SPOKANE, Wash. - After weeks of wondering who was behind the ad campaign that proclaimed “It just works for me” without any name, logo or explanation, local TV viewers and motorists finally had their answer: tiny The Union CU.
The so-called guerilla ads are part of a multi-media campaign launched by the 40-year-old credit union, formerly Inland Empire Trades CU, to celebrate the opening of its field of membership to include members of any and all unions and thus the new name.
The $8-million credit union recently was approved for a partnership with the Washington State Labor Council to offer low-rate loans and financial education to all union members in the Evergreen State at their place of employment.
The partnership with the WSLC, which serves all union members in the state, was announced Aug. 2, just as The Union CU was preparing to unveil itself to the community here. Beginning July 15–the day the credit union’s name change became official–billboards and television advertisements teased with the slogan “It just works for me.”
The ads offered no identifying information... until last week, when The Union CU said “it” referred to “the justice behind union pride.” The credit union says it is one of just a handful of CUs across the country that is run by an all union staff and board.
The CEO, Demaris Krummel, also is a union member. She told Credit Union Journal the CU’s mission is to serve union members–a concept she said is disappearing as union-affiliated credit unions merge into community chartered CUs.
“As a result, union members are becoming underserved,” she declared. “It is natural for union members to lose unique services when their credit union is merged with a community-chartered credit union, given the mission of community credit union is to serve the larger community, not to make special concessions to [its] smaller SEG.
“Not all mergers are bad,” she continued, “but reducing unique services to union members through these mergers is bad for the movement, because union members are working people of modest means. They, like other hardworking Americans, work to pay for their basic necessities, food and shelter.”
Members of Bricklayers Local 3 founded Inland Empire Trades CU in 1968. It served trade union members and their families in the Spokane area exclusively until recently. Its new FOM includes union employees, family members, unions and union employers anywhere in Washington state.
“Our all-union staff and board are focused on a better financial future for all union members,” Krummel said. “We are starting, first in Washington, through our partnership with the Washington State Labor Council. The next step for increasing service to union members is franchising The Union Credit Union, based on the Desjardins model. Franchising provides operational support and marketing to credit unions serving union members that are being placed into forced mergers or considering a merger with a larger community credit union.”
Krummel said any CU serving union members that is considering a merger with a community chartered credit union should contact The Union CU.(c) 2008 The Credit Union Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved.http://www.cujournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com
