Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Step 8 Step 9 Step 10

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Step 1—Step 2—Step 3—Step 4– Step 5—Step 6—Step 7—Step 8—Step 9—Step 10

T

he main strength of your local union is your membership. Some locals have a more active membership than others but one thing is clear: in order to get the best contract, your employer has to believe that all of your members are sticking together. That’s why a Communication & Action Team must be the foun-dation of any contract campaign.

What is a Communication & Action Team?

A Communication & Action Team is the best way to organize your union and get the best contract possible. The key to the CAT is direct one-to-one contact. Your CAT should be composed of respected union activists working under the direction of the elected local leadership. Members of the Communication & Action Team are responsible for maintaining contact with a specific group of about 10 co-workers in their respective departments and shifts.

Why do you need a Communication & Action Team?

Membership involvement is the most important part of a successful contract cam-paign, and the first step in getting the membership involved is setting up a Commu-nication & Action Team.

Every union officer and activist knows the frustration of posting a notice for an event or activity only to have few participate. This happens in every local, and in fact, in every organization. Simply posting a notice is not enough because it only attracts activists and those already committed to the particular issue.

Building visible support of the membership is difficult, but possible. One-on-one contact insures your ability to directly educate every member on the issues, counter the inevitable rumors, and organize support.

Personal contact is the most effective means to get members involved. It is one thing to see a meeting notice on a board and another when a friend comes to you saying - "I am going to the meeting, and we need you at the meeting as well."

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Communication Flow for Communication &

Action Team

Local Union Officers & Bargaining Committee Communication & Action Team Coordinator(s) Communication & Action Team Organizers Workers Communication & Action Team Shift Leader(s) What is the structure of a Communication & Action

Team?

To build and effective Communication & Action Team in your local union, you will need to fill the following posi-tions:

The Local Union Officers and Bargaining Committee develop the campaign plan (along with the CAT Coordina-tor). They provide direction as well as delegate responsi-bility to the other members of the Communication & Action Team. The Negotiating Committee is too busy negotiating to fill the following roles—always be careful of burnout. Communication & Action Team Coordinator(s) makes sure that the CAT structure is in place and functioning throughout the local. The CAT coordinator is the key to successfully educating and involving your membership in the contract campaign. He or she is not on the bargaining committee but reports directly to the local union president and the bargaining committee.

Communication & Action Team Shift Leader is respon-sible for recruiting Communication & Action Team Organiz-ers on a particular shift and coordinating their activity. In large locals, you may need multiple shift leaders.

Communication & Action Team Organizers are the lo-cal’s direct link to the rank and file. They are responsible for communicating one-on-one with a group of about 10 workers in their work area on their shift.

It’s their job to distribute handbills and other material like buttons and T-shirts. They educate the membership about issues in negotiations and mobilize members to participate in solidarity actions. It is important to CAT Organizers rep-resent the entire membership—young/old, female/male, and so on. If members of the bargaining unit speak more than one language, make sure your CAT Organizers can communicate with everyone.

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How many members do you need to have on your CAT?

The number of members needed to build your Communication & Action Team depends upon how big your facility is and how many members you have. Let’s work from the bottom to the top of the flow chart on the previous page.

• _{One Communication & Action Team Organizer for every 10 workers in an} area. However, a department with only 6 members must also have at least one CAT Organizer.

• One Shift Leader for every 10 CAT Organizers on a shift. • _{One Local Union Coordinator for every five Shift Leaders.}

You may be quickly calculating how many members you need to build a CAT and feel discouraged. Remember, these numbers are ideal, but in the real world you will have to make adjustments.

What is the role of the Communication & Action Team?

The CAT is more than a group that explains issues and informs the membership about activities. It is also the link between the local union leadership, the negotiat-ing committee and the membership. It creates two-way communication from the membership to the local union leadership and the bargaining committee.

This two-way communication allows the membership to fully participate in deter-mining key issues, developing ideas, and suggesting activities for the campaign. Being involved in the process will also lead to more participation by the member-ship.

The CAT structure becomes the "eyes, ears and voice" of the local. The two-way communication can identify problems and concerns within the membership, iden-tify weak members that need reassuring, and ideniden-tify rumors, employer activity, and when your employer violates the law.

Beyond the contract campaign, building a Communication & Action Team and in-volving the membership will create a stronger and more active local to deal with future problems and contracts. The following activities will help you build a Com-munication & Action Team for your workplace.

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8 S te p 1 — S te p 2 — S te p 3 — S te p 4 – S te p 5 — S te p 6 — S te p 7 — S te p 8 — S te p 9 — S te p 1 0

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10

Building your Communication & Action Team

Page 1 (Activity 2 – Step 1)

Instructions:

1. On the next page map your Communication & Action Team on the chart provided. Hint: Use the example on the bottom of this page.

2. In the first box, fill in the people on the negotiating committee.

3. In the second box fill in who will be your Communication & Action Team Coordinator – re-member, this person should NOT be on the negotiating committee! You may need more than one CAT Coordinator.

4. List All your departments in the space provided – if a department will need more than 1 CAT Organizer, use more than 1 box. If you run out of room, print an additional chart from the re-source CD.

5. In each Shift Leader Box list the CAT Shift Leader. If you have more than one on a shift, write all the names in the box.

6. In the CAT Organizer box write the name of the person who will be the organizer for that shift in that department.

Here is an example of what a map of the Back End and Front End from the previous example would look like.

President & Negotiating Committee: Rachel Anderson, Willie Ferguson

CAT Coordinator:Frank Welch

1st Shift CAT Leader

Robin B.

1st_{Shift CAT Organizer}

Bill Plott

Joe Rose

Emily Collier

2nd Shift CAT Leader

Tom F.

