NEGOTIATING A FIRST CONTRACT By Harry Kelber
A New Game Plan For Union Organizing (7)
This is the seventh of eight articles on union organizing.
Now that they are full-fledged union members working under a negotiated contract, the workers will still have a great deal to do to protect what they've won. They should be on guard against attempts by the employer and his supervisors to undermine important provisions of the contract and bad-mouth the union and its officers.
The union has to prove not only that it can win a decent contract, but that it can enforce it. Shop stewards must be chosen who are well-informed, articulate and won't be intimidated by management. Grievances must not be allowed to pile up and fester. Workers must feel confident that their stewards are handling their complaints in a satisfactory manner.
Newly-elected officers must ensure that management respects the authority of the union and treats them with respect. They must strengthen the bonds of solidarity among their members by treating them equally and fairly, including those who originally had opposed the union. When workers speak with one voice on issues that matter, management will have to listen.
Through their long, continuing struggle, workers should come to realize that in their workplace, they are the union.