OSEA is developing new strategies this year to build power in our workplaces. We're investing in our members so we can bring real strength to the bargaining table and win our best contracts yet.
One of those new strategies is the Member Organizing Fellowship, a paid, part-time program for members to organize in their own and surrounding chapters. Organizing fellows are trained to focus on what we know works: worker-to-worker conversations about the real power of our union – ourselves.
OSEA is a member's union, an organization created by members, for members. Our strength over our long history comes from the ground up, built by empowered education workers who fought for our right to living wages, our right to dignity in the workplace and our right to do the best work we can on behalf of our students. The Member Organizing Fellowship program is an investment in that on-the-ground power.
The first cohort of fellows participated in a multi-day training earlier this month in Salem. Fellows practiced organizing conversations with new coworkers and longtime holdouts. They even cold-called OSEA-represented workers to talk about why they haven't joined our union. Fellows learned to see objections as an opportunity for deeper conversation, rather than just a flat 'no.'
Laura Vellines, a fellow from Springfield Chapter 4, said she feels empowered to go out and talk to education workers – not only potential new members, but also current members, to learn about their priorities and how OSEA can be the union they want to see.
"[Our OSEA leaders] want strong membership, they want members to take up challenging issues, and they want to help us strengthen ourselves," Vellines said. "I was really excited to learn about that, learn new skills, and meet people who want to fight together."
Chris Hanson, a fellow from and president of Central Point Chapter 47, said the training was partially a fact-finding mission for him. He wants to return to his chapter with answers for his coworkers, some of whom are critical of our union, and show them how standing together as members is how we make change.
"I'll be doing the fellowship for six months, but this is something I will carry on, to keep my chapter's membership in the 70-80 percent range, where we need to stay, so that we can walk into a bargaining meeting and have the power behind us that we need," Hanson said. "But in order to do that, you need to be able to listen to the bad stuff, and this just helps me prepare for that."
Kristen Allen, a fellow from North Clackamas Chapter 71, said the training helped her frame her conversations about OSEA in terms of what we can do when we stand together, rather than what monetary benefits, such as insurance or discounts, OSEA membership can provide.
"Before, some of what I was taught was more like a sales pitch," Allen said. "These skills were focused on talking about the serious, fundamental need for a union... How to talk to people about the importance of our union and really trying to get them involved from the get-go."
As OSEA heads into a new season, our focus is on strengthening our union, empowering education workers and showing up for our members and coworkers. Vellines, Hanson and Allen all have prior experience as members of other unions. They're excited to be part of a new era for OSEA, where we stay true to our values and invest in what we truly believe in – our members.
The fellows will be working for OSEA for the next three to six months, dedicating roughly 10 hours a week to organizing, depending on their projects. The Member Organizing Fellowship is supported by OSEA's national affiliate, the AFT. If this sounds fun to you, stay tuned – we will open applications for a new round of fellows later in the year.