Hard Work Pays Off for Georgia Local

There is no such thing as a shortcut when it comes to signing up new union members at Local 9326 in Milledgeville, Ga.

“We are a hard-working union. We take pride in organizing – we work hard at it -- and I think our numbers show it,” said Local Union President Jonas Young.

“We sign up an average of about 25 new members a month. We are very successful in signing up our new hires, we get almost all of those now; but, we also have some older workers who are seeing that they, too, can benefit from a union,” Young said.

The employer, Rheem, is one of the area’s largest with more than 1,100 full-time production and maintenance workers. They manufacture a variety of air conditioning units and components. It is a growing business and Local 9326, through its hard work, is showing that the Union intends to grow right along with the company. “It’s important for us to grow,” Young said, explaining. “Living in a right-to-work state, organizing is almost mandated for us to be successful as a union.”

“We tell our people right up front, don’t just pay dues, become a member. Become an active member,” Young said. “We can always find a place where people who want to be active can fit in and take part. We try to keep people involved and not have the same people doing three or four different things. We try to spread it out across the plant as much as we can.”

As far as their organizing technique, Young said his local stresses a simple, but highly-effective method.

“I preach the philosophy `each one sign one,’” Young said. “We have a large group that works on this. Basically, our entire Grievance Committee is our organizing committee. We’re always after new folks, reminding them about the positives of becoming a union member.”

The local union also hosts open-house type events from time-to-time, where potential members can come in and ask questions and find out more about the union and its various programs.

Another key to Local 9326’s success is activism. By making their union active in the workplace and in the community, potential members see the union as a positive -- something they want to be a part of and can be proud of.

“We are very active in our community. We do an annual Toys for Tots campaign where we give toys to children at Christmas time. We gave to Hurricane Katrina victims. All of our Steelworkers programs are up and running, Rapid Response, Civil Rights, you name it. Right now, we are revitalizing our Women of Steel program. We are a very active local,” Young said. “There are a lot of opportunities here.”

As long as Young is president, Local 9326 will continue to reach out to all potential members.

“We need everybody. We want everybody. We have a multi-cultural workforce in this plant. We have Koreans, Hispanics, Blacks and Whites -- and we pursue each and every one of them with the same vigor. We’re all in this together. We are a union,” Young said, adding.