Service:   Service is the most important aspect of any business or organization. 

You should establish true Standards of Service for your Union…

First, the Union is a business, like it or not, and you must begin to run it as such.

Second, Staff must be educated and understand that it is the Members who are the Union’s customers.

Third, employers fill the role of vendors and/or suppliers to your business.

Fourth, your business is providing job opportunities which include the best possible wages, benefits and working conditions achievable for your customers (members).

Fifth, is then working diligently to maintain, improve and increase the aforementioned.

Service is all about seeing and communicating with your business agent on a regular basis, not only when there is a grievance or problem on the job which needs attention. In order to accomplish this goal the agents have to spend less time at the Union Hall. In some cases that could mean additional agents to share the load, in others it may mean better educated agents, and most definitely a cultural shift, and the rethinking of how to perform the job of business agent.


Education:   The failure of Union Leaders to educate the Union’s Staff and its members guarantees its demise.

You must all come to the realization that the employer is not your adversary. Your Labor Agreement with the employer places you in a partnership with them. You assist them in being successful and in turn you share in their success. No relationship is perfect, and some are better than others. But the Labor Agreement lays out the terms and conditions each party must abide by and what is to be expected of the other. Both parties signed the contract, and therefore both were in agreement. Enforcing the Agreement once everyone understands this concept becomes simple. It is a proven philosophy. It has been used successfully to resurrect numerous adversarial relationships with employers and turn them into some of the most successful this local has seen!


Training:   Providing your members the highest levels of training available will make your Union the wiser business choice.

Your members should be provided the opportunity to become the most sought after in their trade, by being provided with the highest levels of training. Training which can not be duplicated. Training... which many offer, but when compared to yours are found to be truly lacking, yet costing thousands and thousands of dollars to obtain.


Leadership:   Without true leadership, the organization is destined to fall into a chaotic state which leads directly to ineptitude, and the loss of its member’s confidence.

A Leader’s job is to look into the future, and see the organization not as it exists…but as it can become.

Your leaders must possess the confidence to stand alone or by your side, have the courage to make the tough decisions, and be the embodiment of compassion and listen to your needs. The true leaders will not have set out to be a leader, yet will become one by the quality of their actions and the integrity of their intent.