Conducting Successful Building Visits, Part 2

Part 2: Skills and Beliefs Needed for Staff to Make Successful Building Visits

This article contains two parts. Part 1 offers instructions to leaders who have never done building visits or need a little reminder. Part 2 (below) is directed toward staff who have been out of the classroom for some time and may not understand all the issues presented to them by members. Have fun!

The primary activity of any organizer -- whether it be working with one of our solid locals, soliciting members, starting an organization from scratch, preparing for a strike, or organizing a card drive -- is working the buildings or "factory gate" work.

Building work is perhaps the most difficult aspect of Association work; yet at the same time, it is the most important! No organizing drive, no representation election, no card drive, no bargaining crisis, no membership growth, hardly anything we have to do in our business can be accomplished without this building visitation work. Without this type of activity, an association will eventually die! Staffs, who are successful, are competent in this type of work and some of their basic thoughts and skills include:

1. A solid belief in our Association, what we stand for, and our ability to represent our members better than anyone else ? anyone!
    
2. A sincere empathy with our rank and file and an awareness of the difficulty of teaching as a lifestyle.
    
3. A good feeling about oneself and one's ability, determination to help the rank and file solve problems.
    
4. A comprehensive knowledge of our Association, its policies and positions on all issues of the day and the willingness to forthrightly argue/defend those policies, positions to anyone.
    
5. An understanding of the immediate task or reason for working the building. Know your facts.   Know why you are there.
    
6. An acceptance of confrontation as routine in building work ? whether it is with administrators, opposition members or angry agnostics.
    
7. Patience and ability to listen, really listen to what people are saying to you.
    
8. An ability to remember what folks tell you, what you overhear, names that are given as possible leads, orders and rules that are "barked" out by an administrator, and all other forms of intelligence you collect during a building visit and record it in writing for inclusion in file or report.
    
9. An ability to tough, if necessary; to understand that the image of our staff working a building is the image of our Association in the minds of any onlookers.
    
10. The willingness to "take on" the hard nose or loud mouth who tries to run us from a faculty lounge or meeting. As again the onlookers, the ones who we think aren't interested or paying attention, are watching our every move! And, they will vote or move to join what they see, hear!
     
11. The courage to admit, "I don't have that answer;" but the resolve to say, "I will get an answer for you and get back." And do it!
     
12. The knowledge that a promise unkept, or an answer undelivered, or a situation evaded will cost credibility, votes, members.
     
13. A skill at maneuvering the discussion to those areas of benefit to our Association.   Don't talk their platform ? talk ours!
     
14. The ability to recognize and recruit followers as workers ? and find meaningful work for them to accomplish.
     
15. During certification elections, a thorough knowledge of the election rules and procedures as well as the general labor law in the state and local school district policy.