A Great Spring Break
College students trade fun in the sun for a lesson in union organizing.
By Jon Melegrito
ALBANY, NEW YORK
Hot spots along miles of sandy beaches have long been prime destinations of college students looking to unwind and party during their spring breaks. But not for Jes Cook, a University of Kansas coed. Rather than take a much-needed vacation from grinding school work, she chose AFSCME's alternative spring break here — in a city not known for attracting campus revelers.
Instead of donning bathing suits and sipping margaritas as thousands of her peers were doing, Cook wore sweatshirts and scribbled lots of notes — just like in school. For five intensive days, in front of flip charts and TV monitors, she tackled such heavy subjects as labor history and the basics of organizing, and engaged her classmates and organizers from affiliated unions in serious but lively discussions. (Many of the organizers who assisted in the training are recent college graduates themselves.) She also hit the streets as a fledgling union organizer.
Cook and 23 other students from more than a dozen campuses across the country were the first recruits for Union Spring Break 2006, AFSCME's first-ever alternative spring break program, and a vital part of AFSCME's growing emphasis on campus recruitment. Launched this past January, the new effort aims to deepen our relationships with college professors and students and encourage them, after they graduate, to join the fight for social and economic justice in the workplace.
This year's participants were recruited through campus visits, classroom presentations, blog ads, electronic postings in activist networks, and mailings to professors and career service offices at 75 schools — a pro–active, innovative approach to finding labor's version of the best and the brightest. The weeklong training, held in March, also took place in Detroit and Oakland, Calif., to coincide with campus spring breaks and ongoing campaigns to organize child care providers.
FAST-PACED & FUN
In Albany, Cook and nine other students conducted house calls for five to six hours each day. They talked with unorganized child care providers, applying lessons learned in the classroom. Cook, who was paired with an organizer, found the visits both scary and fun. "It was my first time to knock on doors to talk about a union," she recalls, "so I was nervous. But talking directly with providers and learning that the union really is a way for them to improve their work conditions turned out to be a rewarding experience."
Cook's summary impression, despite long hours in class and late nights on the road: "I can see myself doing this after I graduate this summer."
A sociology and African studies major, Cook has been a campus and community activist for the past five years. She learned about the Union Spring Break through a posting in the Working Families e-Activist network. "I signed up right away, and I'm glad I did."
In Detroit, where the training was held a week earlier, nine students participated; Oakland drew five others. Among them: David Luu, a San Francisco State University psychology major, and Karume James, president of UCLA's African Student Union. "I came into this with a great deal of interest in organizing and workers rights," Luu says. "I want to help people empower themselves so they will be treated not as an expendable commodity but as a valuable resource." A campus activist, James found the whole training "an amazing learning experience. Social justice has been a guiding force and passion in my life, and has been the defining component of my college experience." Last year, James was recruited by Local 3299 to help UCLA workers win their contract fight.
These students' interest in union organizing prompted all of them to forego spring breaks in far more exotic climes. Says Wayne State University student Joseph Michaels of Lansing, Mich.: "This was an alternative I wanted to check out. As a young child, I walked the picket line with my great grandfather. My family history of union activism is the greatest motivation."
ENGAGING EXISTING MEMBERS
Another innovative program designed to involve students in the labor movement is the AFSCME/United Negro College Fund Union Scholars Program. Launched three years ago, it gives students of color an opportunity to gain union organizing experience while earning money for college. Participation has led many awardees to plan on adding "union activist" to their list of career goals.
Over the years, AFSCME has worked hard and creatively to expand its organizing efforts. In 2001, the union established the volunteer member organizing (VMO) program to increase the number of members who actively assist in campaigns outside their own workplace or bargaining unit. Since its inception, close to 700 VMOs from about 30 affiliates have been trained to reach out to thousands of workers in need of a voice at work.
UNIONS R US
Young people are an important constituency for the labor movement. A recent Peter D. Hart Research Survey found that 76 percent of 18-to-34 year olds — more than any other age group — believe unions can make a difference for workers today. The study also found that 66 percent of those polled believe unions have a strong impact on workers' rights on the job and 55 percent believe unions help individuals reach their full potential.
"I joined AFSCME after years as an on-campus student activist," says Armida Montaño. "I've just finished my first year as an organizer. I found that Union Spring Break gives students a real sense of what it's like to be an AFSCME union organizer."
In its first year, Union Spring Break has already yielded promising results. Many of the 24 students have proven to be excellent candidates as union organizers. Two have already been offered organizer/intern positions. Their participation in ongoing campaigns was also fruitful. The mini-blitz in Sonoma County, involving the five Oakland participants, produced 80 new members of the United Child Care Union.
Meeting workers personally during the house calls was both fun and "very fulfilling" for Ahmed James Nadim, a political science senior at the State University of New York at Old Westbury. "I went to bed each night knowing that I was helping improve the society that I live in," he says. "I haven't felt that way about anything before.
Until now, I've never done anything exciting or productive during my school breaks. Having seen first-hand blatant discrimination in the few places I have worked, Union Spring Break connected the dots for me. We need unions to fight for social justice."
