The Birth of A Union

Introduction

               One determined person can make a difference that can change conditions in a workplace, a community, and even a country. Noridean McDonald made a lasting difference in her workplace. What motivated one woman bus driver to lead the fight for change in the working condition and compensation for transportation workers, and what remains of her legacy in the workplace today?

            “The Birth of a Union,” OAPSE[1][1] Local #744, gives a glimpse into the life journey of Noridean McDonald and her legacy to the transportation workers of the Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation and Development Disabilities (CCBMR/DD) in Cleveland, Ohio. This story describes Noridean’s struggle to form a union for the County transportation workers, her court fight to establish the employer for that union, and the contracts she negotiated that have represented CCBMR/DD transportation workers and their former vendor for the past 27 years.

 While a majority of OAPSE Local #744 members have 20 or more years of service with CCBMR/DD, the majority lack knowledge of the history of Local 744’s fight to come into existence. Most members do not realize if Noridean McDonald had not taken a stand on behalf of the transportation workers, their lives would not be the same. Members take for granted seniority rights, vacations, health care benefits, and competitive wages, to name a few, because these members were not part of the original struggle.

The purpose of this paper is to allow the members of OAPSE /AFSCME[2][2] Local #744 to understand who started the union, why it was necessary to start a union, and how the union was formed. This paper informs affiliates, sister unions, and current active members how one person can make a difference. When pulling workers together in unity, the lives of many are changed. 

To understand the extraordinary changes that have occurred and to anticipate the even more dramatic changes that lie ahead, union members need to look back at the main features of discontent underlying Noridean’s motivations, undermining the very fabric of the relationship in the workplace between management and employees. For instance, the reality that seniority did not count motivated Noridean and propelled her into the forefront of tackling workplace issues. This spark is reminiscent of a statement by Thomas Jefferson: “We mistrust those who think they already have the answers when we are still trying to formulate the questions” (Alvin and Heidi Toffler 1994-1995).

Noridean’s clarity of vision brought with it a new degree of stability and a sense of self in the workplace at a time none could be found. Noridean came of age in the midst of extreme polarizations of power, as labor and management grappled for control of the main levers of transformation that would soon characterize dominance in manipulating how the fragmented workplace would be reorganized for the future.

       Noridean McDonald started out her adult life as a young housewife of a General Motors union worker who was a candidate for councilman for Ward 27 in Cleveland, Ohio. As the mother of two daughters, she primarily worked only for extra amenities to enhance her family lifestyle. She held various short-term, non-union jobs and paid very little attention to the plight of others who depended on this type of employment for survival. It was not until she accepted employment with CB Transportation, a vendor of the County, that she began to include herself in the day-to-day function and organizational makeup of her place of employment. After various experiences, Noridean felt she found a job she could label as a career. She found her niche, a job that provided decent pay and flexible hours so she could still fulfill her duties as wife and mother. Little did she know the series of events and choices would lead her to a place one might call the Twilight Zone!