Local 83711 is CWA STRONG

IUE-CWA Local 83711 in Gadsden, Ala., represents workers at Inteva Products, a global automotive supplier. The members of Local 83711 have been working hard on their internal organizing over the past year to make IUE-CWA STRONG.

The local has created a mobilizing committee to get out and talk directly to members about why it's important to be a member and to be active in the union. The committee has made great strides in getting more members engaged. Through regular conversations with members and non-members alike, local activists have signed up more than 30 new members and developed new member activists now taking the union message of power and solidarity to their coworkers.

The local's organizing efforts have not gone unnoticed. As the union has grown stronger at the company, previously rigid and standoffish management has taken a more respectful and open approach to its relationship with the union. The company is now allowing regularly scheduled staff visits into the plant, and the committee has been able to have one-on-one conversations with more than one-third of the members.

Local 83711 President Lisa Carroll has identified several new leaders in the plant who are effectively moving the campaign forward and building stronger relationships with their coworkers. "It's hard work, but in the long run it pays off, because we are able to get more members involved," Carroll says.

Local 83711 is a great example of the dividends that come from fighting to build power at work, and they are continuing their hard work to make IUE-CWA STRONG.