Departments

From the Director
It's your union. Help make it grow

As all of you are aware by now, I have identified organizing and political action as our top priorities in Region 8.

I would like to take this opportunity to express how proud I am of the effort and enthusiasm with which everyone has responded to that call. You, the membership of this great region, with the help of the International Executive Board and the staff of Region 8, have made great strides in organizing new members. You deserve to be commended. The really good news is that the best is still ahead.

Our two most recent victories at the Cleveland and Gastonia, N.C., Freightliner plants are huge accomplishments. Together, they bring a potential of nearly 4,500 new members to Region 8.
Other victories you should know about took place at Exel, Inc. in Atlanta, Ga., with 96 employees; Ryder truck rental sites in Canton, Ga., Orlando, Fla., Charlotte, N.C., Doraville, Ga., Jacksonville, Fla. and Wilmington, Del., with a total of 299 workers; Mercedes Parts Depot in Orlando, Fla., 25 workers; Visteon in Chesapeake, Va., 55 workers; and O/E Learning employees in Norfolk, Va., and Nashville, Tenn., 2 workers. No victory is too big or too small.

A fact that makes these victories particularly noteworthy is that they were all homegrown, achieved entirely with Region 8 people. The full-time organizers, the temporary organizers from local unions, the International staff members, and, in some cases, the servicing representatives, were all from Region 8.
This is an important fact because that is the direction our region must continue to take with regards to organizing for new members and mobilizing current members for political action.

It is my goal to have all local unions in Region 8 active and involved. It is my belief that, with proper training and support, our membership can be our greatest resource in achieving many more organizing victories in the future. If history has taught us anything, it is that the International union will never have enough staff to carry out all of our organizational objectives.

We are going to have to return to a grass roots approach, to which the International can lend its support and structure. In Region 8 we have nearly 60,000 active members and another 38,700 retirees. They are good union members one and all.

Imagine if all these 98,700 Region 8 people were not only members but activists as well. The impact is incalculable and, obviously, worth striving for.

We have many plans that we will be rolling out to energize and mobilize the UAW's greatest resource, our membership. I appreciate greatly the efforts of everyone who has been involved to date and look forward to working with all of you in the future.

Remember you don't belong to the UAW. The UAW belongs to you. So help make it grow.