To put it mildly, the November e-council meeting was energetic. There were strong requests for increased transparency and communication as GTFF enters the next bargaining cycle. These requests were well heard and are actively being operationalized.

Examples of these steps are:

• As approved by the e-council in November, Rosa Inocencio Smith (pictured) will be stepping up as Co-VP of Member Communications to assist Sabrina Sherman. This role is incredibly demanding from a volunteer capacity, so Rosa’s additional support will be vital. 
• The Bargaining Team will commit to regular updates on their progress that will give rank-and-file members the opportunity to comment on and approve platform decisions. Their retreat will be held on December 14 & 15, so expect an update before the end of December that will include communications cadence, a status update, and ways to ask questions and provide feedback. (You can always reach out on Slack in the ‘pre-bargaining’ channel, but we recognize more methods are better.)
• A detailed review of GTFF communication strategies is taking place with the primary goal of increasing member engagement. Only 40% of the membership completed the bargaining survey, and we’d love that number to be much higher.

GTFF is run by its members, so your involvement and feedback is vital. If you’d like to learn more about ways you can contribute, please email Lillian DeVane (VP of Organizing).