Session 5 – The Power of Unions - A Union of Professionals
OBJECTIVE
Given conversations with workers, the activists shall identify good issues around which to move workers from “fair share” to full membership. In essence these conversations are issue organizing. Leaders, worksite representatives, and organizers will use the AFT Organizing Model as the base of these conversations.
This short one-hour training has been developed to help our members and worksite leaders to learn how to approach and talk with their co-workers and move them to full membership.
RESOURCES/REFERENCE MATERIALS
➢ Handout 1: What is Fair Share or Agency Fee?
➢ Handout 2: Fair Share Fact Sheet
➢ Handout 3: Glossary of Terms
➢ Handout 4: Organizing Conversation Template – Fair Share
➢ Handout 5: Instructions on Role Plays
➢ Handout 5A: Fair Share Conversation – Higher Education
➢ Handout 5B: Fair Share Conversation - PSRP
➢ Handout 5C: Fair Share Conversation – Teachers (K-12)Organizing
➢ Handout 6: Instruction for Lists, Mapping and Charting exercise
➢ Handout 6A: Membership List
➢ Handout 6B Map of Blevins Elementary School
What is Fair Share or Agency Fee?
Handout 1
Facilitated Discussion: Fair Share Issue Based Organizing
*Use the term “Fair Share” and not our opponents language of “Agency Fee” to define a category of workers who choose not to join our union but who must pay a fee (nearly equal to the amount AFT members pay in dues) to help cover their fair share of costs for negotiating a collective bargaining agreement.*
By using our own language we begin to recapture our vision and not fall victim to defining ourselves as a response to what others say we are.
Small Group Exercise: Issue Advocacy Organizing Campaign
Please watch and share this video. It’s important that everyone contribute their fair share - whether at dinner with friends or with your co-workers in the union. The union is forced to represent everyone and fight for better wages and benefits for all - regardless of whether they pay their dues or not.
#StrongerTogetherApplebee's or in the union.
1. At the conclusion of the video please lead the group in a brainstorm to discover why some of our co-workers might be “fair share” payers instead being full members in our union.
2. As a small group take each response from the previous conversation and develop a short response to each. Once the group agrees on the appropriate locally-based responses move the group towards an understanding that only through one-on-one engagement can we increase our power through an increase in full-membership.
Fair Share Fact Sheet
Handout 2
What is Fair Share or Agency Fee?
Agency fee is a category of workers who choose not to join our union but who must pay a fee (nearly equal to the amount AFT members pay in dues) to help cover their fair share of costs for negotiating a collective bargaining agreement. These workers are “fair share” or “agency fee” payers.
• Agency fee payers don’t, however, enjoy all the privileges of membership.
• They do not, for example, vote for union officers or vote to accept or reject their contract.
• They are also not eligible to take part in AFT-sponsored programs and member-only benefits.
How would the loss of agency fee affect AFT, your state federation, and your local?
Representational activities curtailed or ended;
Limited ability to defend our contract;
No longer promoting union values and positions through member education
Less time for advocating for worker rights and safety; and
Curtailing other activities championed by the membership and benefiting all workers in the unit
The fees collected represent a significant amount of the revenue collected by the state/national and local unions. Without this money many of our efforts will be curtailed.
How would the loss of agency fee affect you?
A weakened union equals a weakened voice for workers.
Imagine a weakened or no voice on:
Health and safety;
Conditions of your work;
Quality of your work;
Healthcare and retirement;
Enforcement of your rights on the job including; leave, working hours; and imagine no voice in public discourse
Glossary of Terms
Handout 3
Agency shop
A union security clause within a collective bargaining agreement under which all employees –non-members as well as members of the union – pay a service fee, the equivalent of dues or an amount determined by law (usually a percentage of full dues) as a condition of employment. The amount paid by non-members is called an “agency fee.” Those who pay an agency fee are often referred to as “fee payers.” Because the union must, by law, represent all employees in a bargaining unit, the agency fee is often referred to as “fair share.”
