Leadership council meeting centers on member involvement, political action

"The more you ask your members to do, the more you get them involved,” says Ann Twomey, president of New Jersey’s Health Professionals and Allied Employees.

Twomey opened the discussion at a meeting of AFT Healthcare’s leadership council in May with a Q&A session about HPAE’s “One Voice” campaign, which involves a coordinated negotiation of contracts for 14 HPAE locals. The campaign allows all locals to speak with a single voice on issues such as safe staffing, retirement security, workplace safety and the right to advocate for patients and the profession.

“If you ask people to do something, they feel that they are part of something, that they are connected to the union. If you don’t ask, it narrows your ability as a union to get things done,” Twomey says.

In the two years since the campaign was launched, HPAE has been able to get a lot done, especially legislatively. The union pressed for an end to mandatory overtime and for the public disclosure of nurse staffing levels in hospitals—and won.

“We started with a legislative campaign. Each year we have been knocking off bills one by one,” says Twomey.

New Jersey’s success in terms of bringing together its members is something that all locals should aim to achieve, according to AFT Healthcare director Mary MacDonald.

“The goal is for you to corral the strength of all of our members. We are organizing more new members, but we are also focused on organizing the unorganized,” says MacDonald. “With so many retirements, we’re seeing a lot of young members coming into their jobs not knowing anything about their union. We are here to determine what the national office can do to help you reach out to your members.”

As mid-year elections approach, connecting with members will be especially important.

“This is an incredible year for politics. There is such a possibility for change that our involvement on the local level can make a tremendous difference,” observes Darrell Capwell, a staffer in AFT’s political and legislative mobilization department. At the leadership council meeting, Capwell provided an overview of the political landscape; he then worked closely with leaders to set goals such as increasing COPE donations or registering voters.

“Politics and legislation affect your work life, but getting people to make the connection can be difficult,” says Capwell. “The challenge is to make the connection between what happens in Washington and what happens to you at home or on the job.”

The nurse supervisor issue is a good example of why making the connection is important, says Bill Cunningham, a staffer in AFT’s legislation department.

AFT Healthcare is awaiting a decision by the National Labor Relations Board on whether nurses who act in a supervisory capacity from time to time should be considered supervisors. (NLRB board members are appointed by the president.)

“It’s very important to get back one of the houses of Congress, to stop the aggressive anti-healthcare agenda as well as the nurse supervisor issue,” stresses Cunningham.