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Issue Based Advocacy Organizing for Power. There is no conflict of interest among anyone with the ability to control content of this activity. 1.5 Contact Hours will be awarded with successful completion of this activity.
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There is no conflict of interest among anyone with the ability to control content of this activity. 1.5 Contact Hours will be awarded with successful completion of this activity. Criteria for Successful Completion: view entire webinar and complete exercise via google form. The Ohio Nurses Association is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation. (OBN-001-91) Expiration 6/30/2021
1) Objective of Training The nurse activist, using conversations with members, will be able to identify issues to organize around, develop a campaign around those issues, and use the campaign to motivate their co-workers to be more involved in their Union.
2) What is Issue Based Advocacy? • An issues based organizing campaign is a planned effort by Union leaders to involve workers in an effort to address and/or resolve issues of concern to them. This involvement, in turn, builds relationships among workers that leads to further activism and a stronger Union. • Organizing that attempts to increase support from and activate workers based on what the Union is doing to address or resolve their issues of concern at their job. • Focus is on what the Union cares about (it’s vision, mission, goals, and issues) over what the Union does (bargaining, grievances, etc.). • Issue based organizing is a tool to enable and empower workers to achieve their goals in any environment.
3) Why use Issue Based Organizing? • It creates urgency. • Your activism is needed right now! • It defines the union. • This is what we care about. This is what we do. • It has the potential to build union power and activate members/potential members. • This is our fight! • It builds ownership of the Union when new members/activists are involved. • We did this together!
Elements of a Good Organizing Issue. • One that can be brought to an acceptable resolution. • Winning is not always possible or necessary. The union can gain a lot by fighting the right fight well. • Issues can’t be so vague that an acceptable resolution can’t be reached. • One that can be clearly communicated. • Messages related to the issue provide clear and concise answers to the following: • What is the issue? • Why is it important? • How does it affect me? • What do we want? • How will we get it? • What can I do?
Elements of a Good Organizing Issue. • One that unites, rather than divides. • Resolution of the issue for one group does not adversely affect another. • Don’t take from one member to give to another. • One that communicates to hearts as well as minds. • The issue has a dimension that allows it to be communicated in a way to build passion and excitement about the union’s cause.
Elements of a Good Organizing Issue. • One that can be used to create a range of involvement opportunities. • The union can brainstorm a range of actions for members/potential members to support the union that appeals to all levels of commitment and ability to participate. • One that can be the focus of sustained activity. • The issue will hold the attention of workers long enough to develop and implement the organizing campaign.
5) How to Identify Issues. How do we find the issues around which the union can organize? They are all around us if we are willing to look, listen and not be bound by our paradigms. The ABCs of identifying issues.
A) Look Many issues are obvious because we see them every day. They are part of the collective experience of those in positions of union leadership.
B) Listen Some great issues may not be as apparent to us or we are not fully aware of the depth of feeling that might exist around these issues by people who are not in position of union leadership. This is why it is important to be engaged constantly in two-way communication with the membership. Through one-on-one conversations, small group meetings, surveys and discussions they will reveal their issues—the keys to increasing their union involvement. We should also research by investigating problems of all kind—health, safety, policy, technology, bad managerial practice, etc.—and by taking notice of grievance records, complaints, press reports, etc.
C) Think Outside the Box We miss opportunities to organize if we are not open and creative when it comes to identifying issues. Not all issues fall within the traditional framework of the contract, collective bargaining or legislation. Some can be addressed by other means that we may not be as used to using, such as through coalitions with community organizations, bringing public pressure to bear on an issue, or even working cooperatively with management. Also, just because a problem can be resolved quietly in negotiations or through a single phone call to the boss does not mean it should be.
Examples of Organizing Issues • Good issues for Issue Based Organizing: • Systemic issues that effect large groups of members. • Staffing • Violence in the workplace • Lack of supplies • Parking • Equitable pay • Healthcare • Lack of supplies • Inappropriate Issues for Issue Based Organizing: • Any issue that would take something from one member to give it to another. • Unit A is overstaffed, Unit B is understaffed. Take nurses from A and put them in B. • An individual grievance that isn’t a systemic problem. • Nurse A didn’t receive their overtime, but everyone else is. • Vague issues that can’t have a satisfying resolution. • Respect
Phase 1 – Research & Planning The union decides on the issue around which it will organize, who is most directly affected by the issue, how it would like to see the issue resolved, and a range of specific actions it wants members to take in support of that resolution. Decisions also are made here about the timeline of the campaign and a calendar of activities is created with responsibilities assigned for carrying out all tasks associated with those activities.
Phase 2 - Education/Agitation The union provides information to the targeted members about the issue in the campaign, the resolution it seeks, and how it wants them to get involved. The primary communication vehicle is one-on-one communication so the union can assess who can successfully be recruited into involvement.
Phase 3 - Activation The actual “doing” of the campaign where the union is seeking to address/resolve the issue with the support of targeted workers. The union seeks to maximize the quality of the experience for those involved, to develop strong interpersonal relationships among them and to gain information about them that might help the union be more effective in converting the unorganized into the organized, potential members to members or taking current members to the next level of activism.
Phase 4 - Resolution/Recruitment The conclusion of the campaign as marked by either the successful resolution of the issue or the union communicating how the fight will be carried on. Although recruitment of activists and members occurs throughout the campaign, it is during this phase that union makes this a top priority with direct personal conduct with those affected and those involved in the campaign.
Phase 5 - Evaluation Did we achieve our organizational goals? What worked? What did not? Why? What could we have done better? What do we have to do now to make us more successful in the next campaign?
7) Issue Based Organizing Campaign Exercise Follow the link below to complete an exercise where you will go through the first 4 phases of an issue based organizing campaign. • Exercise!
