Organizing Institute Grad Shares His First Experiences from His First Campaign

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/06/06/organizing-institute-grad-shares-his-first-experiences-from-his-first-campaign/

Last September, Johnathan Putnam, already active in his union, decided to become even more so. Putnam, a member of Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1400 in Portsmouth, N.H., and a shop steward in a then-Verizon landline operation, signed up for one of the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute’s (OI’s) intense, two-day training sessions.

In the program, he learned basic organizing skills, including one-on-one communication skills, how to move workers to take action, leadership identification and the basic elements of a union organizing campaign.




This spring he put those skills to work. Joining Local 1400 President Cheryl Aheam and fellow shop steward Jeannie Picardi, he helped workers at two FairPoint Communications call centers win a voice at work. The nonunion centers were formerly owned by Verizon, but FairPoint bought Verizon’s landline operations in a controversial deal approved earlier this year. (Click here for more on the sale.)

Following the May 15 victories, Putnam sent an e-mail to OI senior trainer/organizer T.J. Marsallo, crediting his September training for equipping him with skills to help workers win their rights. At Marsallo’s urging, Putnam wrote about his experiences. Here’s his story in his own words.

When you hear the story of a man who works 40 hours a week and still qualifies for food stamps and public health care, you know deep down something is not right.

This and other stories of struggle was what I heard from workers at FairPoint Communications offices in South China and Winthrop, Maine. As a CWA member-organizer, you have to reach deep into who you are as a person and help those workers fight back.

FULL story at link.