Delegate trainings

The Union 101 training focuses on the delegate’s most fundamental responsibility: keeping the union strong. Some members mistakenly believe that contract negotiations begin and end at the bargaining table. In reality, our union prepares to fight for contracts years in advance. In this training, we talk about what our members and staff are doing to build our leverage ahead of contract fights. Some of our strategies include running creative picket lines, building political power to pass targeted legislation that increases our ability to wage a fight with management, increasing our union density by strategically organizing non-union hotels, and negotiating master agreements instead of stand-alone contracts.

In Contract 101, we go over the many rights and protections in our master contracts. The language in our contracts can be divided into two overarching categories: language that gives our members more money (and by that, not just wages but also the cost of benefits, overtime, and paid time off); and language that gives our members more rights. We start with the issues that most often come up for delegates on the shop floor, like pay, overtime, scheduling, and seniority. We also explore where our rights come from beyond the black-and-white contract language. Because it's not just the contract language that governs the conditions your workplace — it’s also the past practice at your shop, thousands of arbitration decisions that interpret the contract, and the law.