Organizing for Power!
Organizing for Power: The Core Fundamentals (O4P) is a multi-week online training program originated by union organizer Jane McAlevey and produced by Rosa-Lux that provides union members with the information and practice they need to build the organizing skills necessary to win changes at work, contract fights, and unionization efforts. The 2025 Organizing for Power class began in February, 2025. Maine AFL-CIO supports a group here in Maine each year to take the class together.
This year's class is over.
We anticipate that the class will be offered again sometime in the first half of 2026
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or Download a flierto share with your organizing buddies
ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
The O4P Fundamentals focuses on the five core organizing fundamentals:
* Leader identification, or: understanding who can move people (it’s often not who you first think);
* Semantics, or: the words we use matter - they have to center each worker’s active participation as key to winning;
* Structured organizing conversations, or: what it takes to recruit the hardest-to-recruit leaders;
* Charting, or: a simple method to understand human social relationships, and to prioritize and systematize outreach;
* Structure tests, or: mini campaigns to build solidarity and site structure, and to know when you are ready to win.
These essential skills serve as the building blocks of all winning campaigns. The Core Fundamentals uses the same curriculum as past Organizing for Power trainings for the simple reason that the fundamentals of success do not change; the real key is our ability to master them.
Since September 2019, O4P has hosted nearly 40,000 organizers from 1800+ organizations across 115 countries (over 150 people have participated in our Maine Teams). 75% of these attendees have been first-time O4P participants, while the rest are returning participants who understand that practice makes perfect. After all, if lead trainer Jane McAlevey never stopped practicing the fundamentals, then neither should you! In The Core Fundamentals, a growing team of trainers from across the globe will lead you through a program to better prepare you for the struggles, and victories, to come.
Sign up here to be notified when we know the next dates.
The class is a little different each time. It's always been 6 weeks, but the length of each class session, as well as the material covered, has varied.
Classes are on Thursdays and each class will run for either 2 or 2 1/2 hours, and the same material will be covered in both tracks. You will be offered a choice to participate at noon (Track A) or at 8pm (Track B) (or both - or go back and forth!).
Orientation for the Maine Team will be Thursday, February 6 (1 hour - noon or 8pm) and the class will run from Thursday, February 13 through Thursday, March 20 (2 or 2 1/2 hours - noon or 8pm).
We also offer an optional but highly recommended Maine debrief/prep session - 1 hour between each class and one final debrief at the end. The day/time of the debrief will be determined by what works for the most members of the Maine group - instructions to indicate your available times will be included in the class application form when registration opens.
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To get the most out of the training, Maine Team's weekly one-hour debrief/planning sessions on a different day helped participants prepare for class and then apply what they were learning in the classes to their own organizing goals, whether working within their union or organizing new workers and community members.
We highly recommend participating in both the classes and the debrief sessions. Those who did participate in both didn't regret it, and their organizing is stronger for it - but for those who really cannot commit the additional hour for the debrief we offer a "class session only" option to attend only the orientation and then the weekly classes.
The class and debriefs are held entirely on Zoom. All events are free of charge. Maine team is primarily for Maine union members, others considered on a case-by-case basis (we have sometimes included organizers from other states and also community organizers from Maine in our team in the past)
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Here are two videos about a campaign that used the methods taught in this class for a successful campaign to improve patient/staffing ratios in hospitals in Berlin, Germany. Silvia Habekost, a nurse who was part of this campaign, attended the Maine AFL-CIO Summer Institute in August, 2024 and spoke about the campaign.
- What Winning Looks Like
- Nothing Works Without Us (in German with English subtitles)