Bargaining agent
A union that is the exclusive representative of all employees in a bargaining unit – both union members and non-members. As the bargaining agent, the union is empowered to represent the interests of the employees with the employer. To become the bargaining agent for a group of workers, the majority of workers employed at the time the union is being organized must demonstrate that they want to represented by the union.
Bargaining unit
An employee group that, on the basis of related skills or common interests in working conditions, is an appropriate unit for collective bargaining. The bargaining unit is a specified group of employees in a union empowered to bargain collectively with their employer.
Check-off
A clause in a collective bargaining agreement that allows for the employer to deduct – in behalf of the union - union dues or service fees from the paychecks of bargaining unit employees and remit these funds to the union.
Closed shop
A union security clause within a collective bargaining agreement that obligates the employer obligates to hire and employ only union members. This form of union security clause was declared illegal by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947.
Glossary of Terms
Handout 3
Collective bargaining
A method of determining hours, wages and working conditions by direct negotiations between representatives of the employer and union representatives of the employees. The results of the bargaining are set forth in a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), sometimes referred to as a “contract,” which determines terms and conditions of employment for all workers in a bargaining unit.
Open shop
A business establishment where union membership or agency fees are not required as a condition of obtaining or retaining employment.
"Right-to-work" (for less) laws
State laws prohibiting a union shop clauses within collective bargaining agreements or any other union-security arrangement that requires employees to join a union as a condition of retaining employment. The term has nothing to do with guaranteeing anyone the right to a job.
Union shop
A union security clause that requires employees in the bargaining unit within a certain time after they are hired to join the union and maintain their membership as a condition of employment.
Organizing Conversation Template – Fair Share
Handout 4
The Organizing Conversation . . . Fair Share
▪ is about building a relationship through which the co-worker moves the worker to action on behalf of self and our collective interest.
▪ is our most powerful weapon to build our strength by moving fair share payers to full membership
This is a sample of how a conversation can be modeled using a simplified version of the AFT Organizing Model to conduct a discussion on the issues which exist at the workplace and the reasons full membership in the AFT local is empowering.
1. Introduction
“Hello. My name is _______. I am with the _______ local union. I am here to learn about some of your concerns your co-workers are having at your workplace. I wanted to come by, talk with you, and hear your opinions about these issues. How long have you worked at ___________?”
2. Get the Story
Ask fact-based, detailed questions. Ask questions that allow your co- worker to talk about their issues at work.
➢ Have you always done the same job or have you held different positions?
➢ How did you get into this type of work?
Transition to Vision: “What happens when you and your co-workers bring (their specific problem) to management?” or “Do you know how (their specific problem) might be different if you and all your coworkers were all organized into the local AFT union?”
Organizing Conversation Template – Fair Share
Handout 4
3. Give a Vision of Full Membership and the Union
The vision should relate to the workers’ issues and should revolve around everyone in the workplace being a full member of the union. Remember full membership = power.
➢ Emphasize collective interest, not organizational needs.
➢ I noticed that you are not a full member of our local union.
➢ Did you know that you were not a full member?
➢ The more active members we have the more value the employer gives to our wants and needs at the workplace.
➢ Fair Share payers don’t enjoy the privileges of membership like voting for officers or on the contract.
Give the person a vision of something worth fighting for. Contrast their situation now with how it might be if they have a strong active union. The vision should relate to the workers’ issues; be specific, concise, and inspiring; about power; and should include our own personal experience with the union.
Inoculation of the Employer Campaign
Educate your co-workers for the employers’ desire to want weak local union membership. Educate workers by a) helping them to understand why/how management fights against the union; b) discussing management’s specific arguments; and c) explaining likely tactics management will use against the union.
5. Assess & Agitate
Challenge your co-worker to join the union. Agitate the worker on their issues. Communicate urgency.
➢ To address your issues we need to have a strong local union.
➢ Your full membership will help build that strong union.
➢ We need your voice and expertise to make us stronger together.
Assessment Question: “Are you ready to stand with you co-workers to work to form a union?”
