Meet our new UA Local Union 393 Team Member — Jean Cohen! Jean will join us later this month as our brand new coordinator for the Campaign for a Secure Future. Let her tell you about herself in her own words.

“I’m honored to be joining the 393 team to help make the Campaign for a Secure Future a dynamic program that really makes a difference in the members’ lives. I’ve always had a passion for the labor movement and for empowering people through politics and organizing. I was born and raised in a working class family right here in San Jose. My father was Secretary Treasurer of his union and my mother was a school teacher for 35 years. I think my parents’ advocacy in their unions and politics really shaped the core values that guide me today.

“I’ll be joining the team to help expand the communications and advocacy programs of the union. I will be developing rank-and-file leaders and union members to be the public face and spokespeople for the union. I will be working to establish a political and advocacy program in the five cities the Local has targeted to build power and bring more jobs to the building trades and the working families. Part of my job will also be helping the 393 leadership engage the union members in their vision.

“I will be working with member leaders in several different ways, including member to member engagement around city specific issues. What I think is great about the vision that Bill Guthrie has laid out is having home grown leaders be the face of the union in their own communities. So when there is a Sunnyvale council meeting, for example, it is our own members living and working in Sunnyvale who are there articulating our position and taking action. We want to develop union member leadership to make changes in their own communities, and I’m here to give them the tools, guidance, and support to do that.

“This is a presidential election year, and there’s a lot of interest in politics we can and should capitalize on to win local campaigns. Those are the races — the city council, mayoral, etc. — that can really influence Local 393 and what our future looks like, and what jobs are available to our members.
“The labor movement has a lot of strengths right now. We have developed cross sector solidarity across the unions, which is incredibly powerful. We are seeing trades unions look beyond their specific needs to work together in strategic partnerships. What we still need in the labor movement is to overcome the apathy and lack of engagement, but that can certainly be done. We have to understand where people are coming from and what their own self interests are, and really be able to connect that to the broader goals that we are fighting for. We need to be able to connect a member’s personal success with the success of UA Local Union 393, and we can do that.“