In putting together the framework for our program, the first order of business was to examine what other unions are doing. We looked in the industrial sector as well as the service sector to examine the commonalties of successful organizing programs. We also worked with Richard Bensinger, formerly the organizing director of the AFL-CIO and founder of the Organizing Institute, who had been retained prior to the merger to assist the development of the UPIU's organizing program. The results of this preliminary work were not surprising; successful programs have several things in common.
First, there is a commitment of resources, in significant and unprecedented amounts. Second, there is a reliance on rank-and-file organizers to assist in campaigns. Third, there exists a clear understanding of priorities. Of course, there are many other aspects to successful programs, not the least of which is the development of high-quality organizers to lead campaigns and an organizing methodology that is clear and uncomplicated.
The PACE organizing program will only be successful if every level of the union embraces it and commits to making it work. Anything short of total commitment will result in failure.
Commitment to Our Core Jurisdictions
We believe PACE should focus on organizing within the industrial jurisdictions where it has a track record. The primary paper industry and the oil-refining sector of the oil industry are fairly well organized. Thus we have already established union density in these important sectors, and it is union density that creates a base for effective collective bargaining. However, we have a lot of work to do in the chemical, secondary paper, pharmaceutical, and general manufacturing industries where we have thousands of workers organized but have not established the density necessary for long term effectiveness.
Meanwhile, manufacturing jobs generally are shrinking and moving away from domestic production. Thus all industrial unions are attempting to organize within the reality of a shrinking base. No great purpose will be served by going into all of the reasons for the shrinking manufacturing economy, but suffice it to say we have not seen the benefit of the vaunted global economy in the U.S. manufacturing sector.
Reliance on the Rank and File
One of the first tasks at hand is to build our capacity to mount large campaigns effectively. This requires the development of lead organizers and large numbers of rank-and-file members who are trained to assist in organizing campaigns as member organizers. have started process by inviting thirty-seven rank-and-filers into Nashville for the first training session for member organizers. This will be an ongoing process as we develop a cadre of rank-and-file member organizers to assist in the implementation of the PACE organizing program.
If you are interested in the member organizer training, please let us know by contacting your representative or regional vice president so that you can be considered. We are looking for people with a commitment to organizing and a willingness to stay the course through training and working on tough campaigns. We will reimburse for actual lost time, including scheduled overtime. We will also reimburse expenses at a rate of $30 per day for days away from home and $16 per day while in your home area. Other expenses will also be paid in accordance with the regular policy of PACE.
Bargaining to Organize-Leveraging our Relationships
In addition to building our capacity, we also have to look at how we do all our business, because this entire process is about changing our culture. In moving this program forward, we will be calling upon everyone to carry an additional burden. In order to free up resources, we will be asking each local union to do more of the everyday service work in order to free up the talent of international staff for organizing. As we target employers with whom we have collective bargaining relationships, we will be asking local unions to use those relationships to assist in organizing or getting a first contract.
Think about it. We are asked every day to work with employers in our industries in order to better the labor management relationship. We have been asked to participate in employee involvement programs and partnership arrangements. The PACE organizing program establishes that the quid pro quo for employee involvement and partnership relationships must be organizing neutrality. No longer will be prepared to work with employers who see fit to attack our very right to exist in another location with a different work force. Employers cannot expect to have it both ways.
The Need to Mobilize
But in order to leverage these relationships we must establish a culture where we are prepared and able to mobilize our membership to apply the requisite pressure on employers. Every Local Union within PACE should start developing its internal ability to mobilize the membership to implement the organizing program. This will necessarily require that the membership is educated about the need to organize, not in some abstract way, but in concrete terms.
We cannot build a local union mobilization effort in a vacuum, nor can we build the capacity just when we think we might need it. It is our hope to start the development of a broad-based mobilization effort throughout the union. By learning to mobilize on matters of central importance to their own interests, local union members will be more inclined to embrace mobilization on the broader question of supporting our organizing objectives when the same employer at a different location is resisting the union's organizing efforts.
Affiliating Independent Unions
An important part of the PACE organizing program will be building an affiliations effort. This program is in place and is directed at the thousands of workers who are within the Union's jurisdiction but are members of stand-alone independent unions. These are members already in a defined bargaining unit and who already have a collective bargaining agreement with an employer. Our task is to convince the leadership and the membership of these independent unions that their long-term welfare will be better served with a solid international union having the capacity to offer leverage and superior representation. We have assigned a full time affiliations coordinator to work with independent unions, and this aspect of the program will be instrumental in our future plans.
Closing the Ranks
We frequently lament the numbers of workers who enjoy the benefits of a union contract without paying dues. The organizing department will be assisting International staff, PACE vice presidents and local unions in the development of internal organizing programs that will help to minimize this problem.
As a final thought on your local union's contribution to the PACE organizing program, examine your own situation. Are there residual units connected in some fashion to your own work place? If so, there is no reason why those workers should not be represented by PACE and you should make every effort to connect with those workers and bring them into the Union. Establishing such wall-to-wall units can only serve to strengthen your own bargaining situation.
A comprehensive program will need to integrate all the activities of the union to focus on organizing. It is our hope that everything we do will be gauged by the answer to a basic question: How will this activity, decision, program or bargaining add another member to our union? This, in the final analysis, is the ultimate question and the ultimate challenge to our culture.
As we move along this path, please be mindfUl that this is a work in progress. We will make mistakes and when we do, we will back up and try to figure out how to do it better. As time goes on we will be talking to company councils and local unions about how they can supplement the program by initiating their own programs. As our union establishes regional councils, we will be visiting the councils about how they might contribute. This is a program that requires participation by everybody, at every level of our union.
This can work...it can be successful ... but it requires everyone's personal commitment to make it so.
Crown Boycott News, June 1999