6. Move to Action
Get a commitment from your co-worker that they will help build the union in their work place. Give them a task based on the union campaign plan and your assessment of their abilities.
“Are you ready to sign an membership card?”
Fair Share Conversation – Role Play Instructions
Handout 5
OBJECTIVE
In this session, given an organizer role and a fair share role, all participants will prepare and practice a complete an organizing conversation asking a co-worker to become a full member of our local union. Each simulation will last 8-10 minutes. It will include demonstration of the complete set of 6 elements of a one-on-one conversation from introductions to conclusion and should include a pattern of active listening, probing questions, an effort to convey your message of membership, and an appropriate close.
Engage the students in the scenario by describing the setting and the problem.
Provide them with the information you have already prepared about their character(s): the goals and background information. It needs to be clear to the student how committed each character is to his/her goals and why.
Determine how many of your students have done role-playing before and explain how it will work for this exercise.
Outline your expectations of them as you would for any assignment and stress what you expect them to learn in this lesson.
Fair Share Conversation (higher education)
Handout 5A
Meeting with Sue Halt
You are working as a building representative in suburban Buffalo on the campus of Macomb Community College. NYSUT (New York State United Teachers) represents the entire adjunct staff. Union leadership has decided to meet with all adjunct staff members who are currently paying “fair share” dues. Half of all of the staff currently pay “fair share” and just over 10% of the members are either elected leaders or building representatives.
Goal:
The goal of this conversation is to move the worker to full membership. In addition to asking her to move to full membership you would like to learn what other issues she is interested in and why she has decided not to be more active on campus.
Situation:
You have set up an appointment to meet with sociology professor Sue Halt in the school’s common area.
Fair Share Conversation (higher education)
Handout 5A
POTENTIAL MEMBER Sue Halt
Your name is Sue Halt. You have been a sociology professor at Macomb Community College outside Buffalo, for 28 years witnessing all sorts of interesting historical events and the evolution of the higher education system in New York. Your are respected as a wise experienced voice but you have no interest in joining the union as you view it as another set of meetings to attend. This meeting is taking place at the school’s common area because your shared office is being used by another colleague.
When your colleague, the worksite leader, sits down you immediately start telling the organizer why you won’t join the union (nothing will change, it is all about money, and you dislike the union president); the problems of higher education (too expensive and elite and chronically understaffed); and you already enjoy the benefits of membership (pay, seniority, retirement) without the perceived burdens.
Having blurted all of this out your real issue is that you would like to see organized labor focus on social justice and economic empowerment. You see labor as a positive vehicle for societal change but you perceive that labor doesn’t see its role in the same way.
Actions:
If your colleague is able to make a positive and convincing argument for the unions’ role on campus and in society feel free to agree to join the local union. In this role please be polite and agreeable towards the worksite leader.
Fair Share Conversation (PSRP)
Handout 5B
Meeting with Dave Randall
You are working as both the head bus driver and the local union president of a paraprofessional county-wide local in Orlando, Florida. The local AFT affiliate represents over 600 members composed of office staff, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and other support personnel in this large suburban school district. As president you work mornings for the district and afternoons for the union. This afternoon you have decided to visit Dave Randall, a security guard, at Liberty Junior High School. Mr. Randall is in his first year in the district.
Goal:
The goal of this conversation is to move the worker to full membership. In addition to asking him to move to full membership you would like to learn what other issues he believes should be addressed at his worksite.
Situation:
As you walk in to the school Mr. Randall is seated at a little table checking people into the school and offering directions to lost parents and students. You introduce yourself as the local president and ask if he can take a break so the two of you can talk.
Fair Share Conversation (PSRP)
Handout 5B
POTENTIAL MEMBER Dave Randall
Your name is Dave Randall. You have worked as a security guard at Liberty Junior High School in Orlando, Florida for less than one year. As you are checking visitors into your school a person you have never seen before introduces her/him self as your local union president.
