Learning organising through workplace network mapping

Workplace mapping is a long-standing and crucial organizing tool: understanding the people within a particular community is an essential part of being able to communicate with them and encouraging them to action. In highly focused sessions, organizers are able to consolidate the in-depth knowledge that existing members or delegates have of their workplace, and turn it into usable data that focuses an organizing effort. At the end of the process delegates are left with a short list of names of highly significant people who, when recruited to the union are capable of expediting its growth. Most importantly, the highly interactive process leaves union activists with a practical experience of some of the essential components of good union organizing, including: identifying leaders; choosing target areas; communication structures; and understanding relationships and networks. This session will include both a theoretical description of the process, as well as a hands-on demonstration of the methods.