by Hannah W.
The first ever Rust Belt Rising conference was held on August 15th and 16th here in Rochester. This was organized by Workers Assembly of Rochester (WAR), an independent organization of local labor activists, including DSA members, union staffers and organizers. Local labor leaders, rank and file members and members of community organizations gathered to discuss and learn about the role of the labor movement in Rochester, and how we can move it to be more militant and left.
Opening Keynote
The opening keynote was a panel containing Colin, an organizer with the Teamsters Local 118, Christina, President of the Federation of Social Workers and Max from Buffalo DSA and Field Director for the Adam Bojak Campaign. The topic was How to Build an Independent Worker Program, which I think is a relevant topic given the current political state.
Comrade Max talked about the role labor plays in elections, citing the work he and other comrades have done for Adam Bojak for the 149th assembly. While many unions did endorse Bojak, “We want labor to be a partner, not just a stamp”. Max posed to the audience what difference does union endorsement make, especially if they’re not turning out members for electoral races. While they may provide money for mailers, having people to knock doors is the most effective way to reach voters. He also spoke about the need to move away from the Democratic Party and not waste time and resources trying to take over local Democratic committees. Starting to run your own candidates, and that a sense of “ownership” will be felt by the members. We’ve seen this with Clarie Valdez as an example of a rank and file union member and DSA member who ran for state assembly and now Congress.
Colin spoke about the union endorsement process that candidates go through and asked if that process is democratic. Do members have the ability to ask questions of the candidates? Do members have the final vote for the endorsement? Colin noted that this gatekeeping of democracy comes from entrenched union leadership wanting to keep power, rather than allow the rank and file to make decisions. We’ve seen this play out with unions endorsing candidates like Joe Morelle. Colin also spoke on how unions think we’re organizing to support candidates but oftentimes, the politicians are the ones “organizing us.”
Christina spoke about beating apathy by having continuous conversations with membership. From engaging them in endorsements to participating in co-governance with endorsed candidates. This looks like holding town halls with electeds, starting mobilization committees, and shifting the union perspective to an organizing mindset. While not all members have the same perspective, this will lead to a more engaged membership. She also talked about the need to work with community groups to build strength and solidarity.
Overall I was impressed with the panelists’ perspectives on building out an independent program. This is a long term goal to achieve, but I think the first step is educating the rank and file. In doing so, we can hopefully have members active in electoral campaigns, and end the cycle of endorsing candidates who don’t stand with the working class.
Workshops
Throughout the conference there were 5 different blocks of workshops with 16 unique workshops. Overall the variety in the programming was impressive, from union contracts, to organizing history and current politics.
Get a Job to Organize: Salting
This was about salting a workplace. For those unfamiliar with the term, Salting is getting a job with the explicit purpose of unionizing the workplace. Doing so is not an easy task as you have to build out a list of who would want to join in this effort. The workshop went over what it takes to salt, the qualities of a good salt and what the process may look like. The main skill being communication, as salters will have numerous conversations with their co-workers.
Colin mentioned a learning on his end of making sure the timeline is communicated to the salter before taking a job. An example is Amazon as this is a long term operation that is 15 – 20 years and a salter should be willing to commit for several years. In addition, he spoke to the desire to have salts stay through the unionization effort and become shop stewards. In doing so, it can ensure the union stays militant and left-leaning.
DSA has its own Workers Organizing Workers program, which will train members on how to salt. If you are a member of DSA and interested in salting, please reach out to the chapter and we can get you connected.
Secrets of a Successful Organizer: Beating Apathy
Kari from Labor Notes gave this training on how to beat apathy. When we think about organizing, we need to think about our list of members as a bullseye (pictured below). This helps determine the level of membership involvement in a given union/organization. The training covered different reasons members wouldn’t get engaged and proposed solutions to counter that.
Once we’ve built out our list, the training went over common barriers as to why people might not engage. These four barriers were fear, hopelessness, division and confusion. The room was ask to split amongst those four barriers. In each group, we were asked to give an example of our word and then provide solutions to beating this.
Secrets of a Successful Organizer: Assembling your Dream Team
Assembling your Dream Team is a continuation from the previous session of Beating Apathy. This workshop went over how to identify leaders within a workplace and bring them into your organizing committee. From there building out a list of your workplace and identifying your members/coworkers who are core, active, disengaged, supportive and hostile. Kari stressed the importance of listwork to identify members that could be leaders.
