Power and Participation in Negotiations is a three-part training focused on the shift to transparent, big, and open negotiations, and how this approach can build power in your workplace and beyond. This course will be led by Organizing for Power lead trainer Jane McAlevey, who has spent her life applying this approach in hard negotiations.
The approach marks a major contrast to what most unions practice. As shown in a recent report co-authored by Jane McAlevey and Abby Lawlor, transparent and big negotiations can transform unions by democratizing the negotiation process. Not only do workers win stronger contracts, but they emerge better able to enforce the contracts they win. And the process of doing so serves as invaluable political education, clarifying the sides and stakes of class struggle.
Power and Participation in Negotiations will take place on three Saturdays in October – the 1st, 15th, and 29th – with each session lasting two hours (find your starting time here). Why Saturdays? Because having one single daily session provides the best chance for organizers from across the world to join together in this groundbreaking discussion. During the first hour of each session, we will meet in plenary as a global audience to discuss the basics of big and open negotiations. During the second hour, you will break out into small groups to discuss reading assignments.
This advanced course is open exclusively to groups of 10+ people who have either previously taken an O4P or equivalent course, or who have otherwise engaged in structure-based organizing that adheres to our tradition and approach.
This course, unlike our Core Fundamentals training, does require reading. It will function like a dynamic online global reading group, presuming that your group has met once prior to October 1st to start discussing the preface and introduction to the report and that your group will follow along as we move through other chapters, discussing them together over the course of October. Each of our three sessions will involve interactive participation, and participants will leave with a concrete understanding of how to shift their work to winning more.
Register your group now for Power and Participation in Negotiations. (Or use this registration link if you do not have a Google account.)
We look forward to seeing you there.
The deadline for registration is September 26.