Dear 393 Member,

I don’t need to tell you that the world is divided right now. Within our union, we have diverse views, adding to the richness of the Local: we are Democrats, Republicans, old, young, and different races.​

Though there are issues that keep us apart, when we walk onto a job, we work together to get the job done right. As a union, we have common goals, and by increasing our political power, we can secure more family-sustaining jobs. 

Our power is stronger when members engage in political and community action. This includes not only voting for union-friendly candidates, but precinct walking, phone banking, and speaking out at City Council and Planning Commission meetings.

Member engagement was instrumental in our historic policy win on April 3rd. You can read about it in this newsletter issue. 

Our goal is to increase union market share in two ways:

1. We can pass policies which require that when developers build on public land or use public funds, they have to use union labor. What’s more, we can have similar requirements on private development.

2. When private development is moving through the planning process, elected and appointed leaders can help developers and unions find opportunities to collaborate and support projects through the entitlement process.

In some ways, if a job is being run non-union, it’s already too late, which is why having that political power on the front end is so important. As we enter political season, I urge you to not only be informed, but get involved. We’ve included a voter guide of our union-endorsed candidates. UA Local 393 has member delegates who represent us at the South Bay Labor Council and Building Trades Council who interview candidates and make endorsement recommendations for elections.

We’ll be setting up precinct walks and phone banks in the coming months. It’s an incredibly rewarding experience. Instead of getting angry about what’s wrong in the world, we can work to make things right and elect leaders who share our values of family-sustaining jobs. 

Unions have developed a bad rap as being negative and reactive. UA Local 393 is changing that. We’re out in the world being proactive. Join me in working to make our government better for our members, our families, and our community.

In Solidarity,

Steve Flores
UA Local 393 Business Manager