For many local unions and their staff--if they even have staff, that is--there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done. This is especially a problem for PSRP locals, which have to meet a variety of demands.

For 10 years now, the AFT national office has been helping locals that represent PSRPs boost their capacity to serve those members through the Membership Services Specialist (MSS) program. The program allows locals to train and hire part-time staff--from the ranks of their own members--to help with everything from initial grievance investigations to membership recruitment to communication with members to general problem solving. What she does on any given day "all depends on who has something for me to do," says Rachel Crapo, a bus driver who serves as the MSS for the Bexar County Federation of Teachers in San Antonio.

Working under the direction of the local president, MSS staff put in about 20 hours a month at the union office. Since they also hold regular school jobs, the specialists work around their schedule. That might mean coming in between runs for bus drivers or, more commonly, a late-afternoon shift for someone who works regular school hours.

The program is a partnership among the local union, the state federation and the AFT. The interview and selection process, for example, involves both AFT staff and local leadership. Once a new MSS candidate is hired, that person and his or her supervisor attend a 3 Z\x-day summer training session. (This year's training was held in Chicago.) Funding is obviously an important issue, so the program is designed to help the local gradually phase in the costs. The first year, the AFT pays the full cost of hiring, training and paying MSS staff. The second year, the local picks up half the cost--which basically just involves the salary--and the AFT support phases out in the third year.

"This is the best thing that ever happened in our local," says Marian Flickinger, president of the Norfolk (Va.) Federation of Teachers. Her local, like many involved in the program, represents teachers and PSRPs, so the two MSS there service all members. One specialist is a custodian and the other a teacher, and Flickinger says the custodian is comfortable dealing with whatever issues come up. "My main concern is that we service everyone," she says.

In Albuquerque, where the paraprofessional local has been involved in the program for three years, MSS Eloisa Corona "is the person who allows me to do all the stuff" a local president needs to do, says Kathy Chavez, president of the Albuquerque Educational Assistants Association. "She's very good at putting out little fires" before they turn into bigger problems. In addition, Chavez says, Corona spends a lot of time at the beginning of the year recruiting building representatives, to the point where the union has more than 80 of the 121 sites covered--up from about 50 sites a few years ago.

In San Antonio, MSS Crapo works more hours than many, putting in at least five hours most days. "I enjoy it very much," she says. Her favorite part, Crapo adds, is conducting research on a range of issues. That might involve getting information from the AFT national office, calling other local unions, tracking down copies of relevant labor board rulings, talking to elected officials and much more.

She and Shelly Potter, president of the San Antonio federation, helped train new MSS staff this summer in Chicago. Part of their job was to explain how the program works in their local, which won't necessarily be how other locals implement it. The job description is very flexible, so each local can shape the program to fit its needs.

Many specialists have been in their jobs for three or four years. At least one has gone on to become a full-time staff member in her local. In Louisiana, former paraprofessional Mary Ducre served as an MSS for two years before being hired on staff at the St. Tammany Federation of Teachers. During her stint as an MSS, Ducre says, she spent a lot of time educating PSRPs on their basic rights outlined in their contracts. A custodian, for example, might be called in to turn off a school alarm in the middle of the night and not realize he was supposed to be paid for that, she says. "I know the PSRPs in the local really felt like they had somebody there" to help them with their problems when the program started in St. Tammany, Ducre says.