Pride—and a bit of pettiness—as a motivator

Why I started paying union dues

By Alexis Ali

I was blissfully naïve when I first became a part of PSU. Hired on full-time at UMass in the summer of 2020, Past-Alexis had a lot of other things to occupy her brain space than union activity. She felt secure in her job and was generally disinterested in knowing about PSU committees and their shenanigans—after all, she was hired on what appeared to be a step program for regular raises and had state benefits for the first time. Life was good! God… I miss being Past-Alexis.

But a lot has happened since then. I survived a privatization attempt with help from my PSU-member boss and mild cognitive dissociation. I lived through a year of HR hell to get my job reclassified. I’ve been threatened with unit reorgs. And more! All while watching my salary struggle to keep up with inflation. I’m sure I am not the only one to have experienced these bureaucratic gymnastic events. And through it all, I got to see snippets of what different volunteer committees in our union do to support members (both dues-paying and non).

Then Chancellor Reyes arrived. At his last position at the University of Illinois Chicago, Reyes was so notorious for union busting and bad faith bargaining that the nurses’ union brought an inflatable rat (not-so-affectionately known as Scabby) to represent him at their rallies and, later, strikes in 2022–2023. In an act of solidarity and foreboding, they sent it to our nurses here when he was inaugurated. So obviously, I knew this contract negotiation was going to be an uphill battle. But I also knew that nothing we have proposed is unreasonable.

At the same time, I was becoming a bigger advocate for the inclusion of non-dues-paying members in volunteer positions and working on the communication committee (Comms Com). The articles my fellow Comms Com members were writing piqued my interest in the bargaining process, and I finally signed up to be a silent bargaining representative (SBR).

Management hated it. (To be clear, they didn’t hate me being there specifically, but just the concept of SBRs in general.) It was dumbfoundingly hilarious. I watched people who are paid at least twice as much as I am, who are 15–20 years my senior, meltdown over our presence. And I watched our bargaining team leaders hold firm.

That’s what did it. That’s why I decided to figure out how to pay dues.

I saw volunteers from our union use their free time, skills, and intellect to hold management accountable over and over again. I saw them be berated and belittled, gaslit and manipulated. Every. Single. Session. But they haven’t wavered. So, the best way I thought I could show my appreciation for them was to invest in the future of our union.

I am lucky to be able to pay dues now—and it isn’t easy. Like you, I need us to win this contract so I can continue to work at UMass and afford a decent quality of life. I guess, in my own form of petty vengeance, I am offering my voice, my time—and now—my financial contributions to ensure that our union outlasts our management overlords who value us so little.