ATU ACTIVIST AND OFFICER
TRAINING PROGRAMS
Amalgamated Transit Union
5025 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20016-4139
202-537-1645 Fax 202-244-1726
Office of the International President
To all Officers and activists attending Chicago training:
We are happy to provide you with a course description for all the ATU trainings for the rest of
2014. As you know our goal is to train 10% of our members. In order to do this we need the
highest level of commitment from our officers to fill these rooms with as many knowledge
hungry members as possible.
We are making every effort to help you make sure that there are 30 or more people attending
each training session. We have already sent flyers and sign-up sheets along with a step by step
instruction sheet on “How to Fill up the Room” to your Local. You will find additional copies of
these instructions at the training table near the ATU registration table. At that table you will also
find a form to fill out to schedule a training day at your Local. Making arrangements for trainings
with the ATU International Union is the responsibility of Local Presidents. Please review these
courses and decide which is best for your Local. If your president is not attending this conference
you may take the sheet back to her/him and they can fax it to the number listed on the sheet, only.
With every best wish, I remain.
In solidarity,
Lawrence J. Hanley
International President
Affiliated with American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations and Canadian Labour Congress
PRINTED ON UNION PAPER
ATU COURSES
LEADERSHIP
Allies at Every Stop: Organizing Passengers and
Building Power
What It Takes to Be an Effective Union Member
in a Hostile Labor Environment
The essential training for understanding what is at stake for
our union, learning how to mobilize our members and riders,
and learning how to mount campaigns to save our jobs and the
transit systems that our communities depend on.
A program for union members and leaders to demystify the power
process of collective activity. This workshop is a motivational
encounter with a master organizer who guides the participants
through the tools and techniques of what they need to know
to build local union power and effectiveness both within the
union itself and the greater community where the members live
and work.
Grievances and Arbitration/The Advocate’s Prayer
Grant Me The Ability to Win My Grievance: How do you
do that? This training will address the six parts to the theory
of the case, the three types of evidence, effective time-line
management, and the burden of proof in discipline and
contract interpretation grievances
The New Health Care Law
Negotiating under the “Affordable Health Care Act”
(Obamacare) Key questions and issues facing our locals in
2014 and beyond; bargaining strategies and ATU resources
will be discussed.
Advanced Communications Skills for Union
Leaders and Members
A workshop that contains all of the elements necessary to
help participants identify, understand, and correct their
communications shortcomings to become first rate, one-onone communicators and conflict resolvers. This program
addresses listening skills, feedback skills, and consensus
decision making.
Parliamentary Procedures
Developing Strategic Bargaining Campaigns
The essentials for running a better meeting; and handling
motions, amendments, challenges to the chair, points of
order, reconsideration, voting, and appeals.
A workshop designed to prepare union negotiating teams
for upcoming contract talks. This program explores all
the critical elements needed to level the playing field when
dealing with management by learning how to create leverage
by maximizing advantages and minimizing disadvantages.
This program is bargaining strategy development at its best
presented by a master negotiations strategist.
Politics That Build Union Power in 2014 and 2016
How to build and sustain political power: Defining objectives,
organizing members, targeting, effective lobbying, fundraising,
grassroots operations, building lasting relationships.
Strategies for Stewards: Create Advantages and
Be Successful
A unique, steward centric, interactive program that embodies
the pro-active organizing model of representation as opposed
to the re-active service model. This workshop engages
the participants in activities that take away the mystery of
advocating for justice in the workplace. Participants leave
this program with greater assuredness in their own abilities
and with new skills and techniques to back them up.
ATU ACTIVIST AND OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAMS
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Operator Assaults
This workshop module is designed to educate and activate
union members about workplace violence, its causes and
prevention. It reviews strategies for control, including new
technologies, collective bargaining language, training, and
workplace and community policies. The information and
activities covered will prepare participants to meet with
employers and safety agencies, and reach out to the public,
the media, and elected officials to make our concerns known.
