When management is breaking the rules left and right, quietly filing a grievance won't cut it. Fighting grievances isn’t only about how well you argue your case. It’s also about organizing members to build pressure on management. This workshop for stewards and union reps will focus on how to win creatively without going to arbitration. We'll hear from health care workers who took collective action, fought back against discipline and an unfair firing, and won.
Unions can be powerful champions for the whole working class. Hear how some are fighting for creative contract demands to tackle the crises of student debt, incarceration, and housing, and even demanding a four-day work week.
This workshop will begin with a short song by Jayanni Webster, CWA Local 3866.
Strong contracts are won with the power we build away from the bargaining table. Learn how to develop high-participation contract campaigns that give you the leverage to win your demands and grow the union.
Hear how unions got in gear to participate in Minnesota's January 23 strike and economic blackout. How did the rapid-response networks, the defensive side of the fight, and the workers' movement, the offensive side, relate to each other and help build power? What was the interplay between the 2020 George Floyd Uprising and the resistance to ICE? How did public schools become hubs of resistance?
Across the country, ICE is terrorizing workers and stomping on our most fundamental civil liberties. But they can't do it without support from major corporations who are only too happy to rent them hotels and vehicles, offer logistical support, and carry out deportation flights. Hear from organizers who are identifying and holding these corporate collaborators to account, and learn how you can join the fight.
When we build power on the job, we’re taking power from those who already have it—so it’s no surprise they tend to fight back! Learn how to “inoculate” your co-workers, that is, prepare them for a crackdown and help them interpret the boss fight as it goes along. This training is relevant for anyone who is forming a union, but also for anyone who is stepping up the level of activity in an existing union.
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.
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!
