▼ Speaker Notes:
(Overview of the planned schedule for the course)
Usually this course is given over two days and six hours, so keeping an eye on time is crucial.
There will be a time for answering questions.
Breaks will be as close as possible to the top of the hour.

▼ Speaker Notes:
(Overview of the methods of participation of the course.)
Blackboard for facilitators to write brief notes; transcript for notes of what's being said

▼ Speaker Notes:
"Profession and industry": Be general: don't name the specific company. It can be somewhere you've worked in the past, or where you hope to work in the future.
"Issues or grievances": Don't forget to tell each other at least one of these--it'll be used later.
"Previous organising experience": This can refer to putting together a birthday party, or babysitting three of your younger cousins, or GMing a roleplaying game.
[10 minutes in pairs, introductions to the big group is 20 minutes.]

▼ Speaker Notes:
[Before slide:] First group activity! You (and your partner) will be in a larger group now. Pick one person to take notes on the group's answers to all the questions and to report back to the larger group.
[10 minutes for group discussion]
[10 minutes: Gather answers (one at a time!) from group representatives round-robin style as long as they each have new answers to share / until time demands.]
[Example answers: only add if the group representatives are missing something]
Definitions:

• any two or more people getting together to defend or promote their interests in the workplace
• an organisation that bargains a contract for workers
• a group of workers engaging in direct action

Positive: better pay, better working conditions, health and safety, control over work, vehicle for progressive social change, gives workers more power / balances power relations, solidarity / mutual support / community
Negative: recognised unions often act in "partnership" with the employer, some sell products to workers, "service unions" have large passive membership serviced by paid full-time experts, industries and demographics left unrepresented, police unions are terrible.

▼ Speaker Notes:
[Don't focus too much on the ideological differences of the IWW. Save further discussion for the question section of the presentation or later DMs.]

▼ Speaker Notes:
[Before slide:] Return to your group. Again, make sure someone is taking notes on all question answers and is ready to report back to the full group.
[10 minutes in groups]
[10 minutes: Gather answers (one at a time!) from group representatives round-robin style as long as they each have new answers to share / until time demands.]
[Example answers: only add if the group representatives are missing something]
1) [Not many wrong answers here.] Maybe-overlooked: reliable and methodical/takes notes, keeps a diary; flexible and reacts to change well; up-to-date with union organising drives in similar industries; develops other workers' organising skills
Organisers are NOT necessarily charismatic or naturally sociable. Those traits can help, but people can be good organisers without them.
2) Examples:

• take charge of everything to the point that everything would stop if something happened to them
• tell lies or make false promises
• be reckless with their security or others': "First, do no harm": do not take risks with people's livelihoods.

▼ Speaker Notes:
"Be discreet": Don't make yourself, or the organising drive, a target before you're ready to go public.
"Be patient": Organising is slow work; don't expect immediate results.
[After slide:] It's OK to seek small, achievable gains at first. Share the union's achievements to inspire others.

▼ Speaker Notes:
[Before slide:] Mapping your workplace helps you start thinking about:

• who to talk to first
• who's friends with whom
• who's influential, and
• how to keep the element of surprise.

"First, divide into slices": *optionally* divide the circles of trust into slices: if there are people working very different jobs (restaurant may have kitchen staff, front-of-house staff, and admin/support staff), or perhaps if people work in different buildings.
"Place workers/bargaining units": Place people according to how much you trust them. If you're not sure, put them toward the outside. [Explain bargaining units for larger workplaces.]
"Lastly, map relationships": For each worker you don't know the name of, put a question mark on the outside of the rings.
Draw arrows between workers who are friends.

[10 minutes]

Keep this map updated as you organise, get to know people, and re-evaluate their trustworthiness.
We want to move people from anti-union to neutral, neutral to supportive, supportive to active.

▼ Speaker Notes:
Ways to gather information:

• Asking people
• Noticing clocking in cards
• Browsing the company website / email list
• Asking the boss for a list so you can send out holiday cards or invite people to a party
• Circulating an innocuous petition e.g. for cancer research
• Looking through rubbish bins

▼ Speaker Notes:
Always treat other workers' information with respect. Don't leave it lying around.

▼ Speaker Notes:
"Avoids inviting liabilities": people who are anti-union, who are snitches, who are close to the boss or other liabilities
"Reduces risk for accidental liability": if you find out after/during meeting that you're talking to the boss's cousin, you've only put yourself at risk, not everyone at a mass meeting

▼ Speaker Notes:
"How do you start a conversation?": Talk about your family, life outside work, sports, TV. Avoid political and controversial subjects.
"Plan to talk about work outside the workplace": Work breakrooms are sometimes bugged; people might eavesdrop, even by accident.
"80/20 rule": Try to only talk during 20% of the conversation, listening the other 80%. Most of what you say will be forgotten, so make it count.

