‘Labor 101 for Socialists’ study group is ready for you

The pamphlet that anchors sessions one and two of the ‘Labor 101 for Socialists’ study group.

Many new DSA members think worker organizing and unions are important, but don’t know much about them and have no experience with them.  Over the last four years, East Bay DSA has created a curriculum, ‘Labor 101 for Socialists’, to introduce new members to the labor movement and the role of socialists in it.  I joined the Labor Education subcommittee in 2022 and facilitated one group. Based on that and on feedback by both participants and facilitators from the previous groups we revised the curriculum, extending it from three sessions to four because important topics got squeezed out when there were only three. I was the facilitator for a group this spring that piloted the new version, and I’m setting up another group for this fall. It has been a great way to bring new members into the Labor Committee and many participants have become active in our labor work.

More a discussion group than a class

Labor 101 for Socialists is more a discussion group than a class.  Participants read some short articles and discuss them based on a series of question prompts; we want them to learn about the labor movement and some fundamental socialist ideas about it, but we also want them to practice talking about those ideas so that they’ll be comfortable talking to co-workers and friends about them and so that they’ll feel more confident about speaking up at Labor Committee or other DSA meetings and educationals. The curriculum was written for new members without labor movement experience, but we’ve also had participants who were in unions but wanted to think about the role of socialists. We welcome friends and contacts who are not DSA members; one participant talked two of her co-workers into attending.

In the first session we talk about what defines the working class, what unions can do, and about why the socialist project depends on organized workers.  The second session focuses on U.S. labor history and includes a brief slideshow about Haymarket and the eight-hour movement, a summary of the 20th century(!) and an article by Eugene Debs about the relationship between socialists and unions.  The unifying text for the first two sessions is a pamphlet written by Fred Glass and published by East Bay DSA, which is also titled Labor 101 for Socialists. The third session looks at class-struggle strategies in unions through two case studies: a chapter from the The Long Deep Grudge by Toni Gilpin about organizing in the South by the left-wing Farm Equipment union in the 30s and 40s, and an article and a video about the history of Teamsters for a Democratic Union.  The last session addresses why socialists play a crucial role in reviving the labor movement and the ways in which participants can get involved in organizing or in union support activities. The week after the last session we plan an informal get-together over beer and pizza at an accessible location.  

Preferred:  the relaxed setting

Group meetings are two hours, with a break in the middle; there are suggested times for each question/topic but we aren’t strict about these; one really good discussion is worth cutting another one a little short. We’ve held the groups both at the EBDSA office and in someone’s living-room; both work, but participants like the more comfortable and relaxed living-room setting. We try to schedule the group for four weeks shortly after our three-session orientation/onboarding group for new chapter members; someone attends the last new-members session to publicize it, along with representatives of other chapter committees and campaigns. 

The group is listed in the chapter calendar. We email previous participants to ask if they know anyone who would be interested, and we announce it at Labor Committee and EBDSA chapter meetings. There is an online form to register for the group; that gives us a phone and email list. Half-page flyers with a QR code to the form are distributed wherever it gets announced.  Some people who sign up never come. Others come but miss one or more sessions. Groups have been as large as twelve and as small as eight. 

The facilitator role

There are two parts to the facilitator role, and they can be done by one person or split between two people.  One part is facilitating the discussion: trying to steer toward the 'key points' noted for each section in the curriculum, inviting people who haven’t spoken to jump in, suggesting that we move on to the next topic.  At the end of each session we go over the reading for the next session, and ask for participants willing to briefly summarize each reading at the start of the next session. 

The other part of facilitating is calling and texting: I try to talk with everyone who signs up before the first session and call or text people who don’t come to the first session to see if they’ll catch up on the reading and come to the second.  If people who came at first miss a session I’ll check in with them  during the week.  With a group of ten these calls require some attention but not a lot of time.  After the last session where we go over ways they can be involved.  I check in with participants to make sure that they are connected to some piece of labor work.

It’s great if one of the facilitators has some union experience but not required.  We have tried to make the curriculum stand on its own. There are readings, discussion questions and timing for each session. Questions the facilitator can’t answer (I’ve been stumped several times) can become a quick research project for the questioner or the facilitator for the next meeting. 

Great results

Building relationships and political capacity through Labor 101 has had great results for us. Several of the non-DSA participants have joined EBDSA. Some of the participants in the first group I facilitated in 2023 have become leaders of the Labor Committee. Three of the participants in the second group became involved in organizing their workplace.  Two have joined a chapter Tech Workers Circle. One is part of an organizing committee that has now submitted a super-majority of cards for union recognition. She says that salting might be her next career goal. Many new DSA members think worker organizing and unions are important—and Labor 101 for Socialists has been a way to move them to activity and organizing.

Our curriculum is available HERE; our last revision was also a chance to make it something that others could use.  If you are interested in trying it in your chapter, please let us know how we can help. If you try it or if you are already doing similar things we’d like to know.