Sorry I apologize. I've been drinking and answered quickly because I'm out. I read your first paragraph quickly and took it as BAs don't care and welcome apathy.
How do you do that? You're a steward. How many members actually listen to you. How many actually care to educate themselves. They look for easy answers and expect you to give them to them.
My local had a website that they post everything on. The BAs and local officials have instagrams and twitters as well. People don't care. Most use social media to escape not inform.
I can't judge every local. I'm sure your local is completely different than mine. As are many other locals. Though I do believe that it's not as far apart as apple's and oranges as you do. People do not like giving money up and the fact that they didn't feel the need to vote knowing that the outcome could deduct from their gross pay says a lot to me.
I'm more dismay about the voter turn out. I wanted the fund yes but I never tried to sell it. I always just tried to answer questions and give the facts. I only said yes or no when someone asked me how I was voting.
But no I don't think more votes would have changed the outcome. I think people distrust the union and also don't like to give money.
No worries, I'm really trying to work on keeping my posts shorter and clearer.
Members will listen to me if they have a vested interest in the issue. I'm working on gaining their trust by increasing my understanding. If they see me as someone who knows what he is talking about, then I will have better luck at convincing them to do things like vote.
At the core of the apathy, I believe, is members being overwhelmed by the sheer complexity of the contract, company policy, the law, and how they all interplay. Most people simply don't have the time or resources to commit to understanding their rights and responsibilities properly. I believe we could start to turn the tide on apathy by fighting for simplification, clarity, and consistency with the contract and its enforcement.
On a final note, I will say I sympathize with BA's. I understand that UPS is just one of the companies they have to deal with, and our contract is over 200 pages long, not to mention all the panel decisions and past practices that go along with it. I assume most other contracts aren't nearly as long, but that's still a lot of stuff for those guys to know
and enforce.