I work at a non profit and we just won union recognition and are slowly moving towards first contract negotiations and I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M DOING. Would love to chat with some folks about their experiences, especially if you've negotiated around contracts/grants/etc.
A comrade was employed as an organizer with a union. This employer exclusively hired from a recent immigrant community in an attempt to break the unions previously established in the white/settler community. When it came time to start taking actions, the workers began listing the managers that most especially got on their nerves and debating which ones were the highest priority. Comrade had a hard time following the discussion for a little bit and eventually asked for clarification. Was told: "Oh we know how it goes. We knock off some of theirs; they get a few of ours. We are not sure which ones we will go after." The agenda item was Union Hit List. Back home, unions were serious business and everyone had engaged in organizing with this understanding. Suddenly for the first time, comrade was in the position of not being the militant fringe of the labor movement. But as is inevitable for any union staffer, trying to reel the workers back in line. But it was not without ambivalence.