Shop stewards are the face of the union—the ones members see day to day, and rely on for everything from basic questions about the job to handling complicated grievances. But stewards are also in a great position to strengthen the union by getting more people involved: by thinking like an organizer. Meet with activists from different unions across the country to learn about how to be more effective stewards by organizing.
When it comes to grievances, is your local stuck pushing paper more often than winning “instant justice”? Are grievances bottlenecked in the hands of a veteran steward or solo staffer? Hear from activists who are changing their unions’ grievance culture with direct action, group grievances, and mini-campaigns, and drawing more members into solving everyday problems on the job. We’ll also review the challenges, and how to avoid slipping back into well-worn grooves.
Burnout—emotional, physical, or mental—is a fact of life for many of us in the labor movement, whether it's due to our jobs, our union activism, or both. Join us for a thoughtful and compassionate discussion of how we can address burnout on an individual and a group level, and how we can organize ourselves so that our work can be sustained.
Union stewards often find that regular conflict with supervisors is part of the job. But sometimes you come up against particularly difficult supervisors who try to undermine the union at every turn. Meet with stewards from a variety of industries to talk about strategies for handling bad management, and learn some new ones.
Grievances are a lot more than what you write down on a form or what gets said in a hearing. Some of the most important work that goes into winning a grievance happens before you even file, and pays off big time if the grievance ends up going to arbitration. Join stewards and officers from a variety of industries to discuss strategies for grievance investigation and share best practices.
Open shop conditions don’t have to be a death sentence. We'll cover strategies for building and maintaining stronger unions even under so-called “right to work,” particularly in the public sector.
A health and safety committee can transform the workplace: jump-starting your organizing with action that gets a lot of people involved, and victories that people really feel. We'll explore committee models that both union and nonunion workers can use, and the structures and strategies that make committees effective.
Burnout—emotional, physical, or mental—is a fact of life for many of us in the labor movement, whether it's due to our jobs, our union activism, or both. Join us for a thoughtful and compassionate discussion of how we can address burnout on an individual and a group level, and how we can organize ourselves so that our work can be sustained.
This workshop will start with a short poem by Katie Giede, Union of Southern Service Workers.
