By MIKE LEE

Internal organizing is a permanent effort. As workers leave public service or retire from the workplace, new employees join the ranks with varying degrees of knowledge about, and personal connection to, the labor movement. DC 37 is responding by implementing new tactics to connect with current and prospective members.

Through its latest campaign, the union is working to make contact with every current and potential member to educate them about labor history, the benefits of joining the DC 37 family, and the importance of worker solidarity when fighting for better wages and working conditions.

The organizing effort focuses on smaller, unit-specific gatherings and one-on-one meetings. Both formats enable field representatives to spend time with individual members and have in-depth conversations about their needs and concerns as they arise in an ever-changing workplace and political environment.

DC 37 Director of Field Operations Barbara Terrelonge and Assistant Director Michele Menduina have overseen internal organizing initiatives for the last several years while the union’s strategy has responded and adapted to a post-pandemic world.

“It’s essential that we rebuild our labor activist pool one workplace at a time, one meeting at a time, one member at a time,” Terrelonge said. “Our members think differently today. Many of them are newer to the workplace, sometimes joining the workforce for the first time. We’re listening and working to reach all our members with the aim of sparking or renewing their engagement in the union.”

By fostering these relationships, DC 37 also hopes to empower union activists who are prepared when called on to participate in rallies, campaigns against budget cuts, political campaigns, and future organizing efforts for the benefit of their colleagues and fellow members.

Training for Volunteer Member Organizers is underway, with union Reps setting up phone banks and heading to workplaces throughout New York City and upstate.

“Our goal is to speak to every single member,” Menduina said. ” We’re phone banking, in the field, holding virtual and lunchtime meetings, and connecting one on one. We must be out there at every possible moment talking to our members on every level.”