Pete DiGregorio, back right, was hard at work at the FA's VOTE-COPE table during Professional Development Day on October 9. While many people have been working diligently on member organizing, no one has been more tirelessly committed to this effort than Pete. (photo by Victoria Pendzick)

We have just two words for our membership:

THANK YOU!

After working diligently on member organizing for the past few years, tracing all the way back to before the Friedrichs case, the Con Con vote and the Janus case this year, we have been constantly on the go and trying to make sure our members understand the implications of these various attacks on our union, on the value of union membership, on knowing what life might be like without our union or with a significantly weakened union.

It has been a challenge at times. Periodically a member here or there would focus on things that might divide us, like the experiences of 10-month versus 12-month faculty or the experiences of adjunct classroom faculty versus adjunct nonclassroom faculty.

But our membership has remained united. We are union strong. How do we know this?

We thought there may be no better evidence than the fact that, after the Janus decision, 100 percent of our full-time faculty and nearly 90 percent of our adjunct faculty are members.

That is INCREDIBLE!

But then came Professional Development Day on Tuesday, October 9, and—WOW—did our members come out strong in support of the FA! Our VOTE-COPE drive on that day exceeded all expectations: never in the history of the FA have we raised so much money on a single day in a matter of six hours.

Fifty-seven of our members decided to contribute or to increase their annual contribution during in that time, bringing in thousands of extra dollars per year!

That's because our members really get it: they know that our faculty working conditions are our students' learning conditions. There's no way to separate these things; they are two sides of the same coin.

Because unions are prohibited by law from using member dues for political purposes, VOTE-COPE is our voluntary fund for political action. These funds enable us to meet with our elected representatives and educate them about the needs and concerns of our faculty and students. Our elected representatives cannot possibly focus on the needs of all of their constituents all the time, so it's imperative that we use our VOTE-COPE funds to stay in contact with them and ensure that they understand the issues facing the college.

Knowing that our members are not only 100 percent all in with the FA but are also so eager to contribute to VOTE-COPE during these challenging political and financial times shows us that our organizing work is paying off.

For that, again, we say THANK YOU.

If you're not already contributing to our VOTE-COPE fund, or if you'd like to increase your annual contribution, you can do so today by completing this VOTE-COPE form and returning it to the FA office:

224J Southampton Building
Suffolk County Community College
533 College Road
Selden NY 11784

Even increasing your contribution by a dollar a pay helps keep our union strong every day—and we put every single penny to good use. Thank you.