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The 8th annual PED Organizing Academy took place in Portland, Oregon from June 14 – 19, 2015. This organizing training and Members for Action drive was conducted by the LIUNA Public Employee Department with assistance from the Northwest Region Organizing Department, LIUNA’s Organizing Department, Local 777, and host Local 483.
The training began on Sunday, June 14th. The class was made up of 21 students from six Regions, and nine mentors, and was welcomed by Wesley Buchholz, President of Local 483, and Graham Trainor from the Oregon AFL-CIO. One of the highlights of the training was the class participation in a rally and protest, along with other unions and community organizations, to raise the statewide minimum wage to $15.00.
The Academy included instruction time on issues including PED history, OPEN Training (Organizing Public Employees Now), leadership/membership/staff development, labor law in the public sector, one-on-one communications, politics and organizing, research/picking targets, written communications, public speaking, building long-term plans, community outreach, immigration and organizing, and volunteer building.
Students were teamed with experienced organizers to talk with members that were identified by Stewards as leaders. These leaders were asked to sign a pledge card to join the Members for Action to build an active, informed, and strong membership to move members to action. They also identified fair share members to convert to full dues payers.
During the week of organizing and training, 84 members joined the Members for Action program, and 26 fair share members became full LIUNA Local 483 members, connecting to 10% of Local 483’s members.
LIUNA Public Employees work at all levels of government. Members are employed at the local, state and federal levels. The types of work performed vary; from public utilities maintenance workers to military defense and protection with members in the National Guard; from the custodian who ensures a clean, healthy school environment for your children; to the forest ranger who protects and maintains a safe national park for your family to visit. To learn more about members in the public sector, check out the news items below and download the Public Employees Department brochure.
Local 792-UPEC Members Win Settlement
LIUNA’s United Public Employees of California (UPEC) Local 792 in Redding, California is proud to announce that two of their members, Margi Perotti and Leslie Fenton, have returned to work after being put on administrative leave over a year ago, and being fired in March of last year based on false allegations of misconduct. As part of their individual settlement agreements they also received full back pay, benefits, attorney’s fees, and costs due to the efforts of the Local’s staff and community involvement.
Ellis Miller, the UPEC labor representative for Local 792’s South Bay region, which covers Carmel, and Ocean Mottley, the Local’s staff attorney, were responsible for the members’ defense.
