Grand Lodge Rep Steve Hantzis,
left, and Administrative Assistant
Ken Walsh.

Organizing

Mission & Goals
Bringing new members into the IAM remains the mission of the Grand Lodge Organizing Department. With new members comes more strength and security, more bargaining leverage and political influence, and, more power for the entire membership. We follow a strategic approach to attaining our goals. We are always mindful that organizing in targeted industries and labor markets decreases the downward pressure of labor competition and lays the basis for collective bargaining gains.

Due to structural and cyclical economic problems faced by North American workers since January 2001 and the political hostility emanating from the current U.S. administration, the IAM finds it necessary to renew our organizing efforts. Our union-wide strategic goal is to recruit 22,000 new members per year. This translates into 250 new members per district. With the accomplishment of this goal we will see continued growth and stability. The Grand Lodge Organizing Department stands ready, willing and able to forge whatever campaigns and alliances are necessary to meet this challenging task. We are prepared to assist organizing and recruiting at any level of our great union and are resolved that through unity, intelligence and persistence we will weather the storm and see the IAM through to greater distinction and achievement.

Staff
Kenneth Walsh, Administrative Assistant, took over from retiring Gary Will on March 1, 2001, and heads up the Grand Lodge Organizing Department. Along with Director Walsh, the department includes twelve grand lodge representatives, nine apprentice organizers and the departmental secretary.

The Apprentice Organizer Program remains a success. Since the program began in October 1997, it has trained fifty-five apprentices with twenty-three gaining staff positions within the IAM. Of these twenty-three, eight became special or grand lodge representatives, one became a grand lodge auditor, ten are district organizers and four are business representatives.

Since the Last Convention
The Grand Lodge Organizing Department has researched, planned and led several large campaigns since the 2000 Convention. These include our initial campaign for 13,000 administrative, professional and clerical employees at Boeing, and ongoing efforts at U-Haul and Federal Express. We concluded a successful effort for 550 workers at New Piper Aircraft in November 2003 and we are continually on the lookout for large, attractive units as well as possible affiliations involving independent unions and other AFL-CIO organizations.

Communications and resource development remain high priorities for the Grand Lodge Organizing Department. We have been able to revitalize the organizing section of the GOIAM website with new material for service contract workers, federal employees and up-to-date reports on recent victories. All winning campaigns for the previous six-month period are listed on the recent victories page as long as they have a certification date and are entered in the GVP Tracking database.

The Grand Lodge Organizing Department has overseen development of VLodge organizing functions since the last convention. Improvements we have fostered contribute to our unionÕs ability to network and track organizing progress as well as provide the latest standardized forms and other legal and tactical information.

The addition of In-Plant monthly membership reporting to VLodge allows nonunion security units (primarily those in federal facilities and right-to-work-for-less states) to track their membership density and monitor warning signs that might indicate decertification threats or contracting of work. This reporting also allows senior policymakers in the union to assess potential organizing targets and allocate resources accordingly.

The Service Contract Campaign Registry, another new feature of VLodge, allows organizers to network and share information on service contract organizing activities. This function also links to an Area Wage Determination site and the Federal Procurement Data System as well as the Strategic Resources DepartmentÕs Contract Database.

All standard campaign forms are now available on VLodge. This feature is not only convenient for field users but allows the forms to be quickly updated and distributed throughout the union.

Significant work has also been completed on a Campaign Targeting Matrix for VLodge that will allow organizers to enter variables and weigh the relative desirability of pursuing different leads. This partnership with the Strategic Resources Department should help us all make good decisions about how we allocate our valuable time.

Grand Lodge Organizing Department campaign materials have been refurbished over the past four years. A modular portfolio that can be targeted for seven different industries, topics and sectors has replaced the ÔWe Are the IAMÕ campaign piece. Besides providing basic information on our union and its benefits, specialized inserts allow organizers to selectively appeal to: General Industry workers, Professionals, Public Employees, Service Contract employees, Automotive and Aerospace workers. There is also a special insert that touts our High Performance Workplace Organization programs. Many smaller campaign pieces have been produced since the last convention including tri-folds and leaflets for service contract workers and automotive technicians.

The majority of our most requested campaign videos and team training videos have been updated and transferred to DVD. These transfers will continue until we have all of our video materials in the most technically advanced format thus providing versatility and convenience to organizers in the field.

All training manuals have been updated, reformatted and transferred to a more efficient document-processing format. The new format and the Grand LodgeÕs on-time-printing capabilities allow for rapid rewrites and more current data, graphics and charts.

The Grand Lodge Organizing Department has also assisted the AFL-CIO in developing a Safety and Health for Organizers Resource Guide and three-day training curriculum. This project has provided valuable resource spin-offs for IAM staff and complimented the already stellar IAM Safety and Health Department. It was very instructive to spend time with other labor organizations during this project if only to see how advanced the IAM is in the safety and health arena.