Following a long break, the UE Service Contract Act (SCA) Caucus reconvened at the national convention in September and committed to resuming regular caucus meetings. Caucus meetings are open to all UE members in good standing working for federal SCA contractors.
At their first follow-up meeting on December 18, locals gave shop reports and discussed issues common across their locals. Leaders from Local 1008 (Sciolex in Laguna Niguel, CA) gave a presentation about their practices for developing new stewards and maintaining a complete, functional UE steward system. The presentation was given by Local 1008 President Joel Faypon, Vice President Fred Hatef, Recording Secretary Adrienne Rodriguez, and steward Jed Klang.
SCA locals set goals for 2022 with the objective of strengthening the caucus to fully harness its collective potential. Goals included increasing communication between shops, sharing information and materials, and expanding on recently renewed efforts to conduct coordinated campaigns across multiple locations where members work on the same federal contract and/or share a common employer. SCA locals are also looking to take opportunities to engage in coordinated bargaining, develop an effective media strategy and engage more directly with elected representatives, and build an internal mentorship program where designated members from different locals assist others with internal leadership development.
The caucus will continue meeting every two months throughout 2022 to assess progress made toward their goals. Along with developing the entire caucus into a more fully-established organization, the six SCA locals are simultaneously refocusing on leadership development and internal organizing in each of their respective shops. The approach is simple: make periodic, honest assessments of the organizational strength of each local, set big-picture goals, and then make specific commitments to take defined actions within the next 30 days to move closer to those goals. Locals will review their goals on a monthly basis (at executive board and membership meetings) and every month identify two to three additional specific commitments. Local leaders will report on these commitments at each SCA caucus meeting.
Having identified a goal of building a stronger steward network, every local made the commitment to complete a shop map by their next membership meeting. (This included designating who would be responsible for requesting information from the employer, who would compile that information, and who would be involved in identifying potential contacts in the areas that lacked a steward.) A second commitment made by several of the locals was to then test the map by distributing a leaflet announcing and celebrating union-negotiated wage increases taking effect in February 2022. They will also then test their identified potential contacts by asking if they are willing to pass out the flyer as a one-off way of helping out their union.
The next meeting of the SCA Caucus will be held on February 19, over Zoom. Any interested members of UE Service Contract Act locals should contact their local leadership for information about how to join the meeting.