AFL-CIO affiliate members skill-up to Organize the South

North Carolina hosts AFL-CIO's "Organizing Institute" in Charlotte

"Organize the South (or die)" is our mantra at the NC State AFL-CIO, but making that a reality will take more than just convincing international unions and state and local labor federations in other parts of the country to invest in union organizing where it's needed most - in the South.

Bringing democracy to more workplaces across the South will take organizers - people who are active members of our affiliates and have the necessary skills to work on internal and external organizing campaigns, which is why we were proud to host the AFL-CIO's 3-day basic organizing skills training, the Organizing Institute (O.I.), last weekend in Charlotte.

Three dozen O.I. participants learned from professionals and from each other 1-on-1 communication skills, leadership ID and development, how to move workers to take action, and techniques for organizing new units and building membership in existing ones.

Watch a short video with photos from the Charlotte O.I.:

"We had a great group and I think the event was very successful," said Naomi Carbrey, NC State AFL-CIO's field organizer. "I got a lot of positive feedback from folks about how helpful the training was."

Thanks to the support of the AFL-CIO and our affiliates in North Carolina - including CWA, IBEW, IAMAW, IATSE, SMART, UAW, UFCW, and the NC ARA Education Fund - as well as our community partners at the Central Carolina Worker Justice Center and Triangle Friends of Farmworkers for making the Charlotte O.I. such a success and for taking up our challenge to Organize the South!

Learn more about the O.I. and upcoming sessions here.