Discussion Questions
for “Unite & Win: The Workplace Organizer’s Handbook”
Session 1: The Organizing Committee Model
Core Concepts
- The organizing committee (OC) is the backbone of any organizing effort.
- Assess your workplace and co-workers to find the best people to join your OC.
- Use a workplace chart to keep notes and track your organizing effort.
- Be smart: the chart is only for members of the organizing committee.
Watch the Video
Reflect
- What stood out to you about what you just heard in the video?
- What questions did the speaker’s story raise for you?
Discuss the Chapter
- What would a representative organizing committee look like in your workplace?
- Think of the departments and divisions within your workplace; the ethnicities, ages, and backgrounds of people within the workplace. How many people would you need to make calls or send text messages if you wanted to reach your whole workplace in a day?
Think About Your Workplace
- Tell us about someone in your workplace who never hesitates or is willing to stand up for themselves and their co-workers.
- Is there someone in your workplace who is the kind of person that people like to go to with their problems? Tell us about the qualities of that person.
Exercise
Use this sample spreadsheet, Your Workplace, and list the first few co-workers you’d like to talk to. Tell us: Why are these the first people you listed?
Session 2: The Organizing Conversation
Core Concepts
- Socialize before you organize
- Organizing is about listening
- Find out what your co-workers care about
- Make individual problems collective
Watch the Video
Reflect
- What stood out to you about what you just heard in the video?
- What questions did the speaker’s story raise for you?
Discuss the Chapter
- After reading the chapter, did you feel more confident in your ability to reach out to your co-workers?
- If not, what are your hesitations or reasons that you avoid talking with your co-workers about their experiences at work and the possibility of organizing?
Think About Your Workplace
- What kind of event could you organize at your workplace to bring out co-workers?
- What other social engagement activities or other things could you do to get to know your co-workers?
- Clarissa from the handbook says:
“Issues of favoritism and unfairness are common at my workplace. So I like to ask, ‘Do you have a favorite supervisor?’ and ‘Do you have a supervisor that you don’t get along with?’ That really leads the conversation to why they have issues. I’ve also had success talking about interactions with customers, or sections and shifts that people like working best. Or talking about how people are coming and going, why they think that is, how they feel about it. I also like to get to know their personal life, whether they have family, if they’re a student, if they have another job. Things that they deal with outside of work that affect them at work.”
- After reading the quote above, what might you ask your co-workers to strike up a conversation and learn about how they feel about work and how work policies impact their personal life?
Exercise
Talk to a co-worker you don’t usually speak to or have never spoken to! Bring it back to your next discussion and tell the team how it went! What was hard? What did you do well?
Session 3: Taking Collective Action and Escalating
Core Concepts
- Build an organizing committee
- How to craft smart demands
- How to choose campaign targets
- How to engage in escalating workplace campaigns
Watch the Video
Reflect
- What were some of the demands that we just heard about in the video? Do you have any similar demands at your workplace?
- What are some collective action tactics we just heard about in the video?
- Would any of those tactics work at your workplace? Why or why not?
Discuss the Chapter
- On page 36, Lucy says:
“We started by asking for changes through approved channels. After management ignored our requests, we asked for a group meeting, which was also ignored. When we put forward proposals that management refused to engage with, it helped people realize that unionizing was important. Then we launched a social media campaign and held a rogue public event at the organization’s farmers’ market, where we were visible to consumers and donors. We set up a booth in the middle of the market even though we hadn’t paid for the spot, demonstrating that we weren’t afraid to ask for public support. We asked supporters who came to our table to sign postcards that we mailed into our workplace and posted those up on the bulletin boards and in the breakroom. Some of those supporters were donors.”
- After reading the quote above, what can you learn from Lucy’s example? How did they build pressure on their targets, and how did it build confidence among their co-workers? How might you apply a similar strategy to your workplace?
- Looking at page 37, think about each action: rank them from easiest to boldest in your workplace (each workplace might be different). Are there other tactics you can come up with?
Think About Your Workplace
- What in your workplace do you think would make for a strong demand?
- How would you go about picking a target at your workplace? Why?
Exercise
- Discuss the demands at your workplace (or the hypothetical ones) and pick one for which you can imagine a simple solution. For example: a 10-minute heat break on hot days.
- Now think about who in the workplace could give you what you want. Who are the people that influence that person (if there are additional actors like board members, donors, customers, etc.)?
- Imagine what tactics, in an escalating fashion, you could come up with to pressure that person and the people who influence them.
Session 4: Inoculation and the Boss Campaign
Core Concepts
- Inoculate!
- Be prepared for the boss to respond.
- Stick to a positive message, your message not the boss’.
Watch the Video
Reflect
- What stood out to you about what you just heard in the video?
- What questions did the speaker’s story raise for you?
- Listening to the Google Fiber workers in Kansas respond in the captive audience meeting at their workplace: What did you notice about the workers’ response in the situation? What did they do that worked well?
Discuss the Chapter
What would you say are the most important reasons why you would inoculate your co-workers? What might make you hesitate to do so?
Think About Your Workplace
- Has anyone experienced a boss being intimidating? How did you respond? How would you respond now with hindsight?
- If you’ve already begun organizing: What do you think your boss is likely to say or do in your workplace to intimidate or undermine the organizing effort? What will you do to combat it?
Exercise
Use the Bingo card on page 45 and ask one person to play the boss. (They get to pick whichever prompt they want from the card.) The other person will play the organizer and will need to think of ways to respond. Try to get everyone to play at least one role.