothing. We can’t let that happen! We are ready to get educated, active, and organized.
On Wednesday, May 20th, employees came together to be educated about our existing contract and to learn how to build our union stronger. When asked how he felt, Charlie Harrison, chief shop steward and long time union member, said “We will continue to educate ourselves about our rights, encourage our co-workers to join the union, and get ready for contract negotiations.” Together, we are stronger! Together, YES WE CAN!