Notes from
the Educator
by Patricia Elizondo
The Oxford dictionary defines apathy as: lack of interest or feeling;
indifference. Although it’s difficult for me to admit, this summer I was
“bitten” by the apathy bug. I did not fulfill all of my responsibilities as
an elected delegate to the Milwaukee County Labor Council, IAMAW District 10, my
appointed position as the Educator and as a member of United Lodge 66.
It was very easy for me to make the decision
not to attend meetings I am obligated to attend because it was summer vacation
time. The majority of members don’t show for meetings during the summer
months, or any other time of year for that matter, so why should I? Education
night meetings are canceled during the summer months due to a lack of interest
from members. Why should I feel guilty if I miss a few meetings during June,
July and August? Do our members care that I’m absent from meetings I have been
elected to attend? Why would they care? They don’t care about all the meetings
I do attend throughout the rest of the year. After all, I have a life too.
What a lousy attitude to have! Yet, that’s
the same attitude many of our members seem to have. It’s extremely
disheartening to try to promote the importance of Union involvement, organizing
and meeting attendance when the very members I have been elected to represent
don’t give a damn. Oh, I know you’re there when you have a complaint or feel
you have been treated unfairly, but where are you when your Lodge needs your
support and attendance at Union meetings, rallies and political events?
The members that are regularly active and attend meetings cannot
even begin to pick up the slack of those of us that don’t care.
As the Educator of Lodge 66, I can attest to
the fact that our Education Committee puts a lot of work into organizing
informative sessions for our members. We promote our Education Night meetings to
other Unions and the general public. We ask our members for suggestions as to
what they would like us to present at our monthly meetings. After months of no
interest or response, we all ask ourselves “why are we doing this?” I’ll
tell you why and I’ll tell you why I have been cured of the apathy bug. We do
it for the members that do come to meetings. We do it because if all we do is
get one member to learn from us, we have accomplished something. I do it because
I love the labor movement and my Union.
After the August Union membership meeting, a
member who has recently started attending meetings on a regular basis, asked me
about training at Placid Harbor. At that moment, I realized that what I do as
your Educator and elected delegate does matter. I’ll support interested
members and I’ll do it one at a time if that’s the way it has to be done. If
during a year, I can convince only one member of the importance of Union
involvement, I’m doing my job.
If you want to witness what the labor movement is about or
if you need a “kick in the ass” to get involved then you must attend
Laborfest at the lakefront on Labor Day. It’s truly an inspirational
day. It’s a day you would probably have to show up for work if it wasn’t for
Union representation. Show your appreciation for the benefits that your elected
Union representatives have bargained for by coming to this wonderful Labor event
and getting involved.