Health Protection and Promotion
Transit employees, and bus operators in particular, have
high rates of diabetes, stroke, musculoskeletal disorders,
digestive problems, fatigue and sleep disorders, compared
to other workers. Most of the health problems are affected
by a combination of factors, including workplace and
environmental conditions. Local Unions often face
management health programs that focus on individual
behavior but exclude work. This workshop reviews how health
can be improved through changes in the work environment,
in how work is organized and in support for workers with
health problems. The innovative practices for protecting
and promoting worker health will provide participants with
concrete ideas for taking control of health in the workplace.
Workplace and Health Hazard Mapping
These workshops demonstrate practical tools to help transit
workers identify hazards they face at work, plan controls
and corrections, and track success. The workplace mapping
module can be applied to the entire workplace, or a location
or issue of special concern. The body or health mapping
module is a productive way both to open up a free discussion
of workplace health and safety and to analyze and document
what the current problems are.
Ergonomics
Restroom Access
This workshop module is designed to educate and activate
union members about the health impact and other problems
related to limited restroom access. It reviews strategies for
control, including collective bargaining language, training,
and workplace and community policies. The information
and activities covered will prepare participants to meet with
employers and safety agencies, and reach out to the public,
the media, and elected officials for support in solving this
common problem.
Working too hard, too long, in awkward positions and
without moving leads to pain and strain. In this workshop,
body mapping techniques are applied to the problems active
and sedentary workers face. Tactics will be explored for
avoiding and correcting work conditions that lead to muscle
strain, back pain and nerve compression problems that are
common across transit titles. The focus is on finding out what
factors in the work environment cause these problems, and
what needs to be done to eliminate them.
Chemical Hazards
Chemicals affect transit workers in operations and
maintenance, on the road, in the garages and in offices. Diesel
exhaust, asbestos, cleaners and degreasers are just a few of the
concerns. This module reviews routes of exposure, control
methods, and how to get and use chemical information.
Applying the skills covered more extensively on the workplace
mapping module, participants will return to their workplaces
with tools for indentifying and fixing chemical hazards.
ATU ACTIVIST AND OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAMS
LABOR NOTES STAND-ALONE WORKSHOPS
(Pick 2 per day)
BIG PICTURE ECONOMIC AND
POLITICAL TOPICS
CONTRACT CAMPAIGNS,
BARGAINING, AND STRIKES
The War on Pensions
Building an Effective Contract Campaign
Employers from the Fortune 500 to City Hall are looking to
dump traditional pensions and retiree benefits. Learn how
unions are successfully fighting back to defend their pensions,
what information you’ll need to extract from management in
bargaining in order to hang on to what you’ve got, and how
recent changes in the law may affect your retirement. We’ll also
review the distinct issues facing employees in public pension
programs, those in the private sector participating in singleemployer pension plans, and those in multi-employer plans.
Learn how to build a comprehensive contract campaign that
can tip the odds in your favor. This workshop will review
how to bring members in early, mobilize, and turn up the
heat. We’ll discuss campaign escalation, creative tactics,
and other building blocks of a good campaign, including
working with community allies and taking the fight directly
to management.
Roots of the Public Sector Budget Crisis
States are swimming in red ink, and politicians across the
spectrum are putting public services on the chopping block.
From Wisconsin to West Virginia, unionized teachers, bus
drivers, and librarians have become Public Enemy Number
One. This workshop will explain how state and local budgets
got to be such a mess, why politicians are slashing and burning
public services instead of reversing a generation of tax cuts, and
what public sector unions need to do to get out of this bind.
Fighting Privatization and Outsourcing
This workshop will explain who’s behind the push to privatize
transportation services in cities and states around the country
and what you can do to stop it. We will also examine several
successful campaigns to defend essential services, highlighting
their work to build solidarity with other unions and find
allies in the community.
