How Workers Are Breaking Down Barriers To Organizing

Dawn Tefft, a Lead Organizer with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC), and Sam Harshner, organizer and Adjunct Instructor of Political Science and History at Marquette University join the program to talk about breaking down barriers to organizing labor.

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Check out more from the MR crew:

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Dawn, I read a piece by and guess this was in Jacob, and maybe it was Gabe who We've interviewed on this program. and I think I think this is in his voice. But he writes the distinctive equality of EWOC organizing became clear to him in a conversation with a worker who said to me at a crucial inflection point I'm realizing that I can't persuade anyone of anything. I just need to tell them what I really think and ask them what they really think. And then they'll do what they're going to do and I can't control that. oh my God, I just realized that's what you did in this conversation with me. Would you like to expand on that Dynamic? Like in the way because I don't. I'm not really familiar with another model like the one that EWOC is using right now. Particularly in the way that the Genesis where you're not going into a situation with an agenda per se a narrow agenda right for EWOC. Like you're trying to achieve almost like you know what they're trying to achieve. And it's almost like you know a therapist on some level. or you know has come from the film business you know a good producer comes in and it is not trying to like what the director wants to do I'm trying to sort of optimize what you're doing there. Can you talk about that Dynamic and how unique that is? Or are there other entities out there that are sort of doing some of that now? Well I mean I'd say that part of it is intrinsic to Union organizing in general. But I'd say we kind of take it to another level where it's as member-driven or worker driven as possible. So for instance in the organizing conversation the dynamic you were just describing you like one would never try to force Somebody To You Know to take an action or form a union. What you're doing is you're trying to learn about them as people and you're trying to learn about the issues that they care about. Because people are motivated by what they care about. And so once you hear about and learn about them as people form that relationship of trust and get it what really motivates them then you find out oh you know they really need health care because they've got three children you know. And then you talk to enough people and you realize a lot of people care about this. And so you can really connect people around those shared issues and you sort of agitate them to let you know to feel the Injustice of it and to feel like oh we're all worked up about this. We can do something about this collection. Because we're kind of taught to accept the things that we complain about right? We're taught to accept the status quo complain and then move on but part of organizing is helping people feel the Injustice of it and then use that as the spur to take action. And so from there, it's like the give hope phase. the plan to win right? We can do something about this. Other workers have won on this before. Here's how they did it and so it's helping workers find the right way to talk to people in the ways that really Foster other workers' input into the process. And their abilities to assist with the organizing. And not just be a voice in it but be the organizing.