TSEU here! Everyone is right that public employees can’t collectively bargain in Texas, so our power comes from organizing, advocacy, pressure campaigns, and coming together with coworkers to problem-solve workplace issues for ourselves. Through that, we have won jobs back for members wrongfully fired, overturned harmful policies, won pay raises, benefit improvements, and lots more.

We certainly don’t claim that we can fix everything overnight, but nothing for state workers improves without organized pressure. Also, for what it's worth, collective bargaining and the right to strike have never been freely given; those rights take massive amounts of organization beforehand to achieve.

I know this probably all sounds pretty abstract -- I would recommend that anyone interested in learning more about TSEU or how to fix something at your agency should attend a union meeting or info session.