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INSTRUCTIONS FOR USING THIS GUIDE
Many of us have experienced the valuable impact of unions and worker organizing to improve the lives of workers and communities. For others among us, we need to learn this history and these tools first-hand. We can read about union organizing in newspapers or books or we can learn together, in grassroots organizations, through shared activities, discussions and analysis.
This political and popular education series guide has three core sections. Part 1, the History of Worker Organizing, outlines the legacy of unions and worker struggles in the United States. Part 2, Barriers to Worker Organizing, explores the structural barriers to worker organizing, from legal obstacles to imbalances of power. Part 3, Successes of Worker Organizing Efforts & Unions, shows how groups of workers have overcome these barriers to win real improvements in their jobs and the economy of their communities and our nation. Finally, an added section explores the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation pending in Congress that would ease barriers to worker organizing and pave the way for future successes for all our communities.
Each section includes activities - from role plays to quizzes to videos to watch - as well as discussion questions and other facilitator tools. We hope that you find the materials useful, however we also encourage you to adapt this guide and these activities to your own region or context, working in local stories and examples, drawing on the experiences of immigrant members in your group of worker organizing in other countries, adding in action steps regarding local policy campaigns to advance worker justice. And we encourage you to send us any ideas or new materials you create so we can continue to update and improve this guide.
To make this guide easier for you to use, we have included recommended time frames for activities. If you only have 15 minutes with a group, you can thumb through and see what pieces you might use. If you have an hour, you can pull activities from each section or focus just on one area. It's up to your group and your needs. In addition, we have placed icons throughout this guide to let you know what to expect. Here is a key to those icons:
timing for each activity/section goal for each activity interactive activity such as role play or quiz discussion section multimedia tool, such as video or article materials you will need to print or have on hand
Again, we hope you will use this guide as just that - a guide - and then adapt it to your context, place and needs. Just as organizing is a tool, so is this document - only as powerful as what you do with it.
