Even the AFL-CIO which is “Lobbing from the Cheap Seats” is growing active again. However the AFL-CIO may have taken a premature victory lap regarding passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, (TPP).
The AFL-CIO has approx. 40 million for political activities and lobbing which limits the sophistication needed in these campaigns. http://labor-unions.findthecompany.com/l/3/American-Federation-of-Labor-And-Congress-of-Industrial-Organzation
Compare that with just some of the TPP lobbing apparatus and dollars:
US Chamber of Commerce $1,160,065,680
Northrop Grumman $222,532,213
Exxon Mobil $211,632,742
Boeing Co $207,882,310
Verizon Communications $203,380,043
Lockheed Martin $203,330,534
Business Roundtable $203,110,000
Source: Center for Responsive Politics www.opensecrets.org
So when the AFL-CIO was working to defeat passage of TPP, they ran TV commercials in selected congressional districts and mass email campaigns asking union members to call those congress people!
Who watches TV anymore? Who calls? Who writes letters? None can be effectively measured.
At least in the AFL-CIO there are some progressive unions that are developing structured and aggressive social activism, and getting their members on the same page. Understand that developing doesn’t mean talking and endless meetings about social media structure – it is implementation of…
So SEIU, AFT and National Nurses United are all top tier in positive membership growth in the AFL-CIO for the last decade when almost all other unions are having declining memberships in an era of unions being a dirty word. And BTW, the 3 listed above, are all run by women.
Why in a nutshell is that they are educating, and then learning to leverage their membership, using structured social media at increasing rates.
So the Fight for $15 – all grass roots activist workers with no unions involved early, and then the SEIU partnered with them to leverage the increase in minimum wage message all across the country. More movement and wins with these 2 groups partnering in 3 years, than almost every other initiative taken by the combined labor movement using worn out and old tactics.
Walmart is running commercials explaining that a minimum wage increase to their associates is the right thing to do.
The lion share of the pressure to get Walmart to make these statements – social pressure via structured social media by activists.
The point – we can’t compete with the moneyed interests at this juncture in Labor’s history, and especially in the Building Trades.
What we have is actually MORE valuable than money in this day in age. The currency of the day are social signals and who can curry and deploy them. The AFL-CIO is sitting on 12 million social signals and we almost literally have no structure to leverage them and use them to our political and business advantage.
Labor can have significant input into who in the global economy prospers, and who does not. It can set the agenda, set the talking points and earnings growth, or not, of business in North America.
Canadian Unions have even more leverage with higher union densities and smaller population concentrated in a dozen major cities, along with league leading use of technologies. So what does C-377 and other anti-union BS look like in that cauldron? Conservatives don’t control the message any longer!
Every single strategic consideration and risk/reward evaluation say that our potential is clearly there to be used – if the leadership engages, and engages hard the structured and developed use of social media.
Consider the use of Twitter, raw “POTENTIAL UNION POWER” which now sits untapped. Consider Twitter as digital word of mouth on steroids in the 21st century. Here is a quick video description:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAP8s5QgkrY
Understand this Brothers & Sisters – it is a race. Does capital beat labor into insignificance with money and lobbing establishing a working poor class – or does labor leverage its combined voice on behalf of all workers and grow the middle class?
ONLY ONE is going to win this above equation. 40 million is chump change in lobbing with the “junk yard dogs” in business – however in the hands of some let’s get er done leaders, sufficient in connecting the memberships into a juggernaut of power in North America – very doable!
If you’re unsure on how to do this NOW – call me, and inside of one year – the General Presidents, down to local unions, will see the raw power of structured and pin point precise use of social media in the hands of the workers – led by capable leaders!
Mission for the Facebook Groups – connect your members in the group on Twitter and ratchet it up from there. Plenty of videos on how to establish an account and then use it effectively for education and political power. Then get your leadership on board at your Building Trades unions – point your collective power outwards and you’ll like what happens for workers.
“if you see a good fight – get in it”
Danny L Caliendo
Organizer
Labor Rising Group
