The course will crystallize lessons from 50 years in labour movements based on the Freirean principles of popular education.
Secrets of Successful Organisers
The Fundamental Principles of Workplace Organising
Course Description
Our goal is to shift the balance of power within the workplace, towards workers and away from the boss, through practices that are bottom-up, radically democratic, militant, and calling on the intelligence and collective participation of the workers.
The course will crystallize lessons from 50 years of participation in the US and extensive experience in Asia. The pedagogy is drawn from the Freirean principles of popular education, and will be based on dialogic inquiry of the participants lived experience.
- Teaching: 6 Online Sessions, Once Every Two Weeks
- Course Fee: USD$60 (Regular Price) / USD$40 (Students/Workers/Unemployed)
- Class Size: Class Limited to 15 Students
Course Facilitator: Ellen David Friedman
I have been a union organizer for 50 years, working on the rank & file pole of the US labour movement, primarily in the teacher sector. And, I am a facilitator of UCORE, the United Caucuses of Rank and File Educators. I spent 10 years living in Guangzhou, China, teaching at Sun Yat-sen University and co-founding an International Labor Research Center. In my retirement, I volunteer to build the rank & file, democratic, militant, and internationalist pole of the labor movement through Labor Notes, where I serve as Board Chair.
Class Time
- 5pm: Pakistan
- 5:30pm: India/Sri Lanka
- 6pm: Bangladesh
- 6:30pm: Myanmar
- 6:45pm: Nepal
- 7pm: Indonesia/Thailand/Cambodia/Vietnam
- 8pm: Hong Kong/Taiwan/China/Philippines/Singapore/Malaysia
- 9pm: Japan/Korea
Class Project
We require each participant to analyse their own organising experience, and to present a cogent description of several features of their organising work, accompanied by plans for next developmental steps.
Biweekly Class Schedule
Session 1 – Sept 17, 2024: Assess Balance of Power
Organisers help co-workers assess the balance of power in the workplace
Session 2 – Oct 1, 2024: Overcome Divisions
Organisers help co-workers overcome divisions and come together around shared interests
Session 3 – Oct 15, 2024: Overcome Fear
Organisers help co-workers overcome fear and take collective action to achieve their goals
Session 4 – Oct 29, 2024: Reflect and Keep Going
Organisers help co-workers reflect on their own activity and keep going, regardless of setbacks
Session 5 – Nov 12, 2024: Share and Reflect on Your Organising (Part 1)
½ of the group presents on their own organising, and reflections from the group
Session 6 – Nov 26, 2024: Share and Reflect on Your Organising (Part 2)
½ of the group presents on their own organising, and reflections from the group
This course has been filled up, and will no longer accept new registrations.
To contact us: convenor@labourschool.org
