Union CU fesses up to mystery billboards

SPOKANE, Wash. (8/5/08)--Spokane city residents have been talking for weeks about mystery billboards with a cryptic message, "It just works for me." The billboards had no name, no logo, and gave no clue what "it" meant.

The work was the product of Union CU (formerly Inland Empire Trades CU), an $8 million asset credit union formed by a few Spokane Bricklayers Local 3 members with less than $200 in 1968.

Union CU created the campaign to honor unions and union workers, it said in a press release. "It just works for me" is much larger than the credit union itself, honoring all that unions do for their members and all that unionized employees do for employers. "It" is the justice behind union pride, the credit union said.

The credit union is a unique financial institution in Washington state and one of a handful in the country that is run by an all-union staff and board. Even CEO Demaris Krummel is a union member.

"Union members deserve better than high-priced banking, outrageous credit card rates and payday lenders," Krummel said. "Instead of giving dividends to shareholders, we give profits back to the members in the form of lower interest rates on home and car loans and microloans for workplace equipment such as laptops, stethoscopes and other tools."

courtesy of cuna.org