Any organizing campaign requires detailed and easily accessible record keeping. An organizer needs to chart a campaign because it’s imperative that he/she gathers information about each worker. This information can be valuable when an organizer is evaluating a campaign. Microsoft Access or Excel are commonly used. An organizer can pull up the database in seconds and sort by alpha order, by department, by phone number, or any other field listed in the database. If an organizer wanted to know how many departments had majority Union support, the database quickly shows you this information by sorting the departments and ratings
Fields To Use In A Database
Fields
|
Data to Input
|
| First |
Enter the first name of the employee |
| Middle |
Enter the middle name or initial of the employee |
| Address |
Enter the home mailing address of the employee |
| City |
Enter the home mailing address, city, of the employee |
| State |
Enter the home mailing address, state, of the employee |
| Zip |
Enter the home mailing address zip code |
| Card |
Enter an “X” in this field if an employee signed authorization card |
| Sdate |
Enter the date that the employee signed the authorization card |
| Dept |
Enter the department that each employee works in |
| Comm |
Enter a “C” or “CH” for a committee employee/committee (helper) |
| Rate |
Enter the Union rating on each employee (see below) |
| Loc |
Enter the location site that an employee physically works at (Use this field if there is more than one location site) |
| Shift |
Enter the shift that the employee works (Use this field only if there is more than one shift) |
| Cdate |
Enter the date when personal contact was made with employee |
| Rep |
Enter the initials of the organizer or committee person who made the personal contact |
| FT, PT |
Enter if the employee is a full-time or part-time worker |
| Hphone |
Enter the home phone number of each employee |
| Cphone |
Enter the cell phone number of each employee |
| Wphone |
Enter the work phone number of each employee (Optional - you may decide not to use this field) |
| Email |
Enter the home email of each employee |
| Notes |
Enter issues or comments about each employee |
| Title |
Enter the job title/classification of each employee |
| Action |
Enter an “X” if a worker participated in a certain action, for example signed Petition, attend rally, signed anti-letter |
Rating System
An organizer’s goal is to rate each worker before filing a RC petition/card check. This is done so the Organizing Committee can determine the outcome of an election and whether the campaign is a viable campaign. There are several ways to rate effectively. Listed below are two:
The 5 Point Rate System
- = Yes Vote
- = Leaning towards a Yes Vote
- = Swing Vote
- = Leaning towards a No Vote
- = No Vote
The 3 Point Rate System
- = Yes Vote
- = Swing Vote
- = No Vote
These ratings are based on conversations with the workers as well as Organizing Committee reports. The ratings are based on statements the worker has made regarding the union and actions the worker has taken either to assist or hinder the union effort.
How People Connect (from Labor Notes)