Membership Makes the Difference
Joe Elie - DES Family Assistance
Joe Elie is a busy man.
He works for the State of Arizona in Family Assistance Administration during the day. At night, he studies for his AA degree in Drug and Alcohol Counseling at Rio Salado College. With a wife and two kids, he needs some family time, too.
But somehow, he also finds the time to talk to his co-workers about the importance of participation and membership to the SEIU Arizona state employees organizing campaign.
Before coming to DES, Joe worked at Santa Clara University for 15 years – 12 as an accountant and three years in customer service.
“We were not organized, but the facilities staff was and they not only enjoyed better benefits and pay, they also had a voice in the decisions that impacted their departments and their jobs," he said.
"We didn’t and as our pay and benefits stayed stagnant – and everyone knows that has an impact on job efficiency – we had no real recourse.
“Here, I can see so many ways that we can improve our working conditions and the services we provide our community. Like many of my co-workers, I have years of experience. When I see something that doesn’t work, the first thing I ask is ‘how can we fix it?’
"I want to be able to sit down with my co-workers and management and talk about the problems we have – things that affect our work and the quality of the service we provide. Then, I want to find a way to solve them that works for everyone.”
State Employees are State Assets
Joe believes that state employees need to be thought of as State assets. “Long term employees do more because they know more and that makes them assets worth keeping. The only way to reduce job turnover – and the inefficiencies that come with that – is to value and reward experience. That way, everyone – the employee, their managers and the people who use our services – benefits.”
It won’t come as a surprise to anyone that State workers are all different people with different needs. “I’m a disabled veteran, so I have pretty good health care," said Joe.
"But for many of my co-workers, health care is a major concern. I will lend my voice to that issue because I want to make sure my co-workers have the same quality care as I have.
Retirement is another issue that needs to be addressed and, of course, wages must be competitive to keep good workers.”
Earlier this year, the brand new SEIU State Organizing Committee met with more than 30 members of the State Legislature to discuss wages and the need for a pay increase. Almost 1,300 state employees signed on to the effort, flooding their representatives with phone calls in support of the ‘face-to-face’ meetings.
‘Imagine the impact we can have next year!’
The outcome was positive in several ways. First, many of the legislators had the chance to discover that State employees are allies in the effort to provide top quality services to Arizona. And second, this year’s budget includes a 3.25% increase in wages – an increase over the initial budget proposal.
Equally important, the state workers earned the respect of the legislators, including State Senator Tom O’Halleran who confirmed that the employee blitz “made a difference in the budget on state employee compensation.”
For Joe Elie, that’s good news. “As we continue to organize and more of our co-workers become members, can you imagine the impact we can have next year?”