LIUNA's solution - develop a pathbreaking model of internal capacity building for their union, comprised of over 500,000 members in the construction industry. Through leadership development, training, and member-to-member outreach, LIUNA built the base of active members, increasing its internal strength as a union and its political power to affect change on behalf of all working families.
Wellstone Action developed custom-tailored trainings on the skills of electoral mobilization and member-to-member organizing within the union. They key to this innovation - a collaborative organizing model where trainers are recruited out of the rank-and-file membership to train their peers and identify additional leaders. And the model worked - LIUNA had a big impact in 2006.
This January, Wellstone Action went out to San Diego to work with LIUNA Local 89 (see photo below), conducting an intensive training with their organizers and staff on how to engage members, provide them with opportunities for leadership, and influence the outcome of elections on behalf of candidates that support the rights of workers.
In addition to California, Wellstone Action has worked with LIUNA in Illinois and New Jersey, and willin Baton Rouge, LA this spring. We hope to continue to work with LIUNA and be a part of their organizing for the 2008 elections.
The most exciting component of this partnership for Wellstone Action is the promise of spreading this innovative model across the labor movement. After being developed and tested by LIUNA, Wellstone Action has taken these trainings to other unions all across the country, exponentially increasing the impact of training, leadership development, and power building!
