REASON TO BELIEVE
1. Establish and train Volunteer Organizing Committees (VOC’s) in every Local. All members are obligated under the General Constitution, the DC 91 Bylaws and their Local Union Bylaws to assist in organizing activities. District Council 91 covers 217 counties, and eighteen representatives/organizers cannot cover an area that size by themselves; we need the support and participation of the members. You are our eyes and ears out there! If you want to help your Union and haven’t volunteered yet, please call the Local Union office and sign up now. Active volunteers will receive a DC 91 T-shirt.
2. Have the VOC’s make house calls on members. We need to educate the entire membership on the programs and policies of the International and the District Council, and the importance of membership participation. We will also be registering voters and providing information on candidates. We must register and vote for candidates who support workers and our issues – good jobs, quality education, improved economics and protection of Union wages and benefits. We must elect leaders who believe that protecting American workers and their families is more important than lining the pockets of corporate executives with obscene amounts of profits.
3. Conduct COMET I and COMET II classes. Our goal is to educate as many members as possible on why organizing is the primary object of every union, and how important it is for the members to help their Local and District Council organize.
4. Develop good Stewardship programs. Besides having effective Stewards on each job, good stewardship is something every member can practice by welcoming new members on the job, speaking positively about the Union and its members, encouraging support for Union policies and programs, learning as much as possible about what unions do, and volunteering when needed.
5. Organize, organize, organize! By following the above plan and continually organizing, we hope to live up to the organizing Mission Statement we developed during the Reason To Believe seminar: “The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 91, through present and future endeavors, shall organize all workers into ‘One Union’, to establish fair working conditions and improve wages and fringe benefits, in order to raise the standard of living for all; and shall educate, train and promote those workers to be the most qualified, efficient and motivated workers, making them the best available source of skilled workers, as well as a dominant political force.”
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