Building the social movement
Community services connect union and community
Honored with several awards and nominations this year for outstanding efforts in community services, Local 1413 is laying the groundwork for future alliances between labor and community.
Nominated for the AFL-CIO’s Samuel Gompers National Labor Award, Local 1413 has been doing community service work with the American Red Cross since the local’s formation at DaimlerChrysler’s Electronic plant in Huntsville, Ala. The local hosted Red Cross blood drives and organized volunteers to sign up donors and coordinate drives.
From this initial interaction, these Region 8 UAW members became involved with Red Cross Disaster Services. More than 30 members have taken disaster courses such as mass care, damage assessment, and emergency assistance to families.
Local 1413 members not only have gone out into the community with the message of Red Cross disaster relief, but have gone directly to their co-workers with gate drives. In 1995 these drives raised over $4,000 for two different tornado relief operations in northern Alabama. Beyond that, members have donated an additional $21,546 for disaster relief.
Members of Local 1413 have continued to find imaginative ways to volunteer for the Red Cross and have mobilized their friends and family to volunteer also. UAW members at the Huntsville plant have formed Walk-for-Life teams, donated talent and time to the Red Cross’ annual ornament sales, and supported all aspects of Hoop Mania, the chapter’s annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament.
This deepening volunteer involvement could not have been made possible without strong union leadership. Local 1413’s community services coordinator Cassandra Copeland and other union leaders played leading roles in getting donations of over 5,000 units of blood.
During this past year, the local sponsored television ads valued at $11,000 on three different occasions. These commercials showed Local 1413’s support of Red Cross programs with members giving blood, participating in gate drives, and conducting disaster relief.
Every autumn, Local 1413 holds an annual rummage sale and auction to benefit a local charitable organization. In this year’s event, the local selected the American Red Cross as its recipient. UAW volunteers approached businesses for auction donations, collected rummage sale goods, sold raffle tickets, staffed the sale, and promoted the event. With $10,200 raised, Local 1413’s rummage sale chairman Bob Molinda reported that this was their best event ever.
In another event, UAW Local 1413 became involved in ad sponsorship for the American Red Cross holiday music spectacular last December. At the chapter’s gala sneak preview, the local Red Cross chapter presented Local 1413 members and officers—President Doug Gulock, Vice President Vivian Crane, Financial Secretary Susan Pollak, Recording Secretary Renay Helton, and Copeland—with its Spectacular Good Neighbor Award.
Actions always speak louder than words, and UAW Local 1413’s actions are union community service at work. Local 1413 of Huntsville, Ala., is to be commended for its belief that our union’s beginnings are in our country’s social movement. Community services is the key to building the connection between our union and the community in which we live and work.
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