ONAWAY, MI – This fall, UAW members from across the country came together at the Walter and May Reuther UAW Family Education Center for the first-ever Organizing Conference, where delegates spent an intensive week developing their skills as organizers who are ready to drive the future of the labor movement.

Right now, in the U.S., fewer than 10% of workers are part of a union, meaning millions of workers don’t have the protections of a union contract or the power to have a real say in their workplace and broader communities. Low density also means that current union members have less power to negotiate against employers who can leverage lower wages and conditions at non-union workplaces to their advantage. This is no accident – for decades, bosses and the billionaire class have spent billions of dollars to make it harder for workers to form unions.

Working people face a serious uphill battle, but it’s one that can be overcome with strong, worker-led organizing campaigns. And over the last several years, a surge of successful organizing campaigns has shown what’s possible when workers invest in building strong organizing networks to take on these fights.

At the Organizing Conference, delegates discussed these dynamics and how, as active union members, each of us has a critical role to play in empowering as many workers as possible with the tools to run – and WIN – organizing campaigns. Over the course of the week, delegates learned and practiced fundamental skills for doing just that.

On the first day, delegates learned about the core steps for building a successful, worker-led organizing campaign, and what to expect from the boss’s anti-union campaign. Delegates also discussed the core role of an organizer: it’s not doing everything yourself but identifying new leaders in every area of the workplace and empowering them with the skills and information to take real ownership over their campaign.

On the second day, delegates spent the full day diving into the fundamental building block of effective organizing: the 1-1 conversation. Delegates learned about the goals of each step of a 1-1 organizing conversation and got experience putting those ideas into practice with extensive role-plays.

The third day focused on the main driving force of any campaign: the worker leadership network. Delegates discussed the importance of recruiting a broad, representative leadership network to drive the campaign forward, establish strong communication between workers, and withstand anti-union tactics from the boss. Delegates practiced breaking down a workplace, identifying strong leaders, and planning an effective Organizing Committee meeting.

On the final day, delegates each had a chance to role-play a full 1-1 organizing conversation and learned how to map political and community power. Finally, bringing all of their new skills and knowledge together, delegates broke into local groups to make concrete plans for what they would bring back to their Locals, including identifying strategic organizing targets, establishing Local Organizing Committee Meetings, and more.

ONWARD!