Organizers and organizing is only going to be as strong as the membership makes it. Your membership is your best tool to organize.
L-549 Boilermakers commemorate organizing training.
Twenty-five Local 549 (Pittsburg, California) Boilermakers turned out to learn the nuts and bolts of organizing during the local’s first Organizing Training Day, May 31, at the hall.
Led by Western States Organizer Pablo Barrera and funded through the M.O.R.E. Work Investment Fund, the day covered labor history, “Unionism 101” and practical organizing tools, including how to have a one-on-one conversation about unionizing. The goal was to keep the training focused on the basics and simple, to empower all members—from apprentices to seasoned journey workers—with solid skills for organizing to grow the union.
“Organizing and community activism are incumbent upon us as union members,” said L-549 Business Manager/Secretary-Treasurer Randy Thomas. “That is a heavy obligation without direction and education.”
Barrera said they focused on teaching everyone from “square one” to make sure everything was clear, including why workplaces organize and how to talk to workers to help them understand the union difference. To illustrate what organizing is like from the workers’ perspective and create engagement, Barrera divided everyone randomly into four groups representing typical industrial workers: assemblers, welders, truck drivers and warehouse workers. He asked everyone to consider everything from their category’s perspective. Each group had discussions about different points throughout the training and reported out on their main takeaways.
“I told them to play along and imagine they work at Siemens, they work paycheck-to-paycheck at their job, their spouse works at the Wal-Mart around the corner,” he said. “Imagine that’s you.”
Then he played an actual clip from a captive-audience meeting held at Siemens during the recent organizing efforts there. The company spokesperson makes promises and speculates on what harm a union might cause to work stability.
“A lot of people knew that workers are scared to organize, but they didn’t know why. Because they’re already union, they couldn’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want a union—what were they waiting for,” Barrera said. “This gave us a chance to help them understand what workers believe is at stake.”
Then he handed out sample union ballots, which he had everyone complete at the end of the training in secret, just as during an actual unionization vote.
“People said it really opened their eyes. They felt something about it and connected with it,” Barrera said. “They got the perspective of ‘Are you going to organize against your boss?’ because that’s what we’re asking workers to do. To move forward and unionize is tough, and that was my point to them.”
The training went well, everyone participated, and plans are already in the works for another class that goes more in depth on organizing. Barrera said a lot of the attendees expressed wanting to get more involved and do whatever it takes to organize more workplaces.
“We now have 25-some Boilermakers who understand what to do and how to start that conversation with a worker about organizing and the union difference,” he said. “What I always tell local unions is that the organizers and organizing is only going to be as strong as the membership makes it. Your membership is your best tool to organize.”
Thomas said he was pleased with the training and the turnout: “It was great to see members attend who do not always attend union meetings or show up for calls to action. Organizing goes beyond your skills on a jobsite; it has to do with your pride of being a union member.”
Western States organizer Pablo Barrera says that when it comes to successful organizing campaigns, understanding and practicing tactics that create consistent, steady gains is the key.
“In boxing, there’s a magazine called Ring Magazine. It’s like the Bible of boxing, and they had a quote about how boxers today all ‘lack the jab’. Everyone wants to power punch and knock someone out. No one wants to do the jab. It’s the same in organizing, if the basics aren’t there. We have to teach everyone from square-one about the basics—the jabs that lead to success.”
