Is your union newsletter or flyer a wall of words? Drawing cartoons is a great way to make ideas clearer and materials more appealing. Hear how workplace activists are putting their artistic talents to use—and try your hand at making your own union comics!
Ever wanted to write for Labor Notes magazine or website? When you discover a good tactic, uncover a problem, or win a righteous fight, we want to help you share the news. If it’s the first time you’ve written a published article, no problem! Come learn do’s and don’ts, what editors look for in a story, and how to get started.
Tune in for a screening of "We Build Power," a short film about how United Teachers Los Angeles has been building coalitions with students, parents, the community and other unions for the past decade to increase their collective leverage. After the film, there will be a panel discussion with educators building power in their communities to fight for better public education from California to Canada.
You could have a great contract campaign and powerful strike... and lose all that leverage because your contract language was poorly drafted before you even got to the bargaining table. We'll identify the words that create ambiguity and expensive arbitrations, and management's favorite wiggle words and hedge words, which all seem perfectly reasonable. Reasonable is a hedge word. Zipper clauses waive bargaining rights; no-strike clauses waive member rights; your arbitration language could waive member rights.
Which sources of information can you trust? How can you involve members? Workers often are, or feel, excluded from investigating incidents, but they shouldn’t be. Avoid traps: “blame the worker" is often used to avoid finding out what actually happened, but that’s the key to preventing future dangers.
When workers are divided, our bosses reap the benefit. Hear from hospital workers who have helped their co-workers build relationships and stronger unions by standing up to union-busting, racism, and anti-immigrant attacks.
Despite the Trump administration's best efforts to scare immigrant workers into the shadows, you still have rights, whether you're a citizen or not. Learn well-kept secrets about the rights that nonunion and immigrant workers have under federal labor law, and strategies to defend yourself from no-match letters, E-Verify, and I-9 audits.
Have you had your heart broken by the leadership of the union you work for? Frustrations can be plentiful in organizations that are supposed to be all about justice and democracy. Join other union staff to talk frankly about what you can do when a few people at the top—either officers or executive staff—are hoarding information, decision-making, and power. Share experiences of helping rank-and-file members democratize their unions, and strengthen practices of power-from-below.
Corporate logos decked out in rainbows for Pride month don’t mean businesses are actually looking out for queer and trans people. How do we move beyond visibility and representation toward material gains? LGBTQ workers can bridge the gap, bringing community muscle into unions and vice versa. Hear from workers who are unionizing queer workplaces, building mutual aid networks to support queer and trans community, and sustaining queer economies.
Smart targeting of employers for a union drive begins with research. But that doesn’t just mean sitting at a computer; gathering on-the-ground intelligence is key. Learn what types of information to look for, and tools to gather it.
This meeting is open to all workers from the U.S. South, union and nonunion. We’ll talk about what’s working well and what we’re struggling with, and build solidarity and connections.
Free trade deals have been a disaster for working people. Without a progressive, worker-centered vision for trade policy, Trump’s chaotic and corrupt approach to tariffs and trade will be the only game in town. Join us to discuss building a trade agenda that strengthens unions, fights corporate power, and offers a fair deal to working people around the world.
A huge portion of your tax money goes to the Pentagon. This money, used to wage unnecessary wars, could be spent instead on programs that support the real needs of workers. Besides taxes, we pay for excessive militarism in other ways: lost benefits, deaths, and trauma. Yet labor has often endorsed wars. How can we get our unions to endorse cuts to military spending? How can labor and anti-war veterans work together?
Our worsening national health care crisis is bankrupting workers, impeding bargaining, draining union funds, and causing misery for the entire working class. So unions have to be fighting on two fronts: to win good health insurance in our contracts, and to upend corporate control of health care. Learn how to put the boss on defense in bargaining while simultaneously building the capacity of members to fight for single-payer universal health care (Medicare for All).
Share experiences in our local, national and international unions, and with organizations now organizing veterans and military families against fascism and unjustifiable wars and military actions.
How does the work of a union reform caucus develop, after you win campaigns against the boss or get a slate into union office? Learn from veteran organizers in three of the longest-running reform caucuses about how their caucuses reflected and evolved in the unions they helped transform.
The Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act provides a bill of rights for union members, requires unions to publicly disclose certain details about governance, and regulates union elections and trusteeships of locals by international unions. Learn how to use the law to build rank-and-file power in your union, and how to defend that power once you’ve built it.
Learn how to build an effective campaign team, increase your visibility, identify voters, deal with negative attacks, avoid common mistakes, and get out the votes.
Your workplace may feel like an unorganized mess, but the truth is you’re not starting from zero. There’s organization there already—though it might have nothing to do with the union. Learn how to map out the existing networks in your workplace, identify the leaders in those networks, and then knit them together into an organizing committee. Based on the popular book Secrets of a Successful Organizer.
