In the District of Columbia,the Washington Teachers Union (WTU) has made a priority of bringing fair-share payers into full membership. They incorporated these efforts into nearly every thing they do. What does that look like?In the District of Columbia,the Washington Teachers Union (WTU) has made a priority of bringing fair-share payers into full membership. They incorporated these efforts into nearly every thing they do. What does that look like?
They developed a brochure to hand to all new members and potential members, as a way of helping new and potential members understand what their union is about, and as an ice-breaker for workplace conversations among building reps and potential members.
![Welcome to our union WTU](http://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/resize/styles/content_area_full_width/public/wysiwyg/wtu_welcome_to_our_union_page_1-1700x1314.jpg?itok=_nRV1x_h)
As a provider of high quality professional development, WTU publicized to that professional development sessions were available to all, but were significantly discounted for full-members. They built social events around signing up fair-share payers. And they held member appreciation nights, in which full-dues member received discounts to sporting events.
To support these efforts, all WTU staff were trained in outreach efforts to fair-share payers. The trainings put special focus on listening to the concerns of fair-share payers, connecting those concerns to the priorities of WTU, and moving fair-share payers to take action.