New book offers day-by-day unionizing tips

Bill Knight column for 1-20, 21 or 22, 2020  

It was exactly 100 years ago when organizing by the Laborers boosted membership to almost 100,000, strengthening the union enough to more than double workers’ wages in markets including Chicago and New York, and encouraging members to support African Americans’ efforts to win equal treatment by unions as well as employers. (In fact, the Laborers denied applications by proposed Locals in Cincinnati and Kansas City because they were still segregated.)

Organizing in the 21^st century is far different than 1920, with many companies still willing to violate labor law and government likely to not penalize lawbreakers. But with 64% of the U.S. public approving of organized labor, according to Gallup polling, and wages, hours and working conditions still far from equitable, workers still unionize. So, Bob Oedy’s 2019 book, “The Million Dollar Organizer: 365 Tips for Professional Union Organizers” (204 pages, published by Union Organizer Press) is as timely as ever.

Less philosophical than Saul Alinsky’s classic books, such as “Reveille for Radicals,” Oedy’s paperback is like eating out of a lunch bucket on the job and listening to old hands reminiscing and offering suggestions.

Building on his 2008 book “Bigger Labor: A Crash Course for Construction Union Organizers,” Oedy packages 365 valuable ideas – one for each day of the year, appropriately enough.

(Incidentally, the “million dollar” in the title doesn’t mean the calling is a lucrative vocation comparable to some CEO; it refers to a unionized worker’s cumulative earnings over a career, just one reason to unionize.)

Organizing is a day-by-day effort, but it often stretches for weeks and months.

The grunt work of organizing isn’t a glamorous or easy endeavor. In fact, in today’s labor-relations climate, it can be tough. As Steelworkers president Tom Conway said this fall, “Employers face no real financial penalties for breaking federal labor law by retaliating against workers during a union organizing campaign.”

But as Oedy reveals – or reminds – readers, it’s not insurmountable.

Here, he blends familiar, common-sense suggestions and unexpected advice, making the task more possible.

A long-time organizer with decades of experience in the electrical construction industry, Oedy also is a Renaissance Man of sorts, an environmentalist and musician as well as long-time union organizer whose books also include 2010’s “Green Career Ladder: A Step-by-Step Guide to Profitable Careers in Sustainable Energy” and 2014’s “Punk Rock Las Vegas Survival Guide: Beer, Bowling and Debauchery Las Vegas Style.”

Writing in an authoritative but light tone, he shows techniques to reach out, communicate and spur action.

The lessons run the gamut:

* Ask, learn, study past campaigns, and listen – especially to hear others’ points of view.

* Network with peers, partners, the community and volunteers, and cultivate relationships.

* Be personable by being polite and respectful, sending thank-you, birthday and holiday cards, and showing compassion by attending workers’ family funerals and other events, and nurture ties by including the rank and file, empowering volunteers and involving workers in an organizing committee.

* Don’t be an elitist or bourgeois, or act superior, keep egos in check, control emotions, avoid gossip, be trustworthy, admit mistakes (“it’s better to ask forgiveness than to seek permission” sometimes), and don’t be “wormy,” as the building trades describe those who try to curry favor with bosses by working overtime for free, skipping breaks, etc.

A few key takeaways:

* A realistic goal of grassroots support is 70%, the “magic number” to make union-certification victories more likely.

* Identify and research contractors and sub-contractors.

* “Pray for guidance; tap into the power of faith,” he counsels. “Even if you’re not religious at all, it’s easy to find inspiration in the knowledge that your life’s work will benefit your community and make the world a better place.”

Finally, to activists dedicated to recruiting workers to stand together to advance their situation, these tips from and for the trenches are invaluable, together offering a guide to help put in to practice the old and true saying, “educate, agitate and organize.”