Advertising and blitzing an organizing idea that has been around since 1988 is still striking fear into the hearts of non-union printers in the Midwest.

And local unions who are participating in what they call "the organizing blitz" are meeting with strong indications that non-union workers want to unionize.

Photo by Herald Grandstaff

David R. Jacobs, Detroit 2C president and secretary of the GCIU General Board Organizing/Subsidy Committee, takes notes during discussions about organizing at the October board meeting.

The tactic, developed by Detroit 2C president and General Board member David R. Jacobs and other local members in 1988, involves getting employers behind the effort to target non-union printers in the region and enlisting volunteer local union members to handbill and talk to prospective members at those plants.

Jacobs explained that it is particularly important to the plan to first contact management on union-contracted shops to ask them which competitive non-union plants should be targeted for the organizing effort.

"If they help us and give us names of competitors, we are working together to help them level the playing field. If they don't cooperate and give us a list of competitors, then they better forget about arguments about the squeeze of non-union competition during contract talks," Jacobs said.

Once a list of targeted companies is developed, local union volunteers spend a few hours outside the plants and pass out leaflets with information on why the workers should organize with the GCIU and leave contact numbers where they can discreetly get more information and learn the process of developing support for the union.

Denver 440M Organizer Del Linville, left, joins Detroit 2C volunteer Hank Pappenheim to pass out leaflets outside a plant in Southfield, Mich.

It works well. In the years since 1989, Local 2C volunteers have succeeded in bringing 30 shops, large and small, into the GCIU.

Over the past two years, the organizing activity has been especially heavy, prompting a fearful comment from the Printing Industries of Michigan magazine that caters to printing company management. In an article to the largely non-union bosses, the magazine warned employers to "make sure their managers and supervisors are well-trained in spotting potential signs of union activity" and mentioned Jacobs and the program by name.

The 'blitz' is spreading

The "blitz" approach has been observed through the years and is now being adopted by other GCIU locals all across the Midwest. Detroit 289M, Louisville 619M, Twin Cities 1B, St. Paul 1M, St. Louis 505M, Denver 440M, and Kansas City 235M are among those that are testing the program in their locales.

The Midwest program has shown such promise that the International hired Local 2C member Gayle Walter as an organizing intern. She visits the locals and helps with setting up their campaigns.

She is currently working with Local 1M Vice Pres. Joseph McMahon in the Twin Cities area with a number of organizing targets in sight.

One of them is a Minneapolis plant that is coming up for a representation election in early November. Walter and McMahon have high hopes for success in adding the local to the 1M roster.

The initial handbilling led to contact from workers and eventual formation of an in-plant committee that helped the local spread information to the plant workers.

But it is not always a task for the impatient, Walter warned. "Sometimes, we handbill, and there is little interest among the employees. But then we go back after about a year and the workers have had a chance to think about it and they want to talk to us," she explained.

"We are advertising ourselves to men and women who work in our industry. They can read the handbills and contact us. Then, if we get enough interest to hold a meeting, our volunteer organizers can tell them first-hand how it is better to be union," Walter said.

Other locals praise program

Among the locals trying the idea is 289M, another Detroit local. Organizer Steve Nobles related that the local had targeted 18 shops and about 20 volunteers, including active members and retirees, passed out handbills and talked to workers in September.

"This seems to be a good program," Nobles said. "It really develops comradeship among the volunteers. From our early experience, it seems like a good way to advertise what we have to offer industry workers and develop contacts with the non-union shops."

He noted that the first effort recently resulted in "a few possibilities for future follow-up."

Ken Truemper, president of St. Louis 505M, also likes the blitz. His local "got great cooperation from our contracted companies." And Truemper, assisted by Gayle Walter, recruited a dozen volunteers who were able to visit 20 targeted shops.

Preliminary results also seem promising since the local organizers have already heard from one shop and are setting up a meeting with some interested employees.

"Our contracted companies even allowed our volunteers to go to the targeted companies and handbill and then come late to their jobs. They realize that our success benefits them too," he said.

Del Linville, a Denver 440M organizer, is also enthusiastic. He traveled to Michigan in September to see how to use the blitz in his own local. Back in Denver, he started right off and, backed by eight volunteers, visited five different shops.

Linville was impressed with the results. At one of the shops there was a woman worker who was reluctant to speak to the handbilling crew. But when they spoke to her away from the plant, she acknowledged that there is great need of a union at her place of work.

This first effort gained Linville some contacts to be pursued in the future. "It certainly showed us there is a need, but the employees are scared of what management will do. But it is a good start for future communication," he said.

He has already sent a letter requesting volunteer help to local retirees. With their help, he plans to take the blitz to visit Fort Collins, a center of non-union printing shops in the Denver area. "We know there are many workers out there who would welcome us. We just have to establish communication with them," Linville said.

McMahon is also in the midst of another campaign. He and Local 1M volunteers have already handbilled a number of non-union shops and are now doing house calls to solidify support.

"We first tried the handbilling in 1999 and have been doing it every year since then," he said. "The fact that we have gotten shops to a union vote proves that it is a valuable way to introduce workers to the idea of union representation," McMahon added.

"The proof of the handbilling is that our numbers of members held steady while many other regions lost members," explained Jacobs, who noted that the visits to plants do a great deal to advertise the GCIU to workers.

And his Local 2C tries to make the program "fun" for the volunteers who are on the front lines at the plants and are often greeted by hostile management and workers. "We are careful to obey all laws and be polite to everyone – even those who do not want to hear our message," he said. "Also, we explain to both our members and management that organizing new plants is in their best economic interests."

In 1988, the program was named "Our Jobs, Our Future and Our Choice," and it still holds true, Jacobs added. Another bonus coming from the effort is that it makes all the members and retirees – even younger members who are traditionally less concerned – part of an organizing culture that delivers the message that organizing will make their lives better. "It helps get the message across to our members," he said.

To illustrate the overall effect of the handbilling, Jacobs recalled one woman worker who contacted Local 2C to ask about unionizing her plant. When asked how she had heard about the union, she revealed that the plant where she works was handbilled – five years previously.

She had saved the handbill with information on Local 2C for five years before she became inspired to call.

"This shows that the handbilling works well to advertise that we are here, and I think it is a good way to build our numbers in the future," Jacobs said.