"I believe we can make a difference."
Joey Hartman, Pacific Northwest Labour History Association
"Anchored by Labour History"

Talking About Organizing: A Series

This is an active online archive of commentaries and stories, first published in Our Times, about the experience of union organizing: what works and what doesn't. It's also the place where you'll find Our Times' columnist Derek Blackadder's WebWork series archived; articles about online resources for union activists.

"Organizing is important," writes labour educator Elaine Bernard in "The Power to Change Things." "But it needs to be more than simply signing up new members. Rather, the future of unions and their power rests with an informed, committed membership who understand that they are the union and that the power of the union rests with them."

Vol. 30 | Issue 5 | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2011
WEBWORK
By Derek Blackadder
In the current issue of Our Times, now in bookstores, you'll read about some exciting stuff that's happening out there as unions and members grab hold of the new media, especially social media, and run with it. But, somewhere, we need to be reminded not just of the great things we're doing, but the ways in which we're falling behind, if not down. So why not here.

Vol. 30 | Issue 4 | CURRENT ISSUE 2011
WEBWORK
By Derek Blackadder
Unions are (mostly) defensive organizations. Employers act, we react. Mostly, we react to nasty things, which means we're too often the bearers of bad news. So, maybe we need a global campaign to get Facebook to add an "I think this is important" button, as an alternative to "like."

Vol. 30 | Issue 3 | JUNE-JULY 2011
WEBWORK: Radio Labour & Killer Jeans
By Derek Blackadder
We keep breaking the most basic and non-techish rules in our use of the net. Way too many union websites remain static. Same news, same photos, same everything.

Vol. 30 | Issue 2 | APRIL-MAY 2011
WEBWORK: What We're Saying Matters
By Derek Blackadder
I spend a lot of time, perhaps surprisingly, telling people not to let their enthusiasm for the new media take them over the edge into true geekdom; that we need to remember that content, and the politics behind it, is what this is all about, not the tech.

Vol. 23 | Issue 5 | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2004
HORSE SENSE AND ORGANIZING
By Lorraine Endicott
Neil Reimer passed away at the age of 89 on March 29, 2011. We are re-posting this Our Times interview with him in his honour. He was, says Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union president Dave Coles, "a giant of the labour movement," and will be missed.

Vol. 29 | Issue 5/6 | OCTOBER-JANUARY 2010-2011
RETAIL MATTERS
By Kendra Coulter
Fifteen years ago, two young women made history. Debora De Angelis and Wynne Hartviksen united with their retail co-workers to fight for better pay, basic rights and respect through union protection. Specific historic struggles like these can teach us a great deal.

Vol. 28 | Issue 4 | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2009
LESSONS LEARNED
By Andrew Stevens & Krystle Maki
Queen's is one of the last universities in Ontario to not have a union for its teachings assistants and teaching fellows. During our union drive, our opponents used this fact to promote the idea that we're "different" and didn't need union representation. This was one of our biggest challenges in the drive.

Vol. 27 | Issue 6 | December 2008-January 2009
THE POWER TO CHANGE THINGS
By Elaine Bernard
Is a union's goal merely to lobby power, and use the political influence of its leaders to get a little more for its members? Or is it to help transform power in society as a whole by extending democracy to the workplace and the economic sphere and, ultimately, to break up concentrations of power, influence and wealth?

Vol. 27 | Issue 5 | OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2008
IS THE MOVEMENT AT A STANDSTILL?
By Pradeep Kumar
There is a growing perception, among both labour-friendly academics and union activists, that the union movement in Canada is at a standstill. Is it true?

Vol. 27 | Issue 3 | JUNE-JULY 2008
FACEBOOK FACTS
By Derek Blackadder
Unions and workers are making much use of the latest web fad: social networking sites. But are sites like Facebook really adding anything to our ability to organize?

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