Editor Sees Benefits as Helping Members Through Tough Times
 

For union editors, finding fresh material for publications can be a challenge.  For Elizabeth Drea, communications director of UFCW Local 881, the challenge is an easy one.  She knows that the 36,000 union members who get Progress, the publication she edits 6 times a year, appreciate reading about the Union Plus benefits.

“The problems with the economy hit everyone, and anything that helps members stretch their paychecks is of even greater interest now,” says Drea.  Her members see the Union Plus benefits as adding value to their union membership, and she says that her readers look forward to the Union Plus information she features in every issue.

Local 881 has promoted the Union Plus benefits since Drea started working at the local, almost 12 years ago. But there has been a renewed emphasis to include benefit content, kicked off with a center spread on all the programs last year.

Early in the planning process for each issue, she contacts Jennifer Wright Dorr of Union Plus to find out “what’s hot or new.” The local editor relies on Union Plus to keep her informed of the more than 40 benefits that her members can use. “I always know I can trust it because it comes from Union Plus,” says Drea of the accurate and detailed content she receives.

Including benefit-filled content is as easy as visiting UnionPlus.org/Ads, where editors can find articles as well as black and white or color ads in many sizes. There is even a calendar to make it easy to know what to include when.

With a publication that goes out to a diverse membership, Drea says Union Plus benefit information is “some of the most universal material we can put in Progress” because it interests all her members no matter where they work. She says that benefit-filled content draws her members into reading her publication and “helps us reach them with other messages we’re trying to get across.”

“The benefits have been popular because they help members save money and always come with excellent customer service,” she says, citing the AT&T wireless discount, mortgage, credit card and legal programs as being heavily utilized. Several UFCW 881 members have also won Union Plus Scholarships over the years.

It’s not just as a union editor that Drea is pleased with Union Plus. She has used the flower, AT&T and car rental discounts. And a discounted RV rental may be in the works for next summer for a vacation for her large family.

For content that you can use for your newsletter or Web site, visit the Union Plus Press Room or call Jennifer Dorr at 1-800-472-2005 for personalized content. Leaders and editors can also sign up for a monthly e-newsletter to stay informed of new or updated programs at UnionPlus.org/Enews.