The WFSE 2019 Rising Star Award was given to Jordan Harrington June 2nd at the Rise Up conference. Created to honor a new steward who is building and strengthening our union, the award honored Harrington’s work at Green River College.
“Jordan has shown, in the short time he’s been a steward, that’s he’s fighting for the workers out here,” said coworker Lonnie Hunter. “We are important to him.”
Harrington is currently the only representational steward at Green River and is working hard to create a positive culture for workers and students. “He has a lot of work ahead of him,” said Hunter.
One recent victory was a general membership meeting. “I saw that a lot of people welcome the union being here,” said Harrington. “My member action team and I had been working for several months leading up to that to gain visibility. That was pretty awesome.”
Harrington balances differing expectations from members and supervisors and sometimes has two representational cases per week. He also runs monthly meetings and new employee orientations (NEOs). Despite the challenges of his work, he remains inspired by the help he’s able to provide.
“I just helped someone yesterday with a bullying supervisor situation and we took it to HR and are really getting things done. I’m making progress even when it’s tough,” he said.
Harrington has seen the difference a union makes at a worksite. “It’s important that we stand together, otherwise everyone feels alone,” he said. “And when people feel alone, when they get into a hard time, then they just quit. They just move on and go somewhere else.”
“There’s a lot of talk about being concerned about turnover here at Green River, and I feel like the union is the number one source of that sense of community and empowerment, to face down a tough situation and make improvements, rather than just moving on.”
When it comes to the future of WFSE at Green River College, Hunter is realistic, but hopeful. “We had nothing,” she said. “We’re slowly but surely building it up.”
Harrington is “rising above everything,” Hunter said. “He’s saying, ‘I’m here, and we the people are strong.’”
