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Free Winter Organizing Workshops at the Scontras Center

Andy O’Brien
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Beginning on Tuesday, November 21, the Charles A. Scontras Center for Labor and Communication Education is offering a series of online open enrollment workshops designed to develop your organizing skills, strengthen your union or workers’ organization and build a strong union culture on the job. All workshops are free, run for an hour and a half to two hours in length and open to union members and workers across Maine. Registration is required.    

Workplace Conversations (Online)

One-on-one conversations are the most important step toward building power on the job, creating democratic workplaces, and organizing unions and workers’ organizations. In this workshop participants will examine how workers are always, already organized informally, having conversations based in values to move workers to action, having conversations based in building relationships, asking questions and listening intently, having short motivational and longer in-depth one-on-one conversations, and documenting your conversations.  

Best Practices: Leadership Identification (Online)

Unions and workers’ organizations build worksite leaders to build a strong union at work, defend the contract, improve working conditions, create union democracy, and further workers' participation in their workplaces, their communities, and our democracy. This workshop will assist participants in identifying workplace leaders, recognize the good qualities of a leader, discuss how our workplaces are already organized informally and formally, and will conclude with a short exercise on mapping your workplace. This workshop is designed to be combined with other “Basics” and “Best Practices” workshops.  

Best Practices: Getting Members Involved (Online)

Creating democratic workplaces, unions, communities, and our society begins by getting members and workers involved. This workshop begins with taking a “member involvement” inventory and then focuses on steps organizers and leaders can take to involve members and the ways in which members can get involved. Participants will participate in a short one-on-one practice conversation and discuss why active conversations are the best way to involve members in all aspects of our organizing.  

Best Practices: Mapping and Charting Your Workplace (Online)

Building on our Leadership Identification and Getting Members Involved best practices workshops, this workshop trains union leaders in how to map and chart your workplace. Mapping and charting are the accepted standards for identifying workplace leaders, documenting one-on-one conversations, locating leaders and stewards in worksites, involving members, and figuring out how to build power on the job. As participants begin to map and chart their workplaces, they will identify power relationships, opportunities for organizing, relationships and networks on the shop floor, and gather information to build your union or workers’ organization on the job.