Everybody has complaints and frustrations, but an organizer has the power to turn problems into opportunities. Learn how to sort through the issues you hear from co-workers, bring people together, and make a plan to solve them. Based on the popular book Secrets of a Successful Organizer.
Leadership isn't about taking everything on ourselves—it's about developing others to participate, by providing the resources and opportunity. Using the "Learn It, Do It, Teach It" philosophy, this workshop will cover how to get more people involved and expand the capacity of your union.
This session will open with a song by: Sigute Meilus and Sarah Starrett, DC Labor Chorus
El jefe quiere mantener la ilusión de que las cosas no pueden mejorar. En este taller, aprenderas a reconocer las tacticas que usa el jefe para mantenernos desorganizados, y como combatirlas.
Unions can advance democracy, especially in authoritarian times and places. To do so, the unions must act not just as organizations representing a narrow sector of workers but as social movements with much wider aspirations. Mass strikes, even general strikes, are now on the progressive agenda. Fom Milan to Minneapolis, and from Seoul to San Juan, hear how these strikes have been organized and made politically potent, and how they're reviving working-class institutions.
Surprise, creativity, and humor can be the keys to rank-and-file engagement. Whether you’re facing a contract campaign, a privatization battle, or a dormant membership, these tools can be scaled to fit your situation. Discover the talents among your members for song, humor, creative props, and theatrics. Learn the principles of creative organizing, share examples, and develop tactics you can take home. Solidarity and laughter make a potent mix!
Songs are at the heart of powerful social movements, and some of the songs that have changed the world have been written by ordinary working people. Two accomplished labor songwriters will share some songs from their wide-ranging catalogs and discuss the roles different kinds of songs can play in movement-building. But this isn’t just a performance, it’s also a hands-on workshop. You’ll learn some tools of the trade and get started writing a song!
Learn to make vertical videos that can help your campaign stand out within seconds on a social media feed—the brutal grace period before it disappears into the doomscroll archives. Learn basic video formats, nail down your script and narrative voice, and get familiar with simple editing techniques.
A strong communication network among members is essential to enforcing contracts, campaigning for new demands, and having our co-workers' backs. But how can we build these structures in an industry where our jobsites, bosses, and co-workers mostly change with each short-term job? This is an internal organizing workshop for workers in building trades and other unions with hiring halls and spread-out jobsites.
Real solutions to the climate crisis depend on workers' know-how. But CEOs hope to cash in on "greener" technology to undercut our unions and degrade our jobs. Hear from workers who started conversations and took action to set the terms for clean energy shifts at work. Then you'll have the chance to discuss what your co-workers are saying about green changes ahead, and plan workplace conversations for green transitions that grow worker power.
Privatizing public schools and public colleges is a long-term goal of the right, including market fundamentalists, neoliberals, the religious right, and white nationalists.This participatory workshop will help school and campus workers recognize both covert and overt forms of privatization that are steadily replacing bargaining unit work and eroding worker autonomy, and provide case studies of how school and campus unions have begun to organize against privatization.
Learn how to protect ourselves and each other when we're picketing or demonstrating. Learn what protesters have been facing, what preparation is needed, and practical advice for common injuries. Use this mutual aid capacity to enhance coalition-building and organizing in your union and community.
This session will open with a song by: Robyn Robbins and Kimmon “MacGyver” Williams, DC Labor Chorus
What do I need to know about the law and striking? What is an economic strike? What is a ULP strike? Can I be fired for striking? What does it mean to be permanently replaced? What is a secondary strike or boycott? Find out the answers to these and many other legal questions.
Learn how to use a chart, assess co-workers, and build a team to unionize your workplace. The Organizing Committee is the backbone of any union drive, and the chart is the best way to track your progress. This workshop is for workers forming a union.
Survey data suggests that over 60 million people in the U.S. would join a union if they could, but pulling off a successful organizing campaign is still no easy feat. Hear from workers who have built their unions from the ground up on how they fostered relationships with co-workers and overcame the boss's scare tactics.
Rebuilding the U.S. labor movement will require serious advances in the South, long the area where unions have been weakest. Hear from leaders on the front lines of organizing at Amazon warehouses, auto plants, and universities.
Inside organizing—a.k.a. organizing your own workplace—is the most critical way to rebuild the labor movement. Whether you're organizing a workplace you're already in or getting a job with the goal of organizing ("salting"), building relationships with co-workers, understanding how to overcome employer opposition, and identifying the hammer to bring down on your company are all essential skills. Veteran organizers from the Inside Organizer School will give tips on inside organizing and discuss the role of salts in recent campaigns.
How do you build power and solidarity on the job when workers are scattered and working from home? Hear how the panelists have overcome the obstacles of distance and isolation to organize their shops.
