Members should understand what candidates for Secretary are elected to do. To that end, I have compiled all the relevant portions of MAPE's Constitution, Bylaws and Governing Documents that outline the role, responsibilities, and powers of the office of statewide Secretary. This compilation is based on the most recent published version of these documents on MAPE's website.
You can find it at this link.
These are the twenty postulates of “Advice for Rookie Organizers,” based upon the CIO-style labour organizing of the 1930s and appearing on the bulletin boards of most offices of the branch of the SEIU known as 1199 New England.
1. Get close to the workers, stay close to the workers.
2. Tell workers it’s their union and then behave that way.
3. Don’t do for workers what they can do.
4. The union is not a fee for service; it is the collective experience of workers in struggle.
5. The union’s function is to assist workers in making a positive change in their lives.
6. Workers are made of clay, not glass.
7. Don’t be afraid to ask workers to build their own union.
8. Don’t be afraid to confront them when they don’t.
9. Don’t spend your time organizing workers who are already organizing themselves, go to the biggest worst.
10. The working class builds cells for its own defense, identify them and recruit their leaders.
11. Anger is there before you are — channel it, don’t defuse it.
12. Channeled anger builds a fighting organization.
13. Workers know the risks, don’t lie to them.
14. Every worker is showtime — communicate energy, excitement, urgency and confidence.
15. There is enough oppression in workers' lives not to be oppressed by organizers.
16. Organizers talk too much. Most of what you say is forgotten.
17. Communicate to workers that there is no salvation beyond their own power.
18. Workers united can beat the boss. You have to believe that and so do they.
19. Don’t underestimate the workers.
20. We lose when we don’t put workers into struggle.
The best crash course I have seen in how to hold a structured organizing conversation is this article by Jane McAlevey. While the content is specific to electoral organizing, it is not hard to imagine how this technique could be and is used in union organizing campaigns.
Speaking of Jane McAlevey, everyone who wants to build a strong labor movement should read this book.
If you want to be a part of one of the most effective working class organizations in the country, please Join DSA.