Palomar Community College, California

New members at Palomar College sign up on the spot

Many faculty members at Palomar Community College in San Marcos, Calif., want to be part of the union; it just took a four-day springtime membership blitz to find them and give them the opportunity to sign up.

Members of the Palomar Faculty Federation, which represents about 1,200 full-time and part-time faculty at Palomar Community College, fanned out across campus to meet individually with their colleagues after classes, introducing themselves and explaining the benefits of union membership.

Nearly all the targeted faculty were part-time instructors. Of those approached, 55 percent signed up on the spot. In fact, many thought they were already union members so were especially anxious to get on the roster. And they were excited to hear about the benefits for part-time faculty the local is currently trying to negotiate.

In addition to signing up 41 part-timers to be full union members, organizers signed up three full-time PFF members for COPE during the blitz. Debbie Forward, the PFF's lead organizer, says she even has a stack of completed contact forms for people who want the local to reach out to them more frequently so they can get more involved.

Organizers worked for weeks in advance of the four-day effort, combing the membership database to find accurate contact information, coordinating class schedules with volunteers who would meet their colleagues after class, providing information packets and enlisting PFF members to help. Included in the info packet were a list of membership benefits as well as a one-sheet summary of campus and union history and culture, and a summary of the COPE issues most relevant for the Palomar campus.