Why your admin staff need to lead your union drive

Helen is a Senior Coordinator in the US Litigation Program at the Center for Reproductive Rights and a member of the Center for Reproductive Rights Union, UAW Local 2110. She is also a volunteer abortion doula with The Doula Project. You can follow her on Twitter @hbolton.

“Labor rights are a reproductive justice issue.” Art by Gabriel Lee

Administrative support staff make non-profits run, but we're often not given opportunities to lead at work. A union drive offers a chance to change that power dynamic, and build on the unique expertise that your admin team possesses. Here's why: 

You need people with relationships all over the organization.

A union drive involves meeting directly with your coworkers, typically offsite, to discreetly discuss interest in forming a union and, eventually, to have people sign union support cards. This means a successful union drive needs people who can cultivate trust and solidarity with lots of people, not just on their own team, but throughout the entire organization. Receptionists, administrative assistants, office coordinators, and other office support staff have a natural advantage in this process, as our roles often require us to interact with staff in every department. Having these pre-established relationships, even when they’re not the closest, can make having that first conversation about unionizing much easier than having to approach someone whose name you’re not even sure of. And, as a bonus, because it’s often typical for assistants to walk over to other departments and check on things for their bosses, or for receptionists to walk over to tell people they have a visitor or a package, we're less likely to arouse management’s suspicion when initially approaching people around the office to invite them out for coffee to chat offsite.

You need people who can, and will, get the logistics done.

Unions are about collective action, and a successful union drive needs people who can manage all of the practical aspects of bringing lots of people together to figure out what they want and how they’re going to get it. While there are probably a lot of people in your office who could rant eloquently about why something at your workplace is unfair, or wax poetically about the beauty of solidarity, if those people stall out when the time comes to find the space, schedule the meeting, send the reminder emails, and then follow up with people after, you will not end up with a union. Support staff are incredibly well-practiced at pushing collective office tasks over the finish line. We're often responsible for reminding more senior staff of outstanding tasks that require their action before they can move forward, and for cajoling them to complete the things they find less exciting. We know how to find meeting spaces and times that work best for the most attendees, and to consider the needs of a space, such as accessibility. And we are well-practiced at pushing people to translate a long thought into a tangible, actionable decision or set of instructions. If you want your union to actually get things done, we are the people you want organizing it.

If your union isn’t working for the assistants, it isn’t working for the people who need it the most.

Office support roles are often the lowest-paid positions at an organization and, across the professional sector, women and people of color are disproportionately concentrated in these positions. Opportunities for advancement are often more limited in these jobs, if they exist at all, and employees in these positions are typically less able to wield significant leverage in individual negotiations around things like salaries and benefits. This lack of leverage can also make it much harder for people in these roles to speak up about mistreatment or other poor working conditions. In short: we need a union! And having us lead your union drive will help ensure that you are centering the needs of workers most in need of the benefits and protections of collective bargaining.

If you want your union drive to be successful: let your support staff take the lead! We do the work of organizing people at your office every day, and now is our time to shine. And after your drive is successful, and you start working to determine your collective priorities and negotiate a contract, make sure we are able to continue playing key leadership roles in your new union.