Thread by @x_moth_x

in the wake of the election, we keep hearing the call to ORGANISE! ✊ but so rarely do we talk about what this actually means...

organising is NOT the same as mobilising.

WHAT IS ORGANISING? a thread on the teachings of U.S. labour veteran organiser Jane McAlevey @rsgexp (1/28)

MOBILISING is when we get all us likeminded ppl together in a room/campaign/petition, desperately trying to persuade people outside our bubble to see things how we do, or somehow make the powerful change things. we’ve all done plenty of mobilising, & sadly, it’s ineffective 🚫 /2

ORGANISING, however, is about working within a bit of society that people don't choose to be a part of based on what they're like, or the kind of person they are - like a workplace, or a community ✅ /3

in these 'structures of society', as McAlevey calls them, you have a spread of all kinds of people with different backgrounds and views, rather than a bubble of similarly minded people all choosing to get together – a ‘self-selecting group’. /4

*THE BIG PICTURE OF ORGANISING* (5-7).

The Conversation + The Campaign.

organising doesn’t mean just trying to persuade people in those structures. it means being the spark that gets them to build their own collective power, by working together on issues that matter to them /5

the conversation: AGITATE, EDUCATE, then ORGANISE. channel ppl's anger (agitate). make them see the reality of their situation. no-one will give us what we want on a plate (educate) – we need to get together & fight for it, for our personal & collective benefit (organise) /6

the campaign: we leverage our collective power over the bosses, based on what they need us for. in work, they need us to turn up to make them money, or in a community, they need us to pay our rent/tax – we leverage these things by all stopping doing them together, in a strike /7

*THE NUTS & BOLTS OF ORGANISING* (8-16)

strikes are the weapon we build towards in the campaign, but its a long journey to get there, and these are the steps we need to meticulously follow.

as Jane says, there are *no shortcuts.*

the first part is THE CONVERSATION (9-15). /8

we need to talk to people. go up to them on behalf of the union & say hello - in the workplace, in the car park, at their front doors. this is showtime - we care about greeting them, how they're doing, & what they have to say. we talk 30% of the time, we listen for 70% /9

we ask them what are the 3 things they'd want to change in their workplace or community - we listen to their answers, and make them feel listened to.

we respond by asking them who is making the decisions that make things this way/allow these things to happen? and why? /10

as they point towards the causes and decision makers, we need to raise their expectations of what they deserve and what they could win, by pointing to examples of when people like them have fought together on these issues and actually won /11

then give them the plan to win: 'the only way we can change these things is if we all work together in a union, which means getting all our trusted community / worker leaders on board who can keep everyone together when things get tough' /12

now ask the question & frame the choice: 'we know it can work if we all work together. are you ready to work together with the rest of us to help win X issue?'

now stop talking, bear the silence, let them answer. if they ask Qs, respond, and reframe the choice & ask again /13

once they commit, we then need to inoculate them from the attacks we'll face from the bosses and the powerful, by asking them what they think the bosses response will be when they see we're joining up to fight? normalise the opposition we'll face /14

then finally - plan some next steps. can they help us figure out who everyone is within the community/workplace, the kind of person they all are, and how they're connected? can they get one or two people they know to come to the next meeting? /15

beyond the conversation, we have THE CAMPAIGN (16-23.)

throughout the whole thing, organisers ensure that everyone has their say, feels listened to, hopeful & powerful, so that members rightly feel the union to be their own - it belongs to them. /16

organisers study the structure (workforce or community) they organise within, using literal pen and paper charts, to map all the people in the structure, their connections to each other, and how supportive they all are of the union. /17

organisers use these charts to target the organic leaders within a structure – the people who so many others put their trust in, & will struggle alongside if we succeed in getting the organic leaders in the union. the leader won't be an activist! just widely respected. /18

winning over the organic leader matters most, so we leave that most important conversation til last, til we're as confident as possible in who it is, know as much as possible about them/their issues, and have succeeded in getting those close to them to join the union fight. /19

organisers measure the strength of union with continual ‘structure tests’ – increasingly high-stakes actions to test the extent and depth of support for the union, which builds confidence and displays power to the bosses/the powerful. /20

this could be a ‘sticker day’ – where all union members visibly wear a union sticker to work. or a public petition for members. or a march on the boss – where members go to bosses’ offices together to discuss an issue or deliver a petition. or a rally. or ultimately, a strike /21

organisers make sure that the union is just the collective experience of all the members in struggle – never a third party that exists outside of the fight between the membership and the boss/the powerful. /22

because the union's power rests on that collective experience of struggle, the union's power is like a muscle 💪 if we don't keep using it, with regular structure tests/strikes, it will wither away. so the fight goes on! /23

CONCLUSION (24-28.)

our best tactic to win the world we need is what McAlevey calls 'WHOLE-WORKER ORGANISING' - organising simultaneously around workplaces and communities on the same issues. /24

the teachers of Chicago have been incredible at this. they built a union around the very nature of what schools should be like - rather than just their pay & conditions. by focusing on school funding, nurses & counsellors, they got all the local neighbourhoods involved, & won /25

organising means bringing otherwise unengaged people into politics, into collective struggle, & out of the horrible neoliberal mindset the last 40 years has instilled in everyone. and it's those experiences of community and solidarity which breed mass leftist politics. /26

so don't (just) mourn. ORGANISE!

join a trade union, & make sure it's organising, not just advocating as a 3rd party or mobilising

if there's no union, start one in your workplace - the @iww can help!

& join a community union! @ACORN_tweets / @LDNRentersUnion / @livingrent /27

@iww @ACORN_tweets @LDNRentersUnion @livingrent Jane McAlevey has amazing short videos on her website here which go into the nuts and bolts of organising - watch them! janemcalevey.com/video-shorts/

but i massively recommend her book 'No Shortcuts: Organising for Power in the New Gilded Age'! /28