I know this is going to sound really dumb, but I want to help unionize my state, and I am aware of two heavily exploited and under-represented groups.
I am qualified to work in entry-mid level positions in both of these fields but… I want to unionize them from the outside instead of dealing with the shit from the inside. I can’t work those places because they are pretty abusive and I have an exceptionally low tolerance for that crap at this point, plus I’m kinda very much a communist, and this whole model we have doesn’t work for me.
Instead, I want to form/expand an organization for at least one of them. The one I’m looking to focus on is lab workers, and if that works, go from there. What would I need to do for that to happen in Wisconsin? Is it even possible to form an external workers union? I know there’s some limits to public sector bargaining in Wisconsin, and while I don’t think that applies to private sector, I don’t know whether a private company with government contracts (which a lot of them have) would count as public.
Are there any resources for this sort of thing? Maybe national unions that would want to expand if there’s enough interest? I’m super serious about doing this, so I’m really soliciting information.
You mean like an external organizer? At some point, someone from the inside is going to have to get involved.
You can make a legally recognized labor union without actually representing anyone, but you should probably work on 1-1’s and convincing guys on the inside before you try anything like that. Maybe contact EWOC or the IWW, and try to be an external organizer helping others campaigns?
Yeah I just want to get an idea of what the process might look like for an external person, I have a place in mind to try reaching out to to start, so I’ll contact those orgs and see what I can do, thanks :)