shoutout to whoever suggested i reach out to them… i messaged one of the organizers through instagram just before the weekend hit and they said they would be happy to meet and discuss my situation on Monday!!!
i am still on the fence with how well this is gonna work out but if there is a possibility to join the union then recruiting coworkers will be a bit of a challenge but a welcome one so i am excited. About 60% of them like me anyway but those i can convince have connections with the rest of the staff so i hope they can help me out here. I haven’t thought about new hires but i know about 3 people are close to walking out the door and i won’t stop them really because it sucks here. 😔
I will post about my meeting on monday… any advice for me before meeting someone from the PSL would be helpful thanks!
I would highly recommend hitting up EWOC as well, they were so so helpful when I began organizing my union. I’m also happy to talk to you about organizing as well if you wanna pick my brain
That’s cool! Didn’t know PSL was starting labor organizing campaigns. I put an effort post I saw on hexbear a couple years ago below so hopefully whoever you talk to shares similar materials/ideas.
Steps for initial union organizing:
1.Get a list of everyone at your site
2.Make a spreadsheet with your estimate on how pro-union they all are (5-point scale: would help organize, would vote yes on union card, neutral, anti-union but could be convinced, would rat you out to the boss so avoid talking union to this person)
3.Start talking to people about unions, carefully, and add them to the spreadsheet
4.If you find someone who’s super pro-union (5), give them access to the spreadsheet too
5.Keep going until everyone is in the sheet
6.If your sheet says you don’t have a majority, identify fence-sitters and the workers they respect, and work on recruiting the workers they respect
7.When you’re getting close to a majority, contact another union in your area and ask for advice and a lawyer recommendation
8.Make sure you’ve talked to another local union and a labor lawyer
9.Get the union card in front of everyone at once, as fast as you can
Special note: 51% isn’t going to be good enough for your majority. Unless you feel you need to take the risk (for some reason) of 1~2% flipping at the last minute and losing the vote, its probably a good idea to wait until you’ve got a solid (like rock solid) 60~75% pro union.
Chapo podcast on making the list: https://soundcloud.com/chapo-trap-house/288-so-you-want-to-start-a-union-feat-brace-belden-21019
No Shortcuts, the book. It’s long and detailed case studies: https://janemcalevey.com/no-shortcuts/
No Shortcuts, the interview. It’s honestly better than the book. Very good additional details, especially about step 6 above. I recommend this one the most: https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/04/jane-mcalevey-on-how-to-organize-for-power/
SUCH A GOOD INTERVIEW HOLY SHIT!!! THANK YOU!!
Thank you for this comprehensive list!
The person from the PSL i spoke to got the gist of it and encouraged me to try it even if there was a possibility of failure. they seem to think there’s a good chance because im very straightforward and they seem to think im very personable and they said this is a good thing especially when taking the lead on something like this. They are going to go through potential union matches with me on monday but I think teamsters is one of the strongest options from the data I’ve collected, but i am open to any other unions of course. hopefully when monday comes i get an extensive outlook on the union itself and maybe even some info on their lawyers.
oooo i really like the spreadsheet idea and I’ll get to work on that soon. i know for sure that when I’ve mentioned unionizing in brief some of the staff on shift shared interest especially when I could bake in some class solidarity. my coworker mama is like my work mom and even though she isn’t really aware of class consciousness she’s an example of that lived experience and she’s a great listener so i think i will try to work closer with her because she’s really close with most of the members of staff and i think she can be a great tool at getting this project up and running. i think as it stands i might have somewhere around 50% support but i think this number will increase no doubt with the help of mama.
i feel really good about this and excited. I’m very optimistic. Thanks again for the support!
