Supplemental Resources
Session 4 Resources
How to Organize a Union
5 day work week. Minimum wage. Health benefits. How did we get here? Unions, of course! In this session, we’ll explore the labour movement and its intricacies through examples of large and small scale union successes. Whether you’re already part of a union or looking to shake up your workplace, we will identify common pitfalls and obstacles in labour organizing and get into the most effective strategies for collective bargaining.
Learning Outcomes
- Leave with an understanding of the benefits of unions and how they’ve gotten us to where we are today
- How to exercise power from within a workplace as both an individual and as a collective
Read
The A-E-I-O-U Model
Learn the basics of organizing around the need for a union.
Read
Labour Unions & Worker Coops
Learn about the relationship between labour unions and worker coops in this article by the GEO (Grassroots Economic Organizing).
Watch
Unionizing in Montreal
Montreal workers organize to establish the first Amazon union in the country.
Read
Types of Unions and The Most Popular Union Organizing Strategies
Participation in unions has continuously declined for years. In 1983, unions represented around 1 in 5 workers; now, it’s 1 in 10. To change this trend and improve your membership numbers, you need to adapt some of the best union organizing strategies.
Read
A Union Toolkit for Cooperative Solutions
The scaling of worker ownership paired with unionization offers pathways to expanded worker power and wealth-building for working people.
Watch
The fall (and rise?) of unions in the US
“How come we’ve seen such a decline in unionization in the US?” That’s the question we received from one of our viewers, Cameron when we put out a call for topics to explain. It comes at an interesting time.
Listen
The IWW in Canada
We speak with historian and author Mark Leier about the union’s organising work amongst loggers, miners, road and railroad construction workers, First Nations dock workers and more.
Explore
Working Class History Map
History isn't made by kings and politicians, it is made by us: billions of ordinary people.
This is a map containing our always-growing archive of Stories of our collective struggles to build a better world.
Explore
Workers Solidarity Network
The Worker Solidarity Network, formerly known as the Retail Action Network, consists of non-unionized and precarious workers across B.C. that advocate for our rights and interests as workers while taking collective action to improve labour standards for all.
Explore
The Union Cooperative Initiative
The UCI network in BC of union co-ops provide community sustaining jobs that are good for people and the planet.
Explore
Immigrant Workers Center
The Immigrant Workers Centre (IWC-CTI) defends the rights of immigrants in their places of work and fights for dignity, respect, and justice.
Explore
The General Union
TGU is a different kind of union. Combative, democratic, effective, and based on the principle of mutual aid.
Book Rec
Beyond the Rebel Girl: Women and the Industrial Workers of the World in the Pacific Northwest, 1905-1924 (Heather Mayer)
Contact:
Hannah Ostiguy Hopp
programs@solidarityeconomy.ca