Have we built the committee? Leadership development, density, and dignity in the labor movement.

摘要

s a renewed assault on workers' organizations and workers' rights unfolds across the United States, organized public sector workers unfortunately face off against attacks not unlike those that have been waged against private sector and excluded workers for decades. While no simple formula exists for revitalizing the labor movement, many argue that one ingredient is a broader and deeper commitment to developing the leadership of workers---both organized and unorganized---in the movement. Many unions have long identified worker leadership development to be a key strategic component of strengthening the labor movement. This recruitment of worker leaders to organize their coworkers is often described as the organizing model. Others summarize the approach with the mandate: "build the committee!";Many unions identify themselves as wholeheartedly committed to worker leadership development, and have had some success developing vibrant, empowered leadership. Even among the most committed unions, however, worker leaders face significant underdevelopment that compromises the level of worker ownership, the strength of campaigns, and, ultimately, the power of the movement. Motivated by my own organizing experience in three local unions, my research is driven by several questions: How and why do workers choose to take on and sustain leadership roles? What kinds of roles, relationships, training, support, and participation do worker leaders want and need to sustain their motivation and involvement? How can particular unions both evaluate and improve upon their current leadership development efforts? Could ongoing evaluations of leadership development efforts increase worker participation, ownership, and organizing success? In short, I ask: Have we really built the committee? If not---or, if not completely---then how might we continue to build it?;Taken together, the literature, existing leadership development studies and evaluations, my own organizing experience, and an original case study on worker leadership development in one building services local, meaningfully---albeit only partially---answer these questions. The original case study consists of an evaluation of one local union's efforts---one with a particularly strong commitment to worker leadership development and new organizing. Based on twenty-seven in-depth interviews with stewards, members, Executive Board members, and staff, this case study examines one district within a larger local.1 The study reviews the district's leadership development successes and struggles, and suggests concrete improvements from the mouths of the interviewees themselves.;In this case study, leaders at all levels of one organization testify to the power and limitations of existing worker leadership development programs. Based on this research, I argue that unions and the movement can benefit substantially by implementing and evaluating more comprehensive leadership development programs. First, while unions can be particularly successful at recruiting leadership, unions can better develop and retain leadership by providing more: education and training, motivational and emotional support, voice in union decisions, and opportunities for leaders to take on new roles and experience successes. Second, integrating periodic evaluations of leadership development efforts into union programs can give unions an indication of their leadership density and leadership dignity---specific measures and insights to improve leadership development. Leaders at all levels of the organization have critical insights and experience that can help build the union. Quantitative measures of leadership density, and qualitative measures of leadership dignity would complement the widely used and important metric of union density, giving union leaders and scholars a deeper understanding of a union's capacity to build worker ownership, campaigns, and organization. In fact, not only does leadership development evaluation elicit key insights and information, the practice itself can further develop worker leadership.;1 Research conducted in accordance with Georgetown University Institutional Review Board