At the first training workshop for organizing are, from left: Richard Whitworth, executive assistant to the GCIU president; Richard Bensinger, who helped develop the new GCIU program; and GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi.

Directing introductions at the workshop is GCIU Organizing Coordinator Bert Haft, left. From left at the table are: Wallace McDade, Washington 538C; Scott Carter, Wilkes-Barre 137C; Bob Miller, Chicago 458M; Mike Worobec, Calgary 34M; and Paul Buchanan, Edmonton 255C.

The GCIU launched a new phase in its organizing program with the first training workshop for local leaders and volunteer members.

More than 20 GCIU members from the United States and Canada participated in the intense two-day program. The goal of the workshop was to prepare participants to develop, launch, and quickly carry out organizing campaigns in their local unions.

The program was developed by GCIU Vice Pres. Duncan K. Brown, who directs the GCIU Organizing Department, and GCIU Organizing Coordinator Bert Haft in conjunction with consultant Richard Bensinger.

GCIU Pres. George Tedeschi warned participants that the program "is going to be completely different than anything you went to in the past. . . . This is going to be very intense. . . . They're going to put you in situations right off the bat that you're in housecalling and captive audience meetings. What do you do? How do you handle it? You're going to have to make some decisions."

Assisting with the program were GCIU representatives Walter Hill and Alan M. Tate and organizers William E. Beresh Jr., Linda C. Goad, Robert J. Robinson, and Thomas E. Smith.

The program included multiple exercises to develop skills for talking to non-union workers during housecalls and in shops, preparation of a schedule for an organizing campaign, running an organizing committee meeting, developing leaders, and designing and writing flyers and leaflets.

Breaking into groups facilitated by the GCIU reps and organizers, participants explored ways to answer potential new members' questions about unions, including dues, getting cards signed, union structure, the organizing process, and the benefits of joining the union.

Also sitting in with groups on this exercise was Bensinger, a former AFL-CIO organizing director who now serves as a consultant on union campaigns.

On the frequent question that workers pose during organizing campaigns, "will I get fired for joining the union," Bensinger suggested a better answer than "it is illegal to fire someone for union activity."

GCIU Vice Pres. Duncan K. Brown, left, who directs GCIU's organizing depart- ment, provides pointers to a workshop group. At right is George Lord, Washington 538C.

People break laws all the time, Bensinger said. Instead, ask workers this question: "Do you know how most people get fired?" The answer, he said, is "they get frustrated [with working conditions], blow up and walk off the job. That's where unions help. They provide structure through seniority and representation through grievance and arbitration procedures."

Bensinger laid out a set of principles that will serve as the foundation for GCIU's model organizing program. "The art of organizing is to build a foundation and adjust it as needed. How do you teach new organizers if you don't have a foundation," he said. "Otherwise, you're reinventing the wheel. . . . The purpose of the principles is to maximize success by using a model."

The principles outlined by Bensinger included:

• Expect fierce opposition.

• Organizing is built on one-on-one, face-to-face relationships. This means talking to workers on and off the job.

  "If organizing is about one thing, it's the ability of a volunteer organizer to talk to a non-union worker and move them to a place they weren't before," Bensinger said. "If they are anti-union, make them pro-union. If they're pro-union, make them a leader."

• Meticulous preparation that includes training volunteers in housecalling skills and researching the target company.

• Move campaigns fast so employers have less time to subject workers to captive audience meetings and other forms of intimidation.

• Build broad in-plant organizing committees and large majorities for the union.

• Develop messages for workers in the "center" – those who are undecided about the union and those who are leaning slightly for or against.

• Members are the "key," Bensinger said. "They make great organizers because they believe in the union."

• Respect anti-union workers because they may be happy with their workplaces or have reasons for their beliefs that may be based on experiences either they or their families or friends had with other unions. "It's not an easy question for people whether to back a union," Bensinger said.

Tedeschi told participants: "We will grow this union through organizing. It is up to you."

Playing a worker who is being asked to join the union, GCIU Rep. Alan M. Tate, standing, asks participants to explain union-related issues to him.