NDU Stands for You
Today’s lesson is all about how joining your union helps protect you from threats like COVID-19 By Kelly Hagen, NDU Communications
There’s been a lot of talk about PPE lately. What is that? What does PPE stand for? PPE is the abbreviation for Personal Protection Equipment. In cooler, calmer and more casual terms, it is equipment that us humans can personally wear over parts of our human bodies to protect us from external threats. We’re in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the best advice any of us have gotten for personally protecting ourselves from catching this novel coronavirus, is to cover our mouths and noses. COVID-19 is, most likely, transmitted most efficiently through airborne particles, so if you limit the amount of these particles you breathe into your human form, you can — in theory — reduce the risk that you catch this virus. Face masks work well for that purpose, I’m told. More on that later in this exciting, new edition of United Voices magazine. OK, next question. What’s the abbreviation for the thing we use to protect a whole bunch of persons (or people, if you want to get all grammatical) from external threats? Is it GPE — Group Protection Equipment? No, it’s NDU. That’s short for North Dakota United. Let’s talk about that. North Dakota United (or ND United, or NDU, 4
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ND United Voices
whatever strikes your fancy) is the state’s predominant association of public employees and educators. With 11,500 members (and growing!), our union is the state’s largest, loudest, most effective voice for quality public education and public services. Period. End of sentence. What makes NDU that large, that loud, that effective? That’s simple. It’s you. Every person who receives this magazine is North Dakota United. There’s a meme going around social media that says: “Workers don’t join their union. They are their union.” NDU is not a thing that you join. It’s you. NDU stands for you. That concludes today’s lesson. Now, we move onto the exercise. I’ve included two sample answers, for your reference. Write out your answer in your workbooks, at home, and when you’re done, please take a picture of your answer and send it to me by e-mail to kelly.hagen@ndunited.org. Or you can drag a picture of a check mark on top of a picture of an empty square, either electronically, on a sheet of paper or just do this in your mind. I’m not actually a teacher, so I can’t offer you any credit. NO CREDIT.
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