“Our focus is on building

union power through

organizing and growth,
and organizing is an
essential element of
everything we do.”

- Jyrki Raina, General

Secretary, IndustriALL

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 1

 What is organizing and why should we
organize?
Organizing definition

Increasing
• membership
• member solidarity
• member activism

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 2

 What is organizing and why should we
organize?
Increasing membership
• Members are a union’s greatest resource
• Recruitment and retention are key to organizing

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 3

 What is organizing and why should we
organize?
Increasing member solidarity and activism

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 4

 What is organizing and why should we
organize?

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 5

 What is organizing and why should we
organize?
Organize to build power and achieve workers’ aims

• Economic power
• Political power

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 6

 What is organizing and why should we
organize?
We must organize
• Organizing must
be a key priority
• Need for an
organizing
culture
• Resources are
required

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 7

 Key principles for organizing

• Build strong structures

• Be democratic and transparent
• Include
• Cooperate and coordinate
• Don’t compete
• Become self-sustaining

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 8

 Key principles for organizing
Build strong structures

• Workplace
structures
• National
unions

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 9

 Key principles for organizing
Build strong structures

• Sectoral or
cross-sectoral
unions
• National
councils

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 10

 Key principles for organizing
Be democratic and transparent

Helps to recruit, retain and increase participation

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 11

 Key principles for organizing
Include
• Actively make more inclusive
• Women, precarious, contractors, youth, non-manual,
migrant

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 12

 Key principles for organizing
Cooperate and coordinate

• Support each other’s

organizing work
• Joint initiatives
• With unions and with
broader community

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 13

 Key principles for organizing
Don’t compete

• Limited resources
• No shortage of workers
• Agree to not compete

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 14

 Key principles for organizing
Become self-sustaining

• Membership dues collection

• Mergers
• Project support is temporary

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 15

 Get prepared for organizing

• Target
• Map
• Develop a plan

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 16

 Get prepared for organizing
Target

• Target strategically
• Will build union’s
power
• Not already
represented or being
targeted
• Winnable

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 17

 Get prepared for organizing
Target

• Target for density

• Increasing density builds power
• Both regular and precarious workers

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 18

 Get prepared for organizing
Map

• Map the sector and

area
• Examine for
international links

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 19

 Get prepared for organizing
Develop a plan

Identify
• what needs to be
done
• who is responsible
for what
• when they need to
do it by
• what resources
needed

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 20

 Get prepared for organizing
Develop a plan

Should be
• developed
collaboratively
• include clear
benchmarks
• achievable
• flexible

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 21

 Get prepared for organizing
Develop a plan
Components of an organizing plan

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 22

 Get prepared for organizing
Target, map and develop a plan

Before the organizing campaign

Organizing with IndustriALL – Workers stronger together 23