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Sherry Little is enthusiastic about her new role as a Union Education Trust Trustee because it focuses on her favorite thing: helping people.
Little has been a Claims Service Specialist with the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation in Cleveland for 31 years. After earning her bachelor’s degree in business administration, she’d had several placements through a temp agency when she saw the opening for that role.
“I thought that it fit me because it was based on customer service. Prior to going to college, I’d worked a few customer service jobs. I liked working with the public: talking to people and being interactive with them,” Little said. “I was interested in helping people.”
That same interest drew her to involvement with OCSEA, where she now serves on the OCSEA State Board of Directors. Little began as a union steward before being elected to the executive board for Chapter 1810. She started attending District 7 meetings and now is the vice president.
“I was never involved in a union at all,” Little said. “I guess I was being nosy. I started listening: They’re fighting for this; they’re fighting for that.”
“I saw some complaints about what was happening on the job. I wanted to find out how can I assist my coworkers,” Little said. “How can we make things better?”
“Again, I just want to help people. I think that sometimes people need a voice. They need someone who will speak for them.”
Little likes to learn about issues and how to solve those problems, she said.
“I believe that a lot of people have voices but are kind of afraid to use their voices. It’s important to be a leader. Sometimes you need somebody who’s going to take charge,” she said.
She found out that person could be her: “You might not have the leadership skills. You go to this meeting and learn. You tweak it and become the leader that you didn’t think you were,” Little said. “You realize ‘Oh, I can do this!’”
“There are people who depend on you to be that voice for them,” she added.
However, just as Little wants to help fellow OCSEA members, she has been assisted by others as she developed as a leader. She credits both the retirees who are involved in OCSEA District 7 and the leadership in Chapter 1810 for coaching her along the way.
Now Little wants to advocate for UET. She used several programs in a previous educational benefit and sees the strengths of UET.
“What makes it a good program is that it gives our members the opportunity to reach their educational goals,” Little said. “They can achieve goals that they might have thought were unachievable.”
“I’m an advocate!”
Little encourages all eligible bargaining unit employees to use UET: “You’re never too old to learn!”
She will continue helping others not only through her job, but as a union leader and UET Trustee.
“I want to learn everything I can possibly learn,” Little said. “I want to learn more about UET. I want to learn about all the things the union has to offer.”
“Then I can pass that information on to someone else.”