As a SPEEA activist, I have:
- Represented various members at work.
- Participated in a joint committee with the employer.
- Communicating member concerns to others in SPEEA Leadership.
- Talking SPEEA concerns to other unions, through Labor Councils.
- Lobbying both state and federal politicians with member’s concerns.
- Sharing the SPEEA story at our International, IFPTE.
- Worked on committees for Council Rep training, Governing Documents, and organizing among other topics.
As a SPEEA activist, you go where you need to go to represent the members.
You must have insight of what members concerns are and be ready to act on those at a moment’s notice.
Serving on the SPEEA Executive Board, is about talking to members and bringing those concerns to the table. It is also about working with other Executive Board members and helping them to understand all sides of an issue.
In addition, in meeting with the various councils it means working with the Council Representatives to work member issues through those channels.
It is also about communicating directly with the employer. others that message is going to be friendly and others it will have to be bold.
We are part of an “International”, IFPTE, International Federation of Professional and Technical Employees. This includes many unions across North America, SPEEA is the largest union in the federation.
Due to some very sad circumstances in 2023, I stepped into the role of one of SPEEA’s IFPTE Vice-Presidents.
Our representation happens in various ways, with the employer, with politicians, and with other unions.
I will always be an advocate for SPEEA members, anywhere, any time.
It is vital to be resolute with the will of the SPEEA membership.
My experiences serving on the Executive Board include:
- Representing members in various districts in Everett.
- Elected as an officer on various committees.
- Talking directly with the employer as a current member of the Joint Workforce Committee.
- Participation in hiring of a SPEEA staff member.
- Kicked off a successful amendment to the SPEEA Constitution
- Representing SPEEA members
- at Snohomish-Island County Labor Council.
- at Washington State Labor Council.
- in Olympia and Washington D.C. to lobby elected officials.
- as an IFPTE Delegate in 2018
- IFPTE Vice-President starting in 2023.
testified for SPEEA members in Olympia on Tax Accountability.
SPEEA has a membership of around 15,000 people in various locations and employers.
What is important to me is that SPEEA members know how they can have their voice heard in their union and help them to turn that into action. The most direct way this happens is through your Council Representatives (CR). An example of how I have done this in the past is to make sure our CRs have training in Robert’s Rules of Order. Robert’s Rules of Order are used in all SPEEA meetings to conduct business. Meetings went from 4-6 hours to about 2 hours. I have advocated for this training the last two or three rounds. I want a knowledgeable and effective group of SPEEA leaders when we conduct business for the members.
At the last IFPTE Executive Board meeting in November, I noticed that other unions had some nice shirts and other items that their members could wear in support of their unions. I took this information back to the executive board and we are now looking to update the shirts we have available for SPEEA members to show their support in the workplace. I like to act when I can.
Lastly, there is a lot of SPEEA misinformation in the workplace.
The solution is to make sure leaders engage with SPEEA members in the workplace, no matter where that is. I am a firm believer of leadership to be present physically, yet available virtually.
Increasing SPEEA activism is engaging with members in the workplace, but still being available virtually.
As President, I would gladly come to visit any district in person.
- Lunch time meetings.
- Area Rep (AR) recruitment.
- Involvement in SPEEA committees.
- More offsite happy hours.
Smaller districts have been doing a great job of talking to members:
- Portland engaged their local leadership on work from home policies.
- Wichita has been doing a wonderful job of having regular happy hours.
- Frederickson has recruited around 16 area reps for those districts.
We need to see this level of activism across all of SPEEA. I want to do my part to make sure this happens.
Everett has a majority of members but can feel disconnected.
All members need to feel connected, no matter their location.
We also must do a better job of recruiting and training the next leaders of SPEEA.
There are both small and large roles, they are all important.
SPEEA needs members with experience to become more active advocates and at the same time find more active roles for our new hires. Because of retirements, around 30% of our members are new/recent hires.
I have a lot more to say on this. Send in your questions or let us find a time to chat.
There is a great deal to focus on:
- Engage with ongoing developments with 737 and working with the employers, the FAA, and SPEEA members to ensure safety across aerospace on our products.
- Support IAM 751 in their contract negotiations.
- If they ask for SPEEA’s help, we will answer the call.
- Organize new SPEEA units inside and outside current employers.
- If aerospace workers want to join the SPEEA ranks, we will welcome them with open arms.
- Prepare for the various SPEEA contracts being renegotiated.
- Pilots/Instructors 3/6/2024
- Wichita Engineering Unit 12/1/2024
- Wichita Technical and Professional Unit 1/31/2026
- Puget Sound Professional / Technical Units 10/6/2026
With all our units SPEEA needs to ensure that we have a great communication link with the members.
We must:
- Ensure members are familiar with the negotiation process.
- Know where they can contribute their input.
- Know how they can actively participate in the process.
- Ensure that they vote and advocate for their fellow SPEEA members to vote also.
I do not support out of sequence interim negotiations without greater SPEEA member input.
According to the SPEEA Constitution, Section 11.6, Executive Board handles out of sequence interim negotiations.
I would push to have the Bargaining Unit Councils (BUCs) formed where members can have input. On the last interim contract, I voted no on the contract extension because members did not have a chance to participate in negotiations, as they normally would have when a contract expires. In hindsight, had we voted the extension down; we would have ended up with a contract that was much worse.
It is important for members to understand how they fit in the process and how to make changes.
According to Article 14 of both the Professional and Technical Contracts, we cannot strike during the term of the contract.
The real solution to this is to revise our governing documents to support member input into interim negotiations.
This may require an amendment to the SPEEA Constitution, Section 11.6, SPEEA Northwest Bylaws Section 11.6, and Northwest Policy and Procedure Manual Addendum A and Addendum B.
If you would like to discuss it more, contact me and I can go into further details.