Organizing was always the lifeblood of SEIU District 925. The disciplined nuts and bolts of developing a core group of educated rank and file leaders to build internal organization, combined with community and corporate campaign strategies, worked again and again, making 925’s win rate the highest among unions year after year. That formula worked to win a voice for members in higher education, libraries, local government and, in later years, in Head Start and child care centers around the country. The same model was applied to winning contracts, with many lively demonstrations, creative tactics and, on rare occasions, strikes. More than anything else, 925 members organized to receive better pay, but they also fought for health care, fair classification systems, family benefits and workplace safety.

Boston University contract language on sexual harassment, 1980.