ORGANISING Organising committees Forming an organising committee Under-represented groups

1. ORGANISING • Organising committees • Forming an organising committee • Under-represented groups • Decision making 0

2. FORMING AN ORGANISING COMMITTEE, UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS AND DECISION MAKING

3. Forming an organising committee 0

4. Why have an organising committee?

5. Why have an organising committee? • Share ideas, experiences and skills • Spread the workload and increase accountability • Increase commitment and ownership • Making decisions about organising (within the union decision making structures)

7. EXAMPLE Create tasks that fit what people are able and willing to do. • I want to be a member of the LAN Airlines Organising Committee. • I’ll take responsibility for: • Attending meetings once a month • Speaking to a LAN worker about what they like and dislike about LAN • Attending football games • Keeping 5-7 union members updated about organising • Other

8. When do we form the organising committee? • Use arbolitos (worker networks) first to build support. • If your first meeting is too weak and not representative, it could give the impression of a small clique. • Once the committee is formed, continue to focus on workers where union support is weak.

9. Sample organising committee agenda 12:00 Attendance / sign-in Report on new events in the workplace. 12:05Report on previous assignments. - Give recognition to people who completed assignments. - Plan what to do about work not done. 12:10Discuss next steps. 12:20Practice next assignments. 12:50Assignments 13:00Adjourn

10. What can we do when people do not attend meetings or complete tasks?

11. What can we do when people do not attend meetings or complete tasks? • Find out why. • Make sure people do not commit to more than they can do. • Help them with the task. • Keep public records of attendance and work completed. • Create a policy for removal from the organising committee after a specific number of absences or if no tasks are completed. Encourage rejoining after attendance at meetings or completion of tasks.

12. Does every committee member understand their responsibilities? • How can we help each other with pressure and potential criticism? • Discuss issues before they occur: • - Might some of us work harder than others? • - Might some of us turn against the union?

13. Two key organising committee jobs Facilitation • Keeping written records of meetings • Keeping arbolitos, lists and maps updated • Keeping records safe and accessible to other committee members Record-keeping • Planning the agenda and preparing for the meeting • Facilitating the meeting and helping the group stay on track and make decisions Responsibilities can be shared and rotated.

14. ACTIVITY: Forming an organising committee Aim: To develop a plan for forming an organising committee. Tasks:Select a facilitator and timekeeper. Make a list of everyone who is working. Include the arbolitos (worker groups) and union leaders. Are there any under-represented groups that you will focus on? Discuss when, where and how often to meet. The hardest-working people can meet more often, but they will want to report in regularly. Discuss how the organising committee fits into your union decision-making structures. Discuss who can perform the facilitation and record keeping jobs. Prepare to share your ideas with the larger group.

15. 0 Under-represented groups 0

16. What groups of workers are under-represented in the union? • Younger or older • Male or female • Night or day shift • Ethnicity/race • Language • Work classification • New or senior • Other UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS

17. How might under-represented groups affect our organising? UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS

18. How might under-represented groups affect our organising? • Employers can use existing divisions in the workforce to further divide workers. • The more united the workers, the stronger the union. UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS

19. ACTIVITY: Recruiting under-represented workers • Aim: To develop ideas for recruiting under-represented workers. • Tasks:Select a facilitator and timekeeper. • Select an under-represented group. What problems might occur as they become more involved? • Choose one of these problems for further discussion. • If we did nothing about the problem, what would be the consequences? • How might we go about changing the situation? Identify 1-3 things we could do to improve the situation. • Prepare to share your ideas with the large group. UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS

20. Decision making

21. Questions to discuss: • What should our union be like at our workplace? • What are the responsibilities of union leaders and members to each other? • How is our union involved in our industry, the economy and politics - both nationally and internationally? DECISION MAKING

22. ACTIVITY: Practice decision making Aim: To practise group decision making and analyse the results. If we had US$1,000 to spend on organising work, how would we spend it? DECISION MAKING

23. ACTIVITY: How did it go? Aim: To practice group decision making and analyse the results. Tasks:Select a facilitator and timekeeper. Discuss the following: • What was our decision making process? • Did we listen to each other? • Did we all participate? • Did we help others or receive help? • Did we recognise the needs of under-represented groups? • Did we take turns? • What did we learn? Prepare to share your thoughts with the group. DECISION MAKING

24. What ground rules do you want to use? DECISION MAKING

25. What ground rules do you want to use? • Start on time, end on time. • Confidentiality between workers, no gossip. • No public showing of weakness or division, especially to the emplyer. • Accountability • Regular reports on work commitments • Recognition of work done and not done • Even participation • If you speak a lot, speak less. • If you don’t speak much, speak more. • Attendance • Miss more than ____meetings, and you are not a member until you attend at least ____meetings in a row. • Written policy of no harassment based on gender, ethnicity, language and race. • Stick with a clear and democratic decision making process. • Once a group decision is made and becomes a mandate, any changes must be taken back through the collective decision making process. DECISION MAKING

26. What methods might we use? DECISION MAKING

27. What methods might we use? DECISION MAKING

28. How do we work with committee members we don’t trust? DECISION MAKING

29. How do we work with committee members we don’t trust? • Get to know them and learn what you can from them. • Keep your suspicions to yourself until you know. • Employers benefit from an atmosphere of secrecy and mistrust; unions need trust to build a collective. • Give work assignments that will not cause alarm: • - Gather information about the industry • - Attend a union event • - Other DECISION MAKING

30. How do we work with conflict amongst committee members? DECISION MAKING

31. How do we work with conflict amongst committee members? • Think ahead and discuss what conflicts might arise. • Have clear decision making processes. • Practice deep listening. Find out what is behind the differences. • Continue to build personal relationships of trust - before, after and during conflict. DECISION MAKING

32. Anything else to discuss regarding organising committees? FORMING AN ORGANISING COMMITTEE, UNDER-REPRESENTED GROUPS AND DECISION MAKING