How the Global Economy is Connected to You
Many jobs are part of the global production chain, yet we
don’t always see how our work has been transformed by
the forces of globalization. This workshop will explore how
transit workers are connected to the global economy, and
how you can build solidarity in your workplace and beyond.
We will review what some unions are doing to strengthen
global connections and how they’re using those relationships
to bolster local campaigns.
Successful Bargaining: What You Do away from
the Table Matters the Most
Too often union leaders get bogged down in details of
bargaining and neglect our most powerful tool in negotiations:
our members! This workshop will teach proven strategies for
engaging members, in bargaining and in the workplace, to
turn up the heat during negotiations and get movement from
management.
ATU ACTIVIST AND OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAMS
Bargaining Table Tactics
Learn skills and strategies to help your members and bargaining
team win a strong contract. This workshop will review all
the issues you’ll face in your next negotiation: preparing
for bargaining, finding pressure points, planning timelines,
balancing different interests among the membership, using
information requests, avoiding impasse, communicating
with members and keeping them involved, and confronting
demands for concessions.
COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA
Social Media for the Rank and File
Train up on using blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and a
host of other online tools to kickstart your local organizing.
This workshop will review best practices from across the
union movement, with a particular focus on how rank-andfile union activists are putting these tools to work to expand
their reach and get their message directly to the public.
Preparing Your Bargaining Team
How to Craft an Effective Public Message
Whether it’s your first time or you’ve been bargaining for
years, this workshop will help you get ready to sit down
with management. We’ll review how to set ground rules for
your negotiating team, the roles of the chief spokesperson
and bargaining committee, best practices for communicating
with members and involving members in bargaining sessions,
and how and when to caucus. We’ll also examine common
problems bargaining committees run into—and how you can
avoid them.
This workshop will help union leaders and activists connect
with the public and frame union issues in a way that maximizes
public support. We will look at cases where unions have won
the battle of public opinion, and talk about the connection
between our message and our actions.
Continuous Bargaining
Is management introducing new technologies, new policies,
or work restructuring programs like lean, 5S, Six Sigma,
continuous improvement, or the Toyota Production System?
Are you finding your contracts ineffective at protecting
against changes that hurt members and weaken the union?
Is the employer hiding behind “management rights”? This
workshop will teach you “Continuous Bargaining,” a strategic
approach that builds on the union’s legal rights while focusing
on an active member response to management’s daily effort
to undermine what we’ve won at the bargaining table.
Learning to Tell Your Story
There is nothing quite as powerful as a compelling story.
This workshop will show participants how to use individual
stories as part of building successful organizing campaigns.
We will identify the elements of an effective story and learn
how individuals can tell powerful stories to motivate our coworkers and connect with our communities. Participants will
also get hands-on practice to sharpen their storytelling skills.
Public Speaking for Rank-and-File Union
Members
Are you terrified of speaking in public? This workshop will
help you get a grip on your nerves and learn practical tips
for effective public speaking. Participants will get handson practice making presentations, motivating others, and
providing feedback.
How to Make Effective Flyers and Newsletters
This workshop will cover all the basics—plus a few advanced
tips—for writing flyers and newsletters. We’ll look at examples
of the best and the worst, and offer practical tips for getting
your point across and getting your flyer read. Participants are
encouraged to bring examples of their work to share.
ATU ACTIVIST AND OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAMS
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Taking
Photos that Can Build Your Campaigns
Don’t just snap photos. Find out how to work with perspective,
angles, light, and motion to tell compelling stories with the
pictures you take for leaflets and newsletters. This workshop
will increase your knowledge of image preparation, creation,
and editing in a digital environment. This is a hands-on
class, so bring your digital camera, your computer, and any
equipment needed to download photos.
GRIEVANCES AND DISCIPLINE
Assertive Grievance Handling
Fighting grievances isn’t just about enforcing the contract.
