Join us for any or all of the trainings which provide helpful tips whether you are preparing for negotiations or trying to build more unity in your union. Solidarity School is open to all represented employees.
Each class is offered on two different days and times
If we want our co-workers to join us in taking action, we need to ensure our existing networks of worker leaders, like Area Reps, Council Reps and Contract Action Team (CAT), are ready to spread the word and mobilize when we need it most. Together, we’ll learn how to build effective teams and committees, track participation, assess our network’s strengths and weaknesses and set shared goals for building effective mobilization structures.
Stories matter! In this class, we will discuss how we tell the compelling story of our union through both in-person and digital channels. We'll share best practices for social media communications, narrative framing, how we build an informative and compelling story for our union campaigns and how we can incorporate our own personal union stories into effective organizing conversations.
We’ve built a shared understanding of why in-person organizing, conversations and relationship building with our coworkers are critical to building a powerful union. Now, we’ll discuss how we can utilize digital tools as an additional way to strengthen our bargaining campaign and mobilization efforts. We’ll go over tips and best practices to ensure your message is clear, effective and reaches our coworkers and stakeholders in the digital spaces where they are engaged.
Attend as many as you would like! Look for more Solidarity School workshops coming soon.
We’ll root our work in a shared understanding of leverage, tactics, and how power functions in and beyond our workplace. We’ll talk power maps, optics to our members and management, and strategies to mobilize our base. Occurred on 3/9 and 3/11.
Together, we’ll take a closer look at listening strategies, effective asks, fostering solidarity, and moving our coworkers to take action. Occurred on 3/24 and 3/26.
We will review a Membership Conversation Toolkit, outlining different strategies for dealing with objections, hard questions, and other difficulties in getting members to take action. Occurred on 4/13 and 4/16.
The strongest unions are "leaderful" organizations filled with members across the workplace. Member-leaders play key roles listening to their co-workers' issues, being the liaison between them and other union bodies and helping plan mobilizations and actions.
How do we recruit members to take on these roles in both big and small ways? In this class, we'll talk about how to identify, recruit and work with members as they grow into their skills as worksite Area Reps and activists. Occurred on 4/28 & 4/30.
How is our workplace organized functionally and socially? Learn how to develop an understanding of the natural landscape of coworker connections by utilizing mapping and “charting techniques.” In this class, we’ll make visual sense of our workplaces, and share tips and strategies for keeping track of it all. We’ll learn how to use these tools to assess our union support and gain a more objective evaluation of our position. Occurred on 5/11 and 5/13.
While some may think of “bargaining” as simply what happens at the negotiating table, long experience shows that good contracts are won through building worker power. This happens away from the table, with significant member engagement. In this training, we’ll share success stories and best practices from the labor movement on ways members have contributed to such wins and explore how worker leaders can bring more coworkers into the campaign. Occurred on 5/26 and 5/28.
What actually happens in the negotiation room? In this class we’ll learn about the fundamental concepts that shape how bargaining works. We will discuss basic labor law that governs private sector bargaining, including the National Labor Relations Act, and components such as unfair labor practices, mandatory and permissive subjects of bargaining. We’ll learn how these rules govern bargaining, how unions and management work within them, and how understanding all of this informs the union’s strategy. Occurred on 6/8 and 6/10.
In this class we’ll learn to think like strategists and plan a campaign of escalating actions to apply pressure to the employer to win a good contract. We’ll review power mapping, and use that power map to learn to develop plans for campaigns that build up over time with increasing participation and increasing pressure.
We’ll introduce the concept of “structure tests” to measure your strength, and talk about how to settle a successful contract at the peak of your power. Occurred on 6/23 and 6/25.