BAC Organizers Sharpen Their Tools
Organizing is BAC’s mission — but sometimes, our organizing isn’t focused on recruiting craftworkers or signing new contractors. “Market defense” organizing is an important tool that BAC uses to ensure our members and signatory contractors aren’t undercut by lowroad, non-union companies.
Nearly 40 organizers from across North America gathered in Portland, Oregon in mid-November for a week-long organizing workshop and field blitz and the focus was squarely on learning about market defense tactics — and putting them into action on the street.
“This workshop ensures that the lessons organizers are learning in the classroom do not stay there,” said IU Secretary-Treasurer Jerry Sullivan, who participated in the sessions. “Every morning, organizers are practically applying the techniques and tools they learned about the previous afternoon.”
In the classroom, instructors including Kitty Conlan of the Building Trades Academy and IU Organizing Director Luciano Padilla led training modules focusing on strategic planning, contractor research, and effective picketing and bannering. In the field, Local 1 OR/ WA/ID/MT staff, led by President Shawn Lenczowski, identified nonunion jobs and contractors that were vulnerable to market defense tactics.
As participant Chris Tedford of Local 2 NY/VT explained, “The instructors shared a lot of great information about how BAC can get results by exerting pressure on bad actors. They were very knowledgeable and prepared.”
Other guest speakers included David Rosenfeld, a labor lawyer who discussed picketing rules, and Kevin Christensen of Take Bread Strategies, who taught a module on using computer tools for market defense. Matteo Russo, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 1 OR/ WA/ID/MT gave the group context about targeted contractors.
In the field, organizers travelled to Oregon Health & Science University at 6 am to erect an inflatable “Scabby” rat and protest a substandard tile contractor; that same morning, another group of participants handbilled a contractor working at Portland City Hall, accompanied by an inflatable fat cat and banner. Not only did the organizers bring awareness to the city’s use of unfair contractors, but they were able to speak with several unorganized craftworkers about the benefits of becoming union.
Tedford saw the immediate impact of the job action, remarking that “the public, especially in this area, seem to be very supportive. There was a lot of interest, and lots of questions about what we were trying to accomplish. We made a difference.”