It’s about building union power on the job. This workshop
for stewards and union reps will look at how to use the
grievance procedure strategically—including how to choose
your battles, prepare your case, and mobilize members to put
muscle behind your grievances.
COMMUNITY AND POLITICAL
ORGANIZING
Building Effective Labor-Community Alliances
A community coalition where the union’s approach is
“support our fight” can only go so far. This workshop will
help participants learn how to cement long-term relationships
with community organizations. We’ll also talk about what it
takes to get beyond “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch
yours.”
Political Action that Builds the Union
The labor movement is facing a sustained political assault across
the country. Budget-cutting Republicans and Democrats
both have public sector unions squarely in their sights. This
workshop will discuss how the labor movement can confront
these attacks and push a political program that benefits
working people everywhere. We’ll provide a round-up of what’s
working—and what’s not—in our efforts to reshape the
political landscape, and talk about what can be done locally
to rebuild workers’ political power.
Coalitions Defending Public Services
It seems everything from health care to public transportation
is now on the chopping block. How do we beat back austerity?
This workshop will review what works and what doesn’t.
We’ll look at various examples of unions and community
groups who are banding together to protect services and
build sustainable alliances.
Investigating and Writing Grievances
This workshop will teach participants the best practices for
investigating and writing grievances. We’ll cover the five
W’s (who, what, where, when, and why) of interviewing
witnesses, as well as the common mistakes stewards make
in the process. We’ll present several examples of effective
grievance language, teaching participants how to be clear
and direct while leaving flexibility to expand your case.
Participants will also review the difference between a
grievance and a gripe, and why sometimes the best grievance
is the one you never have to write.
Legal Rights of Union Stewards
This workshop will review the “special status” of union stewards
under federal labor law, and the key rights that union stewards
have on the job. We’ll cover Weingarten rights, the duty of fair
representation, and the dos and don’ts of effective representation.
ATU ACTIVIST AND OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAMS
What is Just Cause?
Beating Apathy
Just Cause is the cornerstone of most union contracts. This
workshop will provide you with an updated version of the
“seven tests” of just cause and help you understand and
apply these principles to real-world union situations. We
will also cover examples related to friction with supervisors,
off-duty conduct, and offenses such as sleeping on the job,
absenteeism, and sexual harassment. We will also provide
sample contract language and tips for using just cause as
foundation for grievances and arbitrations.
Are you beating your head against the wall trying to get other
workers involved? This workshop is for you. We’ll review success
stories from workers who turned their workplaces around and
turned apathy into action. Learn practical organizing tools for
mapping your workplace, talking to members, and building to
action on the issues people care about.
Getting Results without Grievances
Sometimes the most effective grievances are the ones
you never write. This workshop will help participants
identify ways to solve worksite problems through a range
of methods outside the grievance procedure, as well as how
to use the grievance procedure as part of a comprehensive
strategy. We will also explore ways to build escalating
pressure on management to solve on-the-job problems.
We’ll also sift through the difference between a grievance
and a gripe.
Interpreting Contract Language
Sometimes your best defense isn’t spelled out in the contract
but relies on how contract language is interpreted. This
workshop will teach participants some of the common
ways transit workers use broad contract language to defend
their rights on the job. We will also look at some of the
more creative ways contract language has been used to keep
management at bay.
Organizing New Members
The labor movement’s numbers are shrinking, but there
are plenty of workers who still want to join the union. This
workshop will examine how local unions can increase their
strength by organizing the unorganized. Participants will
learn the building blocks of a successful organizing campaign,
and how rank-and-file union members can plug into new
organizing efforts.
Building an On-the-Job Organizing Network
Sometimes the most valuable things we can do to increase our
on-the-job power are the simplest. This workshop will go step
by step to describe how an on-the-job organizing network
can be built. The first steps are mapping your workplace,
identifying co-workers for one-on-one conversations, and
planning for outreach. Then you build to assessing and
testing co-workers’ ability to help build the network, and
planning simple steps to express unity. We’ll also cover trying
out different communication techniques and learning how to
discuss hard issues without drama.
