It’s amazing what we can achieve when we stand together.

Recently, six members of Teamsters 117 who work in the parking industry were reinstated after being wrongfully terminated by their employer. The workers are part of a newly-organized group that came together seeking strong representation and a voice. As such, they don’t have a contract yet or the just cause protections that a contract provides.

Still, even without these protections, the group was able to pressure their employer to reinstate workers who were targeted for their union activity. How did they do it? They did it through direct action. They did it through solidarity. They did it through leafleting, wearing buttons, calling the mayor’s office, and standing strong together.

At the DOC, members are also standing together and it’s making a tremendous difference. At last month’s Lobby Day, over 200 members and their families met with dozens of legislators to talk about funding our DOC contract. With the event, we achieved our best attendance for any DOC Lobby Day. The strong turnout is a testament to the growing strength of our political program. More members are understanding that we are exponentially more powerful when we get involved.

But we can do better. With 5,600 Teamsters at the DOC, we have incredible potential to affect change. We can fund our contract, expand our retirement security, pass statutory interest arbitration, and much more, but we have to get involved.

There are lots of opportunities to participate in your Union. For DOC members, a good place to start is with our Contract Funding Strategy Sessions that are taking place over the next several weeks. At those meetings, we’ll be talking about how we can reach out to small businesses in our local communities to build support for funding our contract.

Securing the support of small businesses in our community is one more way that we can convince legislators that a fully-funded DOC contract is not just a priority, but a necessity.

Thank you for your service and stay safe.