Safeguarding Union Assets
Labor organizations are vulnerable to individuals who wish to steal from the union. These threats can come from inside or outside our union. This session will discuss best practices in protecting union assets from fraud. The presenters will highlight how some of these schemes occur, how to detect them and how to prevent them from happening in the first place. Additionally, the session will discuss cybercrimes and how best to protect the union from online criminals looking to take advantage of your organization.
Budgeting During Challenging Times
Unions are under increasing pressure to do more with less. With inflation rates at decades-high levels, unions must be able to better project and predict their current and future expenses. Join this presentation to learn about budgeting during challenging times. Learn how to connect your budgeting to your union’s strategic plan and how to use your budget as a tool for measuring success or identifying areas where greater attention is necessary.
Stories in Action
Our stories are powerful and when we share them, we can move people to action. In this workshop, you will learn how to tap into the power of your own stories and practice effective tactics you can use anywhere, such as when testifying in front of elected officials, talking to the press, posting on social media or even when speaking one-on-one with friends and neighbors.
Negotiating to Build Our Union
Your power is member power and you can build it during contract negotiations. Union-building language can not only secure your rights, but also show management that our union is a big part of our workplaces. Learn how to build this power into our contracts, what language you need and how to make it a priority.
Building Legislative Power
The 2020 and 2022 elections provided us a unique opportunity to secure pro-worker gains in many states. We can definitely achieve that again. This workshop focuses on what pro-worker legislation is, how we can achieve it and how we can use the issues to gauge a politician’s stance.
New Employee Outreach: Building Power from Day One
We know meeting new employees during their first days is critical for strengthening our union and building lasting relationships. Do you want to learn how best to initiate in-person and virtual conversations? Do you want a better system to track that outreach and make sure you don’t miss a single person? This workshop will teach you all that and more.
Popular Economics: An Economy That Works for All
Billionaires, corporations and anti-worker politicians tell us that “the economy” can’t fund good public services or decent wages and benefits for the people who provide them. Why do they get to decide how the economy works? What if we change the rules? The truth is the economy is us — working people — and it can be made to work for us. Learn how the system is rigged and what we can do to get worker power involved in economic policy decisions.
AFSCME on the Ballot
How do we gain political power? By filling political offices with like-minded allies — even with our own members! This workshop will help members run for office, learn how to find potential candidates and identify how and where to find political training opportunities.
PEOPLE: How Politics Impacts Your Life
Some members wonder why our union is involved in politics. The truth is, government at all levels affects our lives — whether we are public or private sector workers. This workshop will help you understand how legislation and politics affect your life and the lives of members and teach you how to make effective requests for PEOPLE donations to build the program and increase our political power.
You Can’t Do It Alone! Recruiting Activists to Build Stronger Locals
As a union leader, you can’t do everything you need to do alone. Learn to identify and recruit activists to build Member Action Teams, conduct New Employee Outreach and build teams that strengthen your local.
Exploring and Advancing Gender Identity and Gender Justice
As our country continues to evolve, increasing our understanding of the spectrum of gender identity is necessary for greater inclusivity in our growing, diverse membership. In this workshop, you will deepen your knowledge of how gender has evolved throughout history, learn the latest terms used to effectively relate to others, and gain strategies for promoting inclusivity in the workplace and in our union.
Navigating Social Identities for Effective Engagement
Society defines us in many ways according to race, gender, ability, etc. Ultimately, the perception of self and others is influenced by how we are all viewed. This workshop will help you to understand the various dimensions that you and others hold and encourage you to consider how they impact your interactions in our union and the workplace. You will see how some identities are normalized over others, and know how to leverage power and privilege to bring equity and inclusion for all. This workshop will engage all who are new and experienced on this topic.
Contract Campaigns: Activating Member Power for Stronger Contracts
Negotiations are all about worker power. This workshop will provide you with new tools to negotiate with power. In this session, participants will learn how to build workers' skills to support negotiations, allow us to pressure management and achieve better wins.
Advanced Steward Training: Representing Members Facing Discipline
Let’s be frank—a big part of a steward’s job is making sure that members facing discipline are treated fairly by the boss. This workshop will prepare you to provide the most effective representation possible to those co-workers, from conducting the initial investigatory interview to developing a compelling defense.
Rethinking Our Workplaces — Building Member Engagement in a Telework World
With more AFSCME members working from home, we need to think about new ways to engage members and potential members outside of the workplace. This workshop will give you tools to engage your bargaining unit outside of the traditional worksite visits.
Solving Workplace Issues with Collective Action
How can we hold the boss accountable or build power? Through direct actions in the workplace. Many locals are getting back to the basics by mobilizing workers and using workplace issue campaigns to hold the boss accountable. Using this approach, we are able to build an active membership, enhance communication, develop new leaders and quickly solve problems.
Developing an Organizing Plan in Your Workplace and Beyond
Signing up new members makes our union stronger, and sometimes those folks are right beside us in our workplaces or communities. Learn about how to identify good organizing targets and the different processes we can use to organize new groups of workers and expand our union.
How to Get Members of Congress to Work for Us
Election Day is only the beginning. We got them elected, now we have to build relationships with members of Congress and win support for a pro-worker agenda. This workshop will teach you how.
Protect Pensions, Social Security and Medicare by Staying Union Strong in Retirement
During your public service career, Social Security, Medicare and other benefits. But our fight to protect these benefits doesn’t end when we leave the workforce. Learn how you can stay union strong after you retire and protect these retirement benefits as a member of AFSCME Retirees.
Cybersecurity and You
The internet poses many risks and challenges, such as scams, identity theft, malware and cyberattacks. In this workshop, you will learn how to protect yourself and your devices from these threats. You will also discover some of the resources and programs available to improve your cyber security awareness. By the end of this workshop, you will have a better understanding of cyber security and how to apply it to your online activities. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced user, this workshop is for you.
AFSCME Financial Standards Code — Changes in an Evolving World
AFSCME’s Financial Standards Code is our union officers' go-to document for financial oversight. As the COVID-19 pandemic showed us, the world has moved quickly to the electronic age and the Code has had to address these changes. In response, over the past year, extensive updates have been made to the Code. This workshop will provide an overview of these changes and how they may affect your union.