One important component of successful organizing is obtaining a copy of your list of eligible members on a regular basis. After all, in order to recruit new members, you need to know who to talk to!
Bargaining unit lists are helpful to have on hand during formal organizing drives, so you have a record of the employees that are eligible to become a member of your Local. You should also keep a current copy in your union office, so you can verify whether your visitors are already members, and ask them to sign up if they are not. You can also use this list to send regular communications to your potential members, reminding them why they should become members of your Local.
These lists can also be broken down, and provide you with a system for assessing and reaching out to your potential members. Employees can be grouped according to their likelihood of becoming members, and contact with them can be prioritized based on the chances of them signing up. Everyone is responsible for spreading the word about your Local, and having an up-to-date list will enable your Local officers and members can also go through it and identify those bargaining unit employees they know and work with. The possibilities are endless, once you know who to reach out to.
You can request an updated copy of the list from your agency. Depending on your Local environment, employees could be moving in and out of your unit, so you want to make sure that you aren’t working from an outdated list and missing potential members. Local officers also need to review the list to make sure that employees are coded correctly. Miscoding happens frequently so double check every name.
If your Local has not recently submitted your list to your Organizing Director, please make sure you do so as soon as possible. They can help you implement some of the suggestions above, and utilize your list. You will also need to submit the bargaining unit list to your organizing director in order to be eligible for the $100 reward program. If the bargaining unit list that the National Office has on file is more than one year old you will not be eligible for the program.
If you need assistance obtaining a current copy of your Bargaining Unit List, please contact National Organizing Directors Cassie Bond or Brittany Cardinal. New lists should also be submitted to them at cbond@nffe.org or bcardinal@nffe.org.