Union Members Discuss Political Organizing Strategies to Win Our Vision for a Pro-Worker Society

More than 30 union members and friends of labor attended our Labor Civics Cohort on Tuesday. This group emerged from our political canvassing team during last year’s election as a way to continue our organizing year round for policies that strengthen workers’ rights and economic security for working people.

Union members and friends from across several trades and professions discussed issues that divide us and how to overcome our differences. We also talked about our priorities and vision for a society that puts workers first and how we can organize and fight to achieve it. Attendees learned how to make effective videos to speak out about issues like why they oppose the "Big Ugly Budget Bill" moving through Congress. We also called Senator Susan Collins’ office to urge her to oppose it.

The event was highly participatory and attendees had several profound discussions about how we can win over our coworkers and friends on a working class agenda that includes health care and education for all, constitutional right of all workers to unionize, affordable housing and child care and more. We also discussed how to have conversations with other workers about divisive issues like immigration and racial justice.

“We had some great conversations today,” said shipbuilder Doug Hall (IAM S6). “It is imperative that the working class stop letting issues divide us and focus on building worker power and economic equality for the working class.”

APWU member Doris Poland said she was impressed that everyone in the room was engaged and participated. She said she learned a lot about other unions like IAM Local S6 at Bath Iron Works.

“It’s interesting to listen to the focus of different unions,” she said. “We’re so ingrained in what our union does that we sometimes don’t realize all of the complexity of every union, yet we all have the same goal.”