How to Connect

 

You’d think it should be easy. Pick up the phone, call a union with whom you want to collaborate, and when they say yes, you’re on your way. But how do you know which union to call, how do you know with whom you want to speak? What can you do to promote a positive outcome?


Labor history and structure are prologue to crafting a relationship with unions, but the
success of the process is, like the devil, in the details. Like most organizations, labor unions are full of contradictions, and navigating within them can be a challenge. Here are a few steps to guide you through the process:

1. Be informed about the labor movement.

You can discover a lot through public sources — your local newspaper and at least one national news source (NPR, New York Times, Washington Post), the internet, the library. These will help you track current negotiations, which often feature the issues that are on labor’s agenda. For example, a United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) strike in Southern California highlighted the crisis in health care coverage as well as the pernicious impact of Wal-Mart on unionized workers.

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