Locating Prospective Union Members: Mapping and List-Building ITCILO COURSE A106025 Capacity Building for Organizing and Managing Trade Unions 13 to 24 May 2013 Locating Prospective Union Members: Mapping and List-Building

ORGANIZING Mapping List-Building

Mapping Mapping identifies where workers are located. Mapping can be done on numerous scales: Workplace-wide Company-wide Industry-wide National Regional International Mapping helps us build sustainable union structures. It is an on-going process, and it never ends.

MAPPING EXAMPLE - East Africa highways and port links

MAPPING EXAMPLE - Bus depot, Zambia Bus and Taxi Workers Union

Where Can We Gather Information? Visit workplaces Ask the employer Go to the internet Look at industry publications and listings Check with your National Trade Union Centre to find out what unions represent workers in your company, locally and regionally. 90% of working Ghanaians >15 yrs, ….% of working Tanzanians over 15 yrs are employed informally

Why is List-Building Benchmark Important? With the lists, the union does not have a way to make contact with workers directly, so they are likely to hear rumours or the employers information about the union

List-Building Identify what information you want to keep updated: Contact details Job category Employment status and direct employer Shift/working time Physical work location Age, gender, language, social interests Union membership/delegate/activist Problems/concerns Level of union involvement (e.g. attendance at union events and activities) Workers’ relationships and connections

List Building Should Include Workers’ Relationships and Connections Who knows who Who workers rely on if there is problem Who works who Attendance at union Events

The Labour Exploitation Continuum

How to Make Assessments? Assessments are based on workers’ actions, not personal judgments. Look at what workers do, not what they say about the union. No gossip. Do not keep anything on your lists that you would not want others to see.

Why is Assessment Important? Assessment helps us keep our focus on the undecided and unknown workers We can easily overlook the workers we are not in contact with, the “unknowns.” Because we are more likely to be talking to the union supporters, we may feel stronger than we are. Keeping very accurate numbers and assessments is critical.

How to Build Lists? Ask union members who have contact with non-union workers Social events Workplace visits Hotels and restaurants Home visits Company or industry events Parking areas Payroll or employee lists Telephone directories Facebook and internet Fire or emergency Evacuation lists Newsletter and email lists Raffle, prizes and fundraising events that require collection of contact details

Keep Your Lists Safe Be careful about where you keep your lists. To prevent duplication and to increase security, you probably want one person to be responsible for updating the list. List-building is an ongoing process. Lists will change and grow as we organize.

Thank you! 