Veronica Frausto
Veronica Frausto walked away from a recent union gathering thinking: We need to really bring home the message we, the members, are the union!
Veronica and co-worker Gloria Carillo, both of Benefits Service Center at the Santa Clara County, conceived of holding a “union appreciation” event to help educate members, create awareness of the value of union membership, and increase SEIU 521 visibility at the worksite.
Paul Fong with Leaders
With assistance from 521 staff, members held a lunch-time program at their worksite on Nov. 16.
With balloons and pizza to enliven the meeting, members who came got to hear Assembly Member Paul Fong speak as well as listen to a group of Durham bus drivers who are fighting to have a union.
“Along with achieving awareness, the Union Appreciation Day brought about a sense of pride amongst our coworkers in our office and this is a very good thing!” said Veronica.
Members picked up informational leaflets about union resources available from various departments, such as SEIU 521’s contract enforcement, political, research and communications staff: The UnionAdvantage (PDF)
Other leaflets include: Weingarten Rules and Labor’s Top 10 Achievements (PDFs)
Paul Fong with LuisaBlue
“I believe that our event was successful as we created awareness of the benefit of union membership by hearing of the fight of the Durham bus drivers who are fighting to become unionized because they feel union membership will bring fairness to their workplace. It was terrific to hear from Assemblyman Paul Fong speak of the values of being a union member, as well as listen to SEIU 521 Chief of Staff Luisa Blue’s passionate story of union work.”
— Veronica Frausto
“I want to thank all of you for your service and dedication to your jobs. The work that you do is so important to the well-being of our county. And the union is the most effective tool of bringing us to the middle class.”
— Assembly Member Paul Fong