Organizing Across Differences
MEMBER-TO-MEMBER
ORGANIZING
Secrets of a Successful Organizer
How do you get your co-workers to join you in building
union strength and taking on the boss? Learn proven
strategies that get more members involved. This workshop,
perfect for new activists or up-and-coming leaders, will
cover the basics of successful organizing. We will first
examine how to have effective organizing conversations,
how to identify issues in the workplace, and how to spot
other potential leaders. Then we will learn how to build onthe-job organizing campaigns.
Nothing makes a boss happier than dividing workers against
each other. Whether the differences are race, gender, age, skill,
ethnicity, or even tiny distinctions in job title (Tech A vs. Tech
B), the tactic is the same: their magic weapon is keeping us
fighting each other, instead of joining each other to fight the
boss. In this workshop you’ll gain an understanding of how this
divisive tactic is used, and what you and your co-workers can do
to call it out, challenge it, and overcome it in your workplace.
ATU ACTIVIST AND OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAMS
UNION SOLIDARITY AND
LABOR HISTORY
Lessons from Labor History
The U.S. and Canada both witnessed impressive upsurges in
worker and community activity in the 1960s and 70s, and
earlier in the 1930s and 40s. These upsurges led to important
social and economic gains—though today we’re fighting to
defend many of these gains against fresh attacks. How did
contemporary economic conditions fuel these upsurges, and
what lessons we can draw for today’s economic and social
justice organizers? What do good union activists need to
know about our history?
Why Do Unions Matter?
Are unions a thing of the past? Union membership has been
falling in the U.S. since the early 1950s, and the politicians
and pundits are happy to conclude this is because workers
don’t want or need unions. But the truth is that employers have
found so many ways to prevent unionization—legally and
otherwise—that most workers who want a union can’t join one.
This workshop will help you understand why unions matter,
and how they protect workers’ rights and interests better than
any other system could.
More than Bread and Butter: Why Social Justice
Matters to Unions
Solidarity Works! Build Unity with Other Unions
The lessons of solidarity are consistent all over the country
and throughout labor history: one group of workers—no
matter how large, how well-organized, or how critical to
the economy—is weakened if it’s fighting alone. Striking
teachers need bus drivers to refuse to drive kids across their
picket lines. Hospital maintenance workers get a big boost
when the nurses rally with them. This workshop will help
you understand who are potential union allies, how to begin
communication, steps to build trust, how to construct shared
campaigns, and how to anticipate—and avoid—problems
that may crop up.
If Not Us? Understanding Each Member’s
Responsibility to Build the Union
As a union leader, how many times have you heard from a
member: “What has the union done for me lately?” And if you
are a rank-and-file member, maybe you feel tired of hearing
from your officers or union staff: “I can’t do everything for
you. Remember, you are the union.” This workshop will
help us get beyond the frustration and finger-pointing and
understand how each member, leader, and union staffer can
contribute to a strong, well-organized union. Through simple
steps—including setting goals, timelines, division of tasks,
and developing support systems—the work can get done,
and the union’s power can grow.
“Bread-and-butter unionism”—focusing only on improving
wages and economic benefits for members through collective
bargaining—has been the union movement’s main focus
for so many years that many members assume it’s the only
thing the union can, or should, do. But this narrow approach
actually limits the benefits of union membership. “Social
justice unionism” means also taking on the root causes of
inequality that make workers vulnerable: lack of a strong
social safety net, discrimination, sexism, bad government
spending priorities, poor public education. When unions
take on these issues, the benefits spread beyond the
workplace into members’ lives and communities. This
workshop will highlight successful social justice campaigns
by a variety of unions, and explore how they can take root in
your own union.
ATU ACTIVIST AND OFFICER TRAINING PROGRAMS