Be it military, business, politics, sports, construction et al – success always starts with a written plan.
Not a Mission Statement – detailed, specific written plan.
Here is a link to the Labor Rising integrated strategies. https://1drv.ms/w/s!AmKOi71GyLcgkRDGsNrLWiSeduGk
This Blog will cover Bullet points 3, 4, 5 of the Strategic Organizing Outline above. This section of instruction takes 4-6 hours and is the Foundation which gives a local a detailed and precise map in which to develop strategies and tactics! This is the “grunt” work of research before developing a Compression Zone(s)!
Here is what objective development of a market looks like for the trades in the 21st century. It is one of 5 integrated strategies of the Labor Rising Organizing training. It is the foundation or blueprint for all actions taken in the Compression Zone(s) – but only after the local/market development rep does approx. 200 to 500 hours of work. REAL WORK – OBJECTIVE WORK! What the Internationals teach as MARKET DEVELOPMENT; if they teach anything at all, is so poor, to non-existent, as to account for nearly all the market losses for the past 2 decades. 6 of the approx. 360 locals/DC’s trained by LR have had a detailed written plan. IBEW 9th District and IBEW 46 has one of the best of those out there! Mostly done in house, and they continue to work to improve it. Approx. 82 more are at speed, or getting there quickly if the Internationals reps would leave them alone.
Labor Rising, Labor Combat, Black Ops have worked directly with approx. 700 Market Development Reps/Agents and Officers from across 2 countries and with all trades. 95% of the above MR/Organizers do not have the structured and contemporary fundamental skill set needed to develop their respective markets.
Not their fault – this is on the INTERNATIONALS!
The 9 following bullet points represent 3, 4, and 5 of the Strategic Organizing Outline and represents as quick a summary as we can give. It takes 4-6 hours of training to fully understand the needed structure!
- Developing a locals, District Council’s entire market. For locals and DC’s depending on size of both membership and geographic size, approx. 200 to 500 hours of structured research. Skills needed. Excel – how to enter and organize data, create formulas and functions, build charts and PivotTables, and use other powerful Excel 2016 tools. Basic and solid knowledge of the Ribbon/Tool Bar at the top of Excel. One Note or equivalent. A basic understanding of Word and Power Point is mandatory. Cloud computing, which lets you use and share files and applications over the Internet. Using virtual meetings, which connects tradespeople from across North America, regardless of their location, in using video, audio and text to link up online. Need structured education which a focus on market development. Without these basic skills – we are going nowhere. No International or Building Trades teach a comprehensive modern course on this anywhere. All these skills at one time. Takes about 5/6 days to show competency at the training level – can be taught on-line to save time and money. The Market Development Rep/Agent would have to pass this, to move on to next level. We do not teach Labor Combat and/or Black Ops to anyone unless they can show their structured markets; and proficiency with the above subjects. What about Persuasive speaking? Needed – but after a Rep can do these bullet points first. In the trades, we have ex tradespersons teaching persuasive speaking – so they have a job! And we wonder why we are getting our butts kicked. That is like a butcher teaching trades apprenticeship. We at LR recommend using a business computer training center and tailoring an introductory course of 2/3 days; and then filling out skills rapidly from there. Call it a weeding out process. Also for a total on-line, but highly interactive training forum for the above – the consensus group most unions use is lynda.com
- SIC/NAICS codes – WTF are these? Exactly the question 95% of those attending LR have asked. From apprentice market development reps to journeypersons. Internationals using Breslin and other consultant’s business branding strategies conveniently miss teaching us how to build our total markets objectively. Internationals prefer subjective type of market development and SALES like Value on Display and selling our VALUE. Here is a link to the SIC/NAICS tables we at LR put together. https://1drv.ms/x/s!AmKOi71GyLcgqzcIBPFf3RBJ1SJ8 Until and unless a MR has a clue how to use these – again they are going nowhere in the big picture. This is 2 hours of instruction in and of itself @ LR. These codes are used by all business professionals, in all areas, to build comprehensive markets and data in near real time – NOW!! So, insurance, workers comp, banking, government, census bureau, and everyone else except the trades use them to know their markets. We in the trades teach ZIP – it is not the guys/gals that are failing – they are set up to fail because they are not given the tools, tactics and strategy in a structured way to win! Stuff like the IBEW’s (OARS) along with other trades methods are incredibly labor intensive ways of reporting what is almost totally SUBJECTIVE information of varying degree of credibility. When compared to a full market analyses, of the entire market – then and only then can you see the big picture. Do you want to build a real market in near real time with very high quality info! Well here is a quick primer. Go to http://resource.referenceusa.com/ Scroll down to bottom of that page. Find About – Click on Library Locator. Enter Zip. Go get a library card at one of the libraries listed. Use Reference USA website tools to literally build entire BT trades markets. All levels. This is not a toy! It has some limitations which can be worked around. Need to know what SIC/NAICS codes go into the fields along with area the Rep wants checked – including all North America. Canadians have a version too! You will get an Excel spreadsheet with every bit of information across many categories. Too many to list here. From 1099’s and low six figure independent contractors to the biggest multi-national construction firms. NOTE: for trades with licenses, you will see those license numbers that are stolen from our journeypersons and used by the 1099’s of the non/anti-union quit often! Can get all Construction Managers, Developers, GC’s, Fabricators, Maintenance, Service etc. All formatted-on Excel. It is also researchable, cross researching, uploading everything, sharable, endless ways to format. And we use none of it. And, BTW all capable of mobile applications. So, for example a MR/Organizer, hell even a member can upload pictures, videos, info from most sources to be entered into the file for use later, along with flagging. It is also a dynamic document to then pass onto future MR and Organizers in real time with OBJECTIVE info. Most new MR/Organizers get ZIP when they start the job. The Building Trades have old and decayed courses on Organizing still taught today. Hugely incomplete. You know this by looking at our market share over the last 2 decades. A loser! And yet we still teach it! So, when you know/understand SIC/NAICS codes and get comfortable with using tools like Reference USA, you would enter info like this in the respective fields. What State(s) do You Organize In? Pennsylvania
If You are a Local Union Organizer/MR List the Counties You organize In: In Pennsylvania – Bucks Chester Delaware Montgomery Philadelphia Lancaster Berks Lehigh North Hampton Monroe Carbon Pike Wayne Susquehanna Wyoming Lackawanna Luzerne Columbia Schuylkill Lebanon York Adams Franklin Cumberland Perry Dauphin Juniata Snyder Union North Umberland Montour Lycoming Sullivan Bradford Tioga Clinton SIC CODES: 1721-01 1721-02 1721-03 1721-04 NOTE: can be scores of codes or 1.
