April membership blitz means new members and new urgency

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More than two dozen members from eight locals recently took part in MAPE’s spring membership blitz. The members participated both in person and virtually.  

Joe Sullivan, Local 401; Region 4 Director Sam Sant and Local 401 President Jeff Gintz reach out to future MAPE members.

Member leaders also stepped up to develop the training for the day. Local 401 President Jeff Gintz, Local 2101 Membership Secretary Lauren Siegel and Local 901 Membership Secretary Meridith Richmond developed a training on relational organizing and developing an AHUY Rap; the acronym “AHUY” is a helpful shorthand for what it takes to move someone to act: Anger, Hope, Urgency and You. 

“The first step was to get them to think about the issues and then ignite a spark, hope, urgency, the union is under attack today and you must act. When you’re doing a membership ask, relational organizing is the only way to connect with people. People need to know they’re supported, especially after these last few months. We even got some thank yous from people for contacting them,” Gintz said. “I messaged a guy with the standard introduction, and he responded, ‘How do I join?’ No convincing, no phone calls. Just ‘How do I join?’” 

The April 23 blitz garnered 18 new MAPE members.  

“We had some newer employees who were participating in the membership blitz who had never done it before, so they listened to us make calls and afterward asked us why we said certain things. Afterward, one woman called her husband to tell him what she was doing – she was so excited she’d gotten people to join,” added Gintz. 

Local 901’s Bree Landherr reaches out to a MAPE-represented employee during membership blitz last month.

This is the second membership blitz Local 901’s Bree Landherr has participated in. “It seemed inclusive for all members to take part in the fun. They train us well and provide documents to use – and you feel very supported. There is a direct outcome. Time is a factor for me and if I see a direct outcome, I am more apt to get involved,” Landherr said. 

Both Landherr and Gintz said they will participate in future membership blitzes. MAPE’s Union Power Project (UPP) sponsored the April membership blitz. UPP also sponsored two recent membership blitzes at Local 401, where Gintz said membership numbers went up two or three percent. “It doesn’t take an active imagination to see our union will be under attack for the next four years and we need to build our union power now by increasing membership,” Gintz said.