Organizing my comfort zone

I volunteered for a big union drive next month. Previous summer blitzes have been wildly successful and we're at our highest membership level in history. But later this fall we'll enter negotiations for our next biennial contract, and there seems to be some ill will aimed at the union for not doing enough for workers – though as a shop steward, I haven't heard specific complaints. (So far my only organizing success was to tell a coworker that "the State doesn't give raises; every increase is negotiated." Which is true. They signed their card that day.)

For my time as a State employee and union member, I've taken a circumspect approach to getting involved: attend local area meetings, serve as a delegate to negotiations assemblies where bargaining priorities are set, and now I'm halfway through my first term as a member of the Board of Directors. It's never been my desire to be an out-front leader; I am much more at ease in the role of a facilitator, which is the heart of my comfort zone at my day job. (I work as a program specialist in public health insurance with zero direct reports – but not on the casework/social services side, as I lack the necessary education and training for that.)

Here we are in a pivot year: Midterm national elections plus cool shit like our State executive branch and half the legislature. Contract negotiations officially start just after Labor Day, but in an election year, for practical reasons, they won't get underway in earnest until we know who will be the next Governor. During the 2026 legislative session, senators routinely punted on budget issues that will worsen at an accelerating rate – and any viable solutions will be more painful as time drags on. As things stand, our union has been readying itself for months to hear "there's no money" from across the bargaining table.

So: The world is on fire, but it hasn't burned down. Our union has been building strength almost nonstop for most of a decade. We seem ready to face severe challenges barreling toward us. Despite my lifelong feeling of "I've always been interested in people, but I've never liked them,"^[1] I at least want to try being something other than a passive participant. Meeting and organizing teammates feels like the best way to start. Let's fuckin' go, I guess!