Local 401 helps recruit 21 new members

MAPE Local 401 has been a recruitment powerhouse for some time and continues to impress with expanded efforts to aid other locals, which recently resulted in 21 new members in one day. On Oct. 10, six members from Local 401 were invited to Hennepin Technical College to speak with MAPE-represented employees in Local 1301 about joining the union. Local 401 President Jeff Gintz was joined by fellow members Jason Madore, Michael Yost, Lee Sullivan, Ronald Dixon and Kevin Schnieder.

“We have a pretty solid group of recruiters in 401 and we know if we can get one of them in front of nonmembers, they are going to have a good conversation,” said Gintz. “We really enjoyed chatting with people from other agencies and locals to hear what their issues are at work and what they would want to see improved. There is a lot of common ground across agencies.”

The team emailed 30 onsite nonmembers in advance of recruitment day and invited people to chat over a coffee break. They emailed and called the day of the recruitment day with a similar invitation.

“We had one person set up a meeting in advance and received several questions by email,” explained Gintz. “The great news is the person who met with us joined. She had been in the bargaining unit for quite some time, but she was finally ready to join! During the rest of the day, we called, emailed and Teams chatted other nonmembers from all locals. You have to hit people from all angles.”

The team attended the 1301 local meeting, where they encouraged the members in attendance to get more involved to start building now to get ready for our next contract fight in two years.

“Many of MAPE’s recruitment efforts are focused within locals,” Gintz continued. “I feel like throughout MAPE, we don’t work together enough. We are all essentially the same and we could work together more frequently. Plus, it is sometimes easier to talk to people from other locals because it allows you to ask more questions about their work. We also learn more from them. I didn’t know anything about Hennepin Technical, but now I know they face similar issues that we do in Revenue.”

Local 401 typically hosts a recruitment event at least once a quarter, but they are ramping up their efforts in partnership with the Union Power Project (UPP) and have events planned already for November and December.

“If your local wants to host a recruitment event and is looking for funding, reach out to Andrew Ulasich, chair of the UPP,” says Gintz. “Or if you want Local 401 to come to your local and help with recruitment, let me know. We are all members represented by MAPE, so we can all help each other out; I think we don’t work together enough. Plus, we make it fun!”