Are you tired of greedy corporations and executives taking and taking... and leaving us crumbs? This interactive workshop focuses on how billionaires and bosses try to divide working people so that we will fight each other instead of them, and how we can build a strong working-class movement to stand up to their money and power. You'll leave able to run similar political education workshops for members of your own union.
Big mergers and corporate consolidation are opportunities for companies to cash in big, but often threaten workers and consumers alike. Hear how unions in the railroad, grocery, health care, and news media industries have navigated mergers.
Nearly 1 million people in Minnesota joined a political strike January 23, demanding that ICE agents stop occupying their state. Tens of thousands turned out for May Day demonstrations across the country. And the United Auto Workers has put out a call for a May 1, 2028, national strike. The next leap is to prepare for open-ended and full workplace strikes, not one-day partial strikes, and to hit the big companies nationally rather than a handful of name-brands in one state. Hear how unions are building momentum towards contract alignments and possible large-scale strikes in 2028.
In Spain, the long and militant tradition of tenant unions is now being reshaped by the influence of bottom-up teacher union practices, and converging into a movement of workers resisting exploitation by landlords. In the U.S., solidarity organizing between teacher unions and tenant unions is also emerging. Both will be explored here.
They've handed you the keys to the union hall—now what? Learn nuts and bolts, how to start out on the right foot, and best practices for building a strong local. This workshop is for newly elected union officers and those preparing to take office.
Working for a union can seem ideal for people who want to build the movement, but any staffer can tell you that between democratic decision-making, power dynamics, and politics, it can be difficult to navigate. Hear from union staff in a variety of sectors, career paths, and perspectives on how they approach the task of building democratic unions and developing leaders, in supportive conditions or not.
How does being a woman affect the experience of being a union leader? What particular challenges do women face when they take on leadership roles? What strategies can help them resist being pulled off course? The panelists will explore these questions as they share their experiences and wisdom gained.
More reformers running for office is a key part of transforming our unions. There's a method for success and a wealth of experience to draw on. Hear from troublemakers about how they built a team to run a strong campaign.
Êtes-vous découragé lorsque vous essayez d'impliquer vos collègues? Cet atelier est pour vous. Écoutez des exemples de réussite montrant comment d'autres personnes ont transformé leur lieu de travail et ont transformé l'apathie en action. Découvrez des outils d'organisation pratiques pour engager vos collègues, organiser des actions et obtenir des résultats. [Workshop for French speakers only.]
Are you beating your head against the wall trying to get other workers involved? This workshop is for you. Hear success stories from those who’ve turned their workplaces around and turned apathy into action. Learn practical organizing tools for engaging your co-workers, taking action, and getting results. Based on the popular book Secrets of a Successful Organizer.
Everybody has complaints and frustrations, but an organizer has the power to turn problems into opportunities. Learn how to sort through the issues you hear from co-workers, bring people together, and make a plan to solve them. Based on the popular book Secrets of a Successful Organizer.
Chances are we've all been to a bad meeting, but they don't have to be this way! When run effectively, meetings can help you bring co-workers together to beat the boss. Learn how to make a good agenda and hold a lively yet focused discussion, so people leave fired up with an action plan.
Workers in Mexico have achieved significant strides, including the recognition of employment status for workers of app "platforms" and a historic shift in the legal landscape. Hear Mexican labor activists discuss their efforts to form independent unions and improve their working conditions, and examine the role of cross-border solidarity in strengthening unions throughout North America. Note: This workshop will be conducted in Spanish, with simultaneous interpretation into English.
Los trabajadores en Mexico han logrado grandes avances incluyendo el reconocimiento de la relacion laboral para los trabajadores de plataformas y un cambio histórico en el panorama legal. Escuche a activistas laborales mexicanos hablar sobre sus esfuerzos para formar sindicatos independientes y mejorar sus condiciones, y analice el rol de la solidaridad transfronteriza en el fortalecimiento de los sindicatos en toda América del Norte. Nota: Este taller se llevará a cabo en español, con interpretación simultánea al inglés.
Hear how one union has built out its member education and development program. The NewsGuild has grown by 50 percent in the last decade, which required it to bargain dozens of new contracts, train hundreds of new stewards, and support even more organizing committees at new workplaces. Hear how The NewsGuild is trying to solve the “not enough staff capacity” problem by training members to do the work of the union.
If the right to strike is our most powerful weapon, why do we give it away in exchange for a union contract? Can we bargain loopholes that allow us to strike while the contract is in effect? What strategies can we use to water down no-strike clauses so we can use our collective power more effectively? If you and your co-workers ever wished you didn’t have to wait until your contract expired to strike, this workshop is for you.
Strikes aren't just a great way to terrify the boss. Done right, they also help members develop skills, deepen relationships, and see themselves as leaders. Learn how to bring your co-workers in, find your leverage, and pull off a strike that builds the union for the long haul.
