March 2021 Newsletter

What can you do?

When I was a little boy around the age of seven (7) I recall a statement that was made by then President John F. Kennedy. I know that I am dating myself, but this statement to me was very profound. The statement went something like this, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

I think that this statement can also apply to our relationship with the Union. Ask not what the Union can do for you, ask what you can do for the Union. I say this because as I walk down the halls of the MedStar Washington Hospital Center, the question that I get asked the most is what I am going to get them (the members) in the upcoming negotiations of the contract that is set to expire on June 30, 2021. I try to explain to them that it is not what I am going to get them, but what they are willing to fight to get.

I have come to understand that many of us still don’t understand the make up or better yet the purpose of a Union. First you must understand and accept the fact that you are the Union. My definition of a Union is a group of workers that have collectively come together to better their working conditions, hours of employment and standard of living. One person or leader(s) do not make a Union. The Union is all of us.

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