Organizing Tip of the Week: Keep an Up-to-Date Bargaining Unit List

(National Federation of Federal Employees)

One important component of successful organizing is obtaining a copy of your list of eligible members on a regular basis. After all, in order to recruit new members, we need to know who to talk to!

Bargaining unit lists are helpful to have on hand during formal organizing drives, so you have a record of the employees that are eligible to become a member of your Local.  You should also keep a current copy in your union office, so you can verify whether your visitors are already members, and ask them to sign up if they are not. You can also use this list to send regular communications to your potential members, reminding them why they should become members of your Local. 

These lists can also be broken down, and provide you with a system for assessing and reaching out to your potential members.  Employees can be grouped according to their likelihood of becoming members, and contact with them can be prioritized based on the chances of them signing up. Your Local officers and members can also go through the list and identify those bargaining unit employees they know and work with. However, everyone is responsible for spreading the word about your Local.  The possibilities are endless, once you know who to reach out to.

You can request an updated copy of the list from your agency.  Depending on your Local environment, employees could be moving in and out of your unit, so you want to make sure that you aren’t working from an outdated list and missing potential members.  Local officers also need to review the list to make sure that employees are coded correctly, this happens frequently so double check every name.

You may have noticed that your Organizing Coordinator has contacted your Local recently to request a copy of your bargaining unit list. If your Local has not yet submitted your list, please make sure you do so as soon as possible.  They can help you implement some of the suggestions above, and utilize your list.

If you need help requesting a copy of your bargaining unit list, or deciding how to make the most of it, please contact your Organizing Coordinator (see map).