Campaign Resource Update for May 29, 2015

• One-on-one conversations bring new members into our union: An AFT training module for building reps and volunteer organizers
• Reach new employees as early as possible - A sample PowerPoint for new employee orientation
• Simplifying the Sign-Up Process – St. Paul finds a smart way around a data management hassle

One-on-one conversations bring new members into our union: An AFT training module for building reps and volunteer organizers

Bringing Fair Share payers into membership requires one-on-one conversations and one-one-one conversations require training. 

Affiliates reaching out to fair-share payers generally recognize that there is no substitute for one-on-one conversations. Through one-on-one conversations we build relationships with potential members. We hear what motivates them. They learn about what our union stands for. We discuss how, by standing together, we can accomplish more.

But one-on-ones are people-intensive. Someone has to conduct those one-on-one conversations. We need many motivated volunteers who have the confidence and know-how to initiate these conversations, start building these relationships, and bring fair-share payers into membership. 

So we need to train. Trainings for building reps and volunteer organizers are at the heart of the outreach programs initiated by affiliates across the union. In the coming weeks and months, we will be sharing many campaign resources from other affiliates, including their training materials. To get this started, we want to share a very good training module, designed for building reps and volunteer organizers, created by AFT’s own Union Leadership Institute. 

Reach new employees as early as possible - A sample PowerPoint for new employee orientation

Reaching new employees early – especially during the orientation process – allows us to define our union to new entrants and stop the flow of fair-share payers. 

Many new employees default into fair-share status because their union is not involved in the new employee orientation process. To stop the flow of new fair-share payers, we need to re-examine what we do around new employee orientation. Our goal must be to reach new employees as soon as possible. Start building a relationship with them, and convey to them the importance of membership.

When it comes to new employee orientation, getting it right may be a little different in each local. But with each local, improving the process starts with a clear understanding of what we are trying to do. If you are already participating in new employee orientation, set aside some time with the union team that leads these new employee orientation sessions. Ask the group to be candid in examining the effectiveness of current efforts. To facilitate this process, have the group answer the following questions.

• Are we achieving what we think we are achieving? Do we even know what we are trying to achieve?
• Have we asked new employees who attended the orientation what they think? How would they improve these sessions?
• Are we giving deliberate thought to things like: Who is the best “messenger?” How do we take care not to “third party” the union? How do we stand out as a community of colleagues vs. an extension of the employer or just another bureaucracy?
• What is the central message we are trying to communicate? How do we focus to ensure that is what is heard?
• What can we do to make sure that the orientation is just the beginning of our outreach efforts?

If you don't have good contract language on access to new employee orientation, here are some examples of what to ask for in negotiations.

Below is just one example of a good PowerPoint – for use during new employee orientation -  that conveys many of the right messages, anticipates the likely questions on the minds of new employees, and strives to define the union as a welcoming community. This comes from the AFT statewide healthcare affiliate, the Ohio Nurses Association.

We will send out more new-employee orientation materials in the next edition.

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Simplifying the Sign-Up Process – St. Paul finds a smart way around a data management hassle

The St. Paul Federation of Teachers is doing a lot of things right. Here are a few of their ideas – on reaching fair-share payers at work, and simplifying the sign-up process - that can benefit us all.

To start, the St. Paul Federation of Teachers came up with a fair-share conversion plan. Then they secured union leave for six executive board members and activists. SPFT staff trained the volunteers in the basics of the organizing conversation and prepare them to act as member-organizers in the worksites.

The six member-organizers are in the worksites as often as possible, working through lists of fair share-payers, conducting organizing conversations, and asking fair-share payers to join. Many say ‘I thought I was a member.’ So far over 100 fair-share payers have become members. With school about to end, staff are working with member-organizers to prepare for summer house-calls.

They are solving problems as they go. Initially, the paperwork for membership was onerous. Great organizing conversations would terminate in frustration, as potential members got bogged down in 10 minutes worth of paperwork to confirm their status. Staff and member-organizers thought up a way around this. They stripped away all the paperwork that was non-essential. Then they combined their still-a-bit-long membership form with their database of fair-share payers, auto-filled the fields, and printed the forms for all fee payers. Member organizers now walk into the worksite with completed membership forms for all fair-share payers. If, during an organizing conversation, a potential member decides to join, she need only provide her signature at the bottom of the form.

Warning! This streamlined form is sufficient for St. Paul but may not be sufficient where you are. Always check with legal counsel before changing the language on your member sign-up forms.

These six member organizers are covering as many worksites as possible before the school year ends. With no time to map each site, the member organizers have found it effective to first meet with the worksite steward for directions on how to find each fair-share payer on the list. In a few sites where there was no steward available, the organizers worked with clerical staff, (and once or twice, the principal), to locate fair-share payers and initiate an organizing conversation.

‘Nobody goes in the NO pile.’ While many fair-share payers join right away, not all do. If the initial conversation doesn’t lead to membership, that fair-share payer is revisited, to continue the conversation and keep building the relationship.

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AFT Resources for your fair-share conversion efforts can be found online at https://leadernet.aft.org/toolkit/building-union-bringing-fair-share-payers-active-membership. (Requires a Leadernet registration)