deliver its/they membership

[jctgf]

“The union executive clearly can’t deliver its membership so even if we negotiated a settlement there’s no guarantee that they can deliver their membership,” he said.

Hi,
In the sentence above, what does "deliver its membership" mean, please? I couldn't find it on any dictionary.
The context is a strike on the public transportation system of Toronto. The comment is being made by the city's mayor on the union leader.
Thanks a lot.

[Neillythere]

Hi, as a Brit and mentor, but not a teacher, I would explain as follows:

"The union executive clearly can’t deliver its membership" means that no matter what decision(s) the executive make, they cannot guarantee that the individual members of the union will abide by that decision.

If the executive negotiated a deal with the company's management, to end the strike, many union members would ignore the deal and remain on strike to try for a better deal.

Hope this helps.
NT

[susiedqq]

Union members vote on contracts.

Just because the union executive (leader) wants to vote for or against something, there is no guarantee that the general membership will follow his lead and vote that way.

[riverkid]

I couldn't find it [on] in any dictionary.[/COLOR]

#

[jctgf]

Hi,

The meaning I have found in the dictionary that best matches the idea seems, to me, "to express in words, declare, or utter: deliver a speech".

This way, I wonder if the best explanation for ''to deliver'', in this sentence, would be ''to speak in their names''.

Thanks.

[susiedqq]

This means that the union chief cannot "hand over" or "deliver" the votes of the general membership, when it comes up for votes. He cannot guarantee that they will vote the way he wants them to.

"Deliver the votes" and "deliver the membership" is an American expression used in election situations. It's a promise of a block of votes.

[Neillythere]

Hi jctgf

Quote
This way, I wonder if the best explanation for ''to deliver'', in this sentence, would be ''to speak in their names''.
Unquote

Not quite. Although as a union leader he may be entitled to "speak in their names", he cannot guarantee that certain members of the union won't ignore anything he says. They may well decide to carry on a strike well after he has negotiated a deal. In doing so, they may well create the same chaos as the full strike did.

Hope this helps.

[jctgf]

This means that the union chief cannot "hand over" or "deliver" the votes of the general membership, when it comes up for votes. He cannot guarantee that they will vote the way he wants them to.

"Deliver the votes" and "deliver the membership" is an American expression used in election situations. It's a promise of a block of votes.

Hi Susie,
Sorry for bothering.
I just want to make sure that I really understood the expression.
Summing up, can I say that "deliver the votes" is equal to "deliver the membership" that, in turn, means "guarantee that the membership will vote the way someone wants"?

Thanks.

[susiedqq]

"deliver the votes" = guarantee the membership votes