The workshop had us go through two scenarios. One where we were trying to organize a workplace to wear stickers. This was to get us to think of mapping out our workplace, who works there, who talks to who. From there we went over ways to identify leaders in the workplace. Lastly we went through a scenario of identifying leaders for an organizing committee at a hotel.
My work with member engagement has familiarized me with the bullseye method. While it is tedious to go through around 550 records, it is important work. Identifying where members lie helps us determine who we need to reengage with and potentially turn into active members. In doing so, we can build leadership and bring members up within the chapter.
What NOT to do if you want an active membership
The final workshop I attended was things not to do if you want membership engaged. Colin led this workshop and was mainly posing questions to the audience. The first was about involvement and why members don’t engage or get involved. Answers ranged from cliques and gatekeeping to lack of understanding from membership.
Second was phrases used that people have heard. Responses included “That’s how it’s done,” “That’s not how it works.” Of the responses, it was noted that sometimes these are valid. On the other hand, we also must think about what message that conveys to membership. Does it allow them to engage or eventually solve the issue on their own?
The session ended with asks for all the organizers present to:
- Invite
- Listen
- Delegate
- Train
- Support
- Move on
The workshop for me helped change my perspective about how I answer questions members may direct at me. Instead of taking on the work myself, am I able to delegate and empower said members. In doing so this can help create a more involved membership and also build the skills members need to become leaders.
Day 1 Closing: New Union Organizing
The Day 1 closing was a panel about new union organizing. This included RUNAP, Webster & Penfield EMT (Teamsters 118?), U of R Grad Labor Union (SEIU 200) and Home Healthcare Workers (1199 SEIU). Each of the panelists were given the same set of questions to answer.
One question that stood out to me was about tactics they tried that fell flat. For the Webster & Penfield EMT, it was them not anticipating how aggressive the union busting campaign would be. While they did prepare, it was far more hostile than what they expected. The same was also said for the U of R grad union, as UofR changed tactics once Trump was re-elected in 2024. Matt from RUNAP mentioned ensuring that people stay involved and enthusiastic, but their expectations don’t go beyond what the union can actually do. This leads to needing to educate membership. Lastly, Mike from 1199 SEIU emphasized the importance of tools and speed for organizing the ~200,000 home healthcare workers in New York who are now eligible for union membership.
Through organizing, workers can create power and pressure on the boss and win. While some, like the Grad Union are still waiting to be recognized, they were able to win wage increases through organizing. With the continued organizing of unions in the Rochester area, we can build worker power and fight for what is rightfully ours.
Day 2 Closing: Upcoming Labor Fights
The final panel of the conference was on upcoming labor fights here in the Rochester area. This included 1199 SEIU, SEIU 200 and RUNAP. This covered the two largest employers in the area: University of Rochester and Rochester Regional Health. As stated during the panel, these employers set the economic health of the Rochester region. If they underpay their workers, it brings down wages across the entire community.
Part of the panel discussed bargaining units and what the main concerns of their members are. Overall, the top concern was health care and benefits. It’s no secret that companies have moved the American population over to high deductible plans to allow wealth transfer to insurance CEOs. I asked the panelists how the NY Health Act (Single payer health care) would benefit them during bargaining. The panelists were all in favor of the bill noting it would allow them to not spend the fight on health care, and bargain for other benefits such as child care.
Overall Thoughts
First I want to recognize the organizing effort that went into this by my fellow WAR members. From reaching out to unions, to getting panels and booking the venue. I appreciate the work that was done to make this a successful event. I think for the first ever conference I enjoyed going to it and did learn from it and view it as a success.
From what I talked with others, some of the workshops could be improved. However I think that is somewhat standard for conferences given that not every workshop will be a success. Perhaps more vetting and walkthroughs of the workshops might be helpful prior to the conference. In addition, evaluations of the workshops can also help the presenters as well.
Outside of ROC DSA there were a handful of other DSA members that attended the event. The beginning panel had two DSA members on it calling out socialism explicitly. I think as DSA we should continue to build relationships with members of unions. I think conferences like this are a great opportunity to learn more about local organizing efforts and have direct conversations with union members.
To me, the best part was the opening panel as it spoke to the need to divert resources and power from the establishment. In doing so, we can elect people who will actually support and fight for the working class, rather than use us for a photo op.
This conference helped reshape the way I view myself as an organizer and the actions I take. The people I talked to were in some form of elected leadership or staffers, with some unelected rank and file members. My hope with this conference is to have more unelected rank and file members join in the coming years. I was impressed with how the conference went and I’m looking forward to the next one.