▼ Speaker Notes:
Imagine you are an organiser who is going to meet a co-worker about work for the first time.
[10 minutes for groups]
[10-15 minutes: Ask each group representative to tell you one DO or DON'T that hasn't been given yet and whether it's before, during, or after the meeting.]
[Example answers: only add if the group representatives are missing something]
Preparing before: DO: get advice from other organisers; check your workplace map; think about likely grievances; gather positive examples of union action in your industry or similar ones
DON'T: tell everyone about your upcoming meeting
During: DO: (as previous slide); ask if they'd be happy to meet with you and another organiser or worker; ask if they'd like to contribute to the organising drive
DON'T: use the word "union" unless you're certain they're pro-union
After: DO: debrief with organiser; make notes of meeting; follow up on action points

▼ Speaker Notes:
[10 minutes in groups]
[15 minutes: Gather answers from group representatives round-robin style as long as they each have new answers to share / until time demands.]

1) Cat:

• only one who’s led people into conflict with management
• Lukasz brought people in to support her action
• people seek her advice
• management listen to her about how people feel about work conditions
• called a meeting and people turned up

Lukasz and James show leadership, but not to the extent Cat does.

2)
Megan: PRO: union member, is good friends with everyone CON: Not really an organiser, not very discreet about it.

Cat: PRO: has organised the most people, might not be pro-union but IS pro-organising-- "we solve our own problems here" implies her dislike of unions might be seeing them as outside agents which we can address, she is good at delegating (she got Lukasz to support her) CON: a little bit of ego, management seeks her advice and will try to pull her to their side first.

James: PRO: good at his job, has a lot of people's ears, and is good at organising people CON: he has a bit of ego, he takes the lead too much and things might fall apart if he's not there to support them. He's kind of a lad and is mostly interested in organising fun shit.

Lukasz: PRO: well respected and has done organised action to support cat, very pro-union. CON: may alienate people with ideology unless called in about it, he's kind of a follower, only acting when Cat starts things.

▼ Speaker Notes:
"Agitate, Educate, Organise" is an age-old labor movement slogan.
"Make a connection": "It's like that for me too" (if it is).
"Collectivise": "It's like that for all of us" (if it is).
"Both parts of the same conversation": Include both agitation and education in every conversation you have with each worker.

[Before activity:] Going back to just you and your partner from the introduction activity. Remember you already learned your partner's grievances then. Use them!
[20 minutes: 10 minutes each way]

▼ Speaker Notes:
"Work together": Everyone should have a role and tasks.
"Share the workload": The union shouldn't fail and flounder if one person is taken out of commission by firing, illness, injury, death.

▼ Speaker Notes:
[Don't get too into detail with difficulties, risks, fears, and anti-union campaigns; that's the next activity]
"Never say "They can't do that; it's illegal""--Bosses do illegal things in the workplace all the time. (That's why unions are necessary.) If you say this, and someone gets fired or otherwise retaliated against, you lose credibility.

▼ Speaker Notes:
[10 minutes]
Fears:

• dismissal
• victimisation, bullying
• hurt career prospects, bad reference
• reduced hours
• work groups broken up
• (often not vocalised): tension or conflict with managers and co-workers

Responses: The risks are real, but there is power and safety in numbers.

Propaganda, tactics, and threats:

• Paternalism
• Red-baiting
• “3rd party the union”
• Individual meetings
• Promotion / buying off leaders and supporters
• “Captive audience meetings”
• Bullying: vague threats followed by leading questions (used to isolate militants)

Responses: discussions with colleagues, roleplays, bring workmates to an organising training, make sure everyone sticks together, refuse individual meetings

▼ Speaker Notes:
[15 minutes]

• formal letter from the union
• petition
• organised boycott
• demonstration (company office, particular workplace)
• comms zap
• publicity campaign / brand damage (stick to facts to avoid libel suit)
• formal collective grievance
• work-in or an occupation
• sick-in
• good work strike
• slowdown
• work to rule
• sitdown strike
• selective strike
• open mouth
• ignore the boss
• monkey wrenching / tricks and devilry!
• solidarity

▼ Speaker Notes:
"Workers might never understand they can join": One of the major reasons workers never join a union is they were never asked.

"Do you want to join the union?" activity: ONE per person, in call order (after the presentation there will be more if people want). Riffing, humor, silly lead-ins, meming, etc. are encouraged (but you can just say the sentence if you don't have anything yet). (If you're uncomfortable being on voice you can skip.) The goal is to get comfortable with saying it!