"The Union is Us"

From Union Bench Warmer to Quarterback

Kenny Distance used to be a “sit-on-the-sidelines” kind of union member. “I let the shop steward and other members do the work,” Distance says. “All I would care about is opening the finished contract to the page about the money. That was good enough for me.”

Now the proud, red-shirted NABET-CWA Local 52031 activist barely recognizes his old self. He’s become an inspirational speaker, helping energize members at other locals.

His epiphany came in late 2009, 10 years after he started working as a PBS broadcast technician. Angered by management attitudes and emails, Distance decided it was time for him to do more than complain.

“I realized that the union doesn’t send magic elves to get rid of our problems,” he says. “The union isn’t a building. The union is us.”

With their contract expiring, Distance’s coworkers elected him as one of the union’s three negotiators. He encouraged members to sit in on the talks, demonstrating their solidarity and helping them understand what was at stake.

“Those first 10 years, I didn’t get into the weeds, and it’s all about the weeds, seeing how management really discusses things with the union, seeing how they view you,” Distance says. “I found they didn’t really view us too favorably; they took us for granted. They always want to do more with less — hire less people. Pay us less.”

Distance also helped mobilize members, from writing postcards to the vice president of PBS to wearing red shirts and grilling lunch on what became “Hot Dog Wednesdays.”

“Management is always going to try to chip away at our rights, our benefits and our wages. We need to be aware of what they’re up to, we need to be organized and we need to be mobilized, and not just when it’s time to bargain a new contract.”