At Northern California’s large Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1245, three dozen new “organizing stewards” in the class of 2015 have big plans for the coming year, says Eric Sunderland. Without a major election on the calendar, he says: “We should be able to do some serious movement-building this year.”
Started about 18 months ago, the program trains rank-and-file members to work with staff organizers on various organizing campaigns aimed at safeguarding the rights and well-being of the local’s members, the community and the labor movement, including new organizing, contract fights, political campaigns, solidarity campaigns and more.