You have no interest in talking to this stranger, or hearing another sales pitch about the union; after all you signed the forms upon your hiring last fall. However, you do have immediate concerns about the lack of raises for support personnel.
You secretly love your job―securing the school, helping students when there is confusion or an emergency, and being seen as indispensable to the school’s operation to both teachers and the principal as fulfilling. However, you are cantankerous on the outside and you are having trouble making ends meet on a support employee salary.
You’re very concerned because at the end of last year the school district cut almost 50 positions—teachers, classroom assistants, office staff, security officers, and even custodians. Liberty Junior High lost three teachers and four PSRPs; for you that means more and longer hours with no additional pay. More importantly, if the district continues to cut positions, you are afraid you will be out of a job, since you now have the least seniority among PSRPs at Liberty.
Actions:
You thought you were a member of the union because you filled out the paperwork on your first day of school. You have even attended a union meeting. It is only through this conversation that you realize that you are not a full member of the union. If the president listens to your concerns about funding cuts and a lack of adequate pay you will readily agree to join with your colleagues.
Fair Share Conversation (Teacher)
Handout 5C
Meeting with Jerry Baird
You are working as both a teacher and local union activist at West Central High School, in Berea, Ohio. The local AFT affiliate represents the entire staff at the only high school in town. Union leadership has decided to meet with all staff members of the high school who are currently paying “fair share” dues. There are five teachers at the school who are not full members and you have volunteered to meet with the coach/gym teacher.
Goal:
The goal of this conversation is to move the worker to full membership. In addition to asking him to move to full membership you would like to learn what other work-related issues he finds compelling.
Situation:
At the end of half-day you stop by the gym to talk with Jerry Baird. Mr. Baird is the senior faculty member and has taught physical education at West Central for 38 years. He invites you over and you sit down on the bench to chat.
Fair Share Conversation (Teacher)
Handout 5C
POTENTIAL MEMBER Jerry Baird
Your name is Jerry Baird. You are a veteran teacher who has been teaching Physical Education at West Central High School for 38 years.
You started out as an enthusiastic young teacher/coach. You wanted to make a difference in the lives of your students. Over the years, you have become disillusioned and sadly just “putting in your time” until you can retire. Early in your career, you were a member of the West Central AFT. You dropped your membership 15 years ago when you felt a colleague was not adequately represented in a disciplinary matter. “My friend got no help from them…..”
You know there is a push to move everyone in the school to full membership. After all thanks to this union you have a full time job with benefits. However, with the economy in such dire straits you are not sure you want to pay the extra money to belong to the union. The difference in money is $50 per pay check.
Actions:
If your colleague is able to make a positive and convincing argument overcoming your doubts about the additional cost of membership feel free to agree to join the local union. In this role please be polite and agreeable towards the worksite leader.
Lists, Mapping and Charting
Handout 6
OBJECTIVE
Mapping and Charting your workplace and understanding the relationships that exist within a workplace are tools you should use to create your strategy to best identify co-workers who are not full members of the union.
Charts:
State or paraphrase: Wall charts are an invaluable strategic planning tool and provide a graphic representation of where the campaign strands at any point in time. “The placing of information in a schematic form, generally on the wall, in a way that allows for immediate visual interpretation.” The chart is linked to information obtained in the list building process, in actions and tests and assessments. Information on the chart should match that in the database.”
Mapping
State or paraphrase: organizing maps generally depict the worksite or in a way that clarifies spatial and work process relationships, proximities and distances, and a location of every worker.
Read or paraphrase
While we talk about building relationships in one on one conversations, we often don’t take advantage of the relationships that already exist in our workplace. These relationships are key to mobilizing people quickly.
Instructions for Exercise:
Write on flip chart paper this question:
“How could the geographic, work and social relationships play into a strategy to organize workers in this workplace?”
Explain exercise: Using the maps and charts found on the next (3) pages you are to come up with a list of activities that you would do attain full membership at Blevins Elementary.
Lists, Mapping and Charting – Membership Lists
Handout 6A
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Lists, Mapping and Charting – Map
Handout 6B
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