Once you enter the info you will get something that looks like this link on Excel. Now they are even better than this example. https://1drv.ms/u/s!AmKOi71GyLcgq0yXBWVCnONeE5nL Years ago, we needed the vendor to run them for a fee. Now most libraries have subscriptions to this type of info and more – paid for by your tax dollars. And it sits there and the Internationals either know it and don’t tell us or don’t know it exists. Either way – not cool!
- From here, it is multiple hours of real work on a market. For all locals/DC’s that undertake this, it is the first time they will have this extensive amount of structured and actionable intel. Space does not permit what your local/DC can do with this info. A discussion of the Compression Zone(s) in the next Blog will show you. However, as a for instances, the MR can start to develop/cutout the “NOISE” of the market – subprime players from hard-core players. Contractors/companies that have real credit ratings are in one of the fields on the Excel spreadsheet. This is a big deal! Our Market Rep strategy still used in the trades TODAY, is to call 20 non-union contractors and get meeting with XX number of them. Many of those called on are incapable, or because of their existing relationships with End-user, CM, GC, etc., can’t affiliate with the BT union. With the pre-work of market development, the MR can know this BEFORE they call and look lost and underprepared; and unfortunately, don’t even know it. Many think they do a good job of winging it – numbers say NO! Not to mention the legal ramifications of Recognition and introducing a Secondary Intent. A completely separate discussion of huge importance our MR are clueless in and NOT taught well in! MR can look at the total revenue of all work done in an area not the BS market share reports generated by OUR Internationals vendors. Read the fine print and “OTHER COMMENTS” section of reports to have even a clue how these reports are configured. Most are “snapshots” as one describes them. They are estimates of full data, not fully included in report. Example is union has a few huge jobs with hours. Those are estimated against “some” of the rest of the TOTAL market. So, the union is told in the incomplete report with several asterisks – that they have 70% of the market in a usually very small area. Run this against your entire market with the same info that those vendors use and get your real numbers throughout your jurisdiction. That number is going to be much closer to the reality of 11% “NET”. The days of BS warm and fuzzy reports need to give way to reality.
- Creating Revenue Scatter Charts and using very well developed data points gives any MR officer a real view of the market. As importantly – where specifically to START and win. Compression Zone(s). What specific strategies and tactics to apply and in what order. This is yet another entirely different discussion. However not possible without a market truly developed.
- We can decipher between friend of foe – so union, non-union vs. anti-union. They are not one in the same! On the Excel spreadsheets, we can use the search capabilities to cross research all contractor’s ownership. Don’t be surprised to learn how many UNION entities have non-union relationships. How’s that for being PC? We can research all relationships from End-users to sub-contractor to truly ascertain who may be approachable and what are priories are; and why specifically are we talking to them.
- As you get better working on the Excel Spreadsheets you can separate entire sub markets, so commercial, residential, industrial etc. along with dollar revenue segments.
- You will learn to figure out who the Labor Brokers are to some degree.
- You will come to understand what consolidation of the market means, and which players are germaine to that equation. What contraction of the market is due to advances in construction delivery and modularization.
- What roll ups of companies are, and who is likely to be rolled up, and who is doing the roll up.
None of it taught except by Labor Rising, which is why we are outlaws to the senior leadership.
While we in the R&F flail around winging it, because we have ineffective training and failed strategies across the board – in the meantime our IP’s are making deals for hours and only need a percentage of that work. A pool of employees. A temp agency! The only heart & soul left in the trades resides at the local/DC level; and it is not nearly enough to win the day in becoming a MOVEMENT again!
Next Blog will build on the above structure, which we call a Compression Zone(s)! Again, please review the Labor Rising outline link at the beginning of the Blog.
We now only work with those that are R&F, MOVEMENT driven BM’s and DC/BT leaders. Very few of them!
“if you see a good fight – get in it”
Danny L Caliendo
Organizer
Labor Rising/Labor Combat