2nd_{Shift CAT Organizer}

Nina Robinson

2nd

Shift CAT Organizer

David Yuan

2nd_{Shift CAT Organizer}

Chuck Jones

4th Shift CAT Leader Jose Trace

4th_{Shift CAT Organizer}

Mike Cooper

4th_{Shift CAT Organizer}

Don Shaffer

4th Shift CAT Organizer

_____________

3rd Shift CAT Leader

Ken S.

3rd_{Shift CAT Organizer}

Dan Siskind

Sangita Gupta

_____________

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Building your Communication & Action Team

President & Negotiating Committee

1. _____________________________________ 4. ___________________________________ 2. ____________________________________ 5. ____________________________________ 3. ____________________________________ 6.____________________________________

Communication & Action Team Coordinator(s)

______________________________________________________________________ Department

_____

Department

_____

Department

_____

Department

_____

Department

_____

1st Shift CAT Organizer ___________ 3rd Shift CAT Organizer ___________ 2nd Shift CAT Organizer ___________ 1st Shift CAT Organizer ___________ 3rd Shift CAT Organizer ___________ 2nd Shift CAT Organizer ___________ 1st Shift CAT Organizer ___________ 3rd Shift CAT Organizer __________ 2nd Shift CAT Organizer __________ 1st Shift CAT Organizer ___________ 3rd Shift CAT Organizer __________ 2nd Shift CAT Organizer __________ 1st Shift CAT Organizer __________ 3rd Shift CAT Organizer ___________ 2nd Shift CAT Organizer __________ 4th Shift CAT Organizer __________ 4th Shift CAT Organizer ___________ 4th Shift CAT Organizer ___________ 4th Shift CAT Organizer __________ 4th Shift CAT Organizer __________ 1st Shift CAT Leader 3rd Shift CAT Leader 2nd Shift CAT Leader 4th Shift CAT Leader 11

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Mapping Each Department—Page 1 (Activity 3—Step 1)

Now that you have a map of your Communication & Action Team, you need to get down to the de-tails and map each department. Before you begin, it is helpful to have a list of bargaining unit mem-bers when doing this activity so you remember everyone and spell names correctly.

Instructions:

1. In the first box write the name of the department. Hint: Refer to the example below. 2. Write the name of the CAT Organizer from that department for each shift in the space

pro-vided. You will want to refer back to your CAT map (Activity 2 – Step 1).

3. Write the names of ALL the bargaining unit members in the space provided. These are the people the CAT Organizer will be responsible for keeping informed.

4. There are two types of charts: One chart is designed for departments with 10 or less people in a department (these charts take up only one page). The other Chart is designed for de-partments with more than 10 people in a department (these charts take up two pages). 5. If a department has more than 20 people in it, you will need to use additional charts from the

Resource CD.

Department:

Maintenance

CAT Organizer

1

st

Shift

Nancy

Levinson

Members the CAT Organizer is responsible for:

1. Melvin Watts 2. Jeanette Wilkins

3. Tyrone Washington 4. Naomi Alberts

5. Derrick Bellanger 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

CAT Organizer

2

nd

Shift

Henry

Winthrop

1. Colin Brown 2. Aaron Willow (non-member)

3. Sharon Snow 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

CAT Organizer

3

rd

Shift

Chris

Hammil

1. Mike Huber (non-member) 2. Dana Garver (non-member)

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

CAT Organizer

4

th

Shift

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

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This chart is for a department with 10 workers or less on each shift.

Department:

CAT Organizer

1

st

Shift

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

CAT Organizer

2

nd

Shift

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

CAT Organizer

3

rd

Shift

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

CAT Organizer

4

th

Shift

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

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14

Mapping Each Department—Page 3 (Activity 3—Step 1)

This chart, which is two pages, is for departments that have more

than 10 people on a shift. This is the first part of the chart.

Department:

CAT Organizer:

1

st

Shift

CAT Organizer:

1

st

Shift

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

9. 10.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

CAT Organizer:

2

nd

Shift

CAT Organizer:

2

nd

Shift

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

9. 10.

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

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This chart, which is two pages, is for departments that have more

than 10 people on a shift. This is the second part of the chart.

Department:

CAT Organizer:

3

rd

Shift

CAT Organizer:

3

rd

Shift

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

9. 10.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

CAT Organizer:

4

th

Shift

CAT Organizer:

4

th

Shift

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

9. 10.

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8.

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16

Building Your Communication & Action Team

T

he next step in developing your Communication & Action Team is to actually approach and recruit the CAT members you’ve just identified. This takes time and effort. Make sure you ask people to help, and reach beyond the usual activists. Involve as many people as possible. Below are some tips for making one-on-one contacts. Make sure every CAT Organizer knows and understands them.

♦ _{Contact at the right time. Do not disrupt someone who is busy. Do not} break into another conversation. Give them a chance to tell you to come back later.

♦ Be friendly and polite. Do not argue.

♦ _{Be honest. If you do not know the answer to a question, don't make one} up.

♦ Listen. This is a two way process. Members have important concerns, information, and campaign ideas.

♦ _{Ask members to do something. Have a list of things needed to be} done - wear a button, attend rally and so on. If they are unable to do the requested activity, find something they can or are willing to do.

Once you’ve created your Communication & Action Team, it will need to be tested and improved. Building your Communication & Action Team is a process. Begin with easy activities that can be measured such as a petition or a survey.

In other words, when you use your CAT to get members to sign a petition, you can analyze the final petition to see which departments fully participated and which didn’t. Compare results with the map you created for every department to determine weak areas.

Focus on improving the areas with weak results or participation. Repeat this process after every activity. Remember: in order to build a stronger CAT you must constantly assess where you need to bolster support.