Ask a Union Organizer: How do we introduce unionizing plans to new hires?
Dear Ask a Union Organizer,
Some of my colleagues and I are in the early stages of trying to unionize our small repro org. The organization is hiring for an entry level position, which means we will want to get them on board. Could you share some tips on how to introduce unionizing plans to new hires?
– Solidarity Starts at Hiring
First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on your efforts!
I know there’s an impulse to bombard a new hire with bullet-point lists of all the awful shit that’s happened at your workplace, but I advise a little caution when approaching a new coworker. As adrienne maree brown says, “Move at the speed of trust.”
DON’T SCARE THEM OFF
Introducing your unionization plans to a new hire shouldn’t be rushed. For starters, it’s definitely easier to just quit than it is to organize, and new hires haven’t invested the blood, sweat, and tears that you have.
Unless they’re a hardcore pro-union activist, it’s unlikely that they’ve agreed to this position with the intent to organize the space, and since they’re a new hire we can assume they’ve got other resumes circulating. A new hire, overwhelmed by proof that their new job is actually terrible, might just respectfully leave and go get a different job.
THEY’RE HONEYMOONING
Most people have a bit of a honeymoon phase when they are hired to a new organization; badmouthing the leaders who just hired them may alienate a new coworker from your cause more than agitate them to join it. Rather than try and talk them out of their pedestal-pacements, lean into this honeymoon phase.
Gently direct their starry-eyed emojis towards providers, frontline activists, clinic escorts, doulas, abortion call line & abortion fund workers, nurses….rather than executive directors and board presidents.
Lead by example. Within the working culture at your small organization, focus on those actually doing the work, not the figureheads, when you discuss other organizations’ efforts and successes.
WHERE IS THEIR ALLEGIANCE?
You should also carefully consider the new hire’s allegiances before spilling the beans about any organizing efforts.
Sometimes, when there’s unionization talk afoot, an employer will hire a rat. OK, I don’t mean to be dramatic or rude– but nepotism aside, make sure this new hire is legitimately a “new” hire and not a friend of the boss who was hired to undermine your cause by feeding back information to the powers-that-be.
I’m sorry if all this just sounds like I'm trying to breed suspicion– but keeping your organizing efforts secret is how you can keep them safe.
GET TO KNOW THEM
Get to know your new co-worker! Invite them to get to know the organizing committee without ever identifying it as one: “Oh,this is just a regular get-together of staffers; sometimes we talk about work, but we talk about other stuff too.” Keep it vague, but make it clear it’s the lower-level workers, not leadership, who are welcome.
Organizing a new hire to show up for a social event, even before they realize it’s a union event, makes them more likely to participate once you reveal your organizing efforts.
Ask them about their past job experiences, and ask them why they left their old jobs. Everyone’s always eager to get to know the new kid at school. Use this getting-to-know you phase as an excuse to find out about their past work environments.
Try questions and observations like:
“What was it like working there?”
“Oh, you were there a long time”
“Why did you leave?”
“Wow, that sounds like a great job; were you full-time when you worked there?”
“What did you like about working there?”
Read between the lines of what your new coworker says about their last job! Identify their values, dig up issues that have stuck with them over the years, and discover other pain points.
DON’T OVERTHINK IT
Above all, make the new hire feel welcomed! We want a new hire to see the staff cares for one another and watches out for one another. We don’t want them aligning themselves too much with the friendly facade that management gives every new hire.
Think back to your own first-few weeks on the job. Remember the bread and circuses? The smokescreen of support at the start of our careers? How long did it take for you to become disillusioned by your job? Who did you turn to when the falsities fell from your eyes?
It’s more complicated than an “us” vs. “them” scenario when you’re organizing a small repro organization, but when the lines are drawn, you want the new hire falling on the right side of the battlefield. Whoever makes them feel most supported, welcome, and confident will likely win their alliance.