The Thomas M. Comeau Principles of Organizing

My father was a life-long union member, supporter, and organizer. He had a scholar's grasp of history, a teacher's methodology of communicating, and an Irish Catholic's sense of collective movement towards Salvation for all. Of all my teachers and educators, my father was the first. He was most definitely Our Patriarch, and did his best to instill in us both a love of learning and an understanding that the only way to a better world was by organized collective action.  

It's also important to understand that my relationship with my father was Capital-C Complicated. There were long stretches of our relationship, literal years at a time, where he and I spoke as little as possible, in order to avoid falling into conflict, losing our tempers, and upsetting my mother. We were at loggerheads much more frequently than we were in any sort of agreement, even on the things we ostensibly agreed upon. That's the thing about family: they know exactly where all of your buttons are, and sometimes it becomes impossible to avoid pushing them (in the same way it can be impossible to eat that last bite of cake).

I did a lot of growing, and he did a lot mellowing, and by the end we had an understanding of each other that allowed us to be kind and loving to each other, and I'm grateful for it. When I started managing teams, he and I had several frank discussions about it, about the responsibilities and limits of supervising and being responsible for others in a professional setting. In the process, I was able to get him to articulate his general philosophy around labor organizing, which I then turned into a DevOpsDays talk because of course I did.

This is the rough draft of that talk, basically the notes I was able to take after talking with my father. It's a fundamental list for finding and building worker solidarity from 50 years of Union Involvement. This list is not ranked; all of the principles stated herein are coequal in their importance. Numbering is a rhetorical choice, not a valuation.

1) Be good at your job. Even in an at-will state, it is much harder for an employer to justify a termination if your performance is good. If there are goals you are expected to achieve, document your ability to achieve them (if they are not achievable, document that too). Nothing protects individual workers from the whims of employers except a union, but barring that it's never a bad idea to keep a record of your performance. Do not, under any circumstances, keep track of someone else's performance, even if they ask.

2) Document everything (regarding your work). Have a conversation with your boss? Record notes immediately afterwards. Try and stick to facts rather than feelings or suppositions. In a meeting/on a call with company representatives? Actively take notes on what was said and to whom (recording / wiretapping laws are tricky, and change by location; do not rely on a recording if you don't know if you legally acquired it, and never use someone else's recording). Ideally these documents are hand written in ink on paper; if you're taking notes using a computer or a phone, first, make sure it's one you own, and not the company, and second, print it out and put it with your other documents. There should be no discussion between you and your employer that does not include a dated collection of notes.

3) Do not, under any circumstances, do any sort of documenting of your organizing activity. Never put anything in an email or a journal or a phone conversation that an opposing counsel would ask you to read from the stand. Everything related to starting or joining a union should be done off the clock, off company property, in person, face-to-face as much as practicable. If you must use a phone, do not use a cellphone; use a land line, preferably someone else's. Do not use email. If you must write something down, write it in pencil, on paper, and burn it afterwards. If this all sounds paranoid, take the time to look up "wiretapping" and "discovery" at your local law library.

4) The cops do not work for you. If there is an opportunity for an employer to get you crosswise with law enforcement, even if you have done nothing wrong, they will do so. And the only liar worse than a boss is a cop. If you are organizing in a company / location that does not currently have a union, chances are very good that the employer already has a fiduciary relationship with the cops, and their pockets will always be deeper than yours. Do not count on the law being on your side.

5) Regardless of your personal and professional relationship with your supervisor/employer, or any statements to the contrary, they do not work for you. The Human Resources department (whatever it may be called) does not work for you. You are not "part of a family". You are an employee, and your primary relationship with your employer is fiduciary. The company doesn't work for you. The only thing that works for you is a union.

6) You do not have to become an expert in Labor to organize, but research and history help. History doesn't repeat, but it sure as hell rhymes. Read up on Organizing in the modern world (post 1865). Some other good places to look are at the history of Pinkertons, coal miner's unions, and the Haymarket Affair and related events. If you're trying to organize in the US or similar areas, it's probably not a bad idea to learn about Liberation Theology. Do yourself a favor and find, read, and understand Robert's Rules of Order; most existing unions use that at least as the basis of handling decisions around collective action.

7) Do not get angry with fellow workers if they start by refusing to discuss the idea of unions. Life under Capitalism is complicated, and hard, and it is impossible to fully know another's trials and tribulations. The goal of organizing it to work together to lighten everyone's burden, even if they don't agree with you; even (maybe especially) when you think other workers are assholes. Your enemy is never other workers. Your enemy is always employers exerting unequal pressure on the workers.

8) You are not alone! When in doubt, go to your local Teamster's Union hall and ask for help. They may not be the correct resource for your situation, but they'll know who to call. If you work in IT or in IT-related fields, the CWA (Communication Workers of America) or the SEIU (Service Employee International Union) may also be a good resource to contact. Organizing is a process that is often excruciatingly slow, but it is also a process that often is the only way to protect yourself and others from the whims of Capitalists. Good luck. You're doing the Lord's work.