Earning Union Support

About the Course

In this course we focus on the role unions can play in your campaign and how you can develop those relationships. By the end of this course, you will understand the benefits which accompany a union endorsement, and begin to consider how you might make the most of those in your campaign. You will also develop a prioritized list of unions, and contacts at each, whose endorsements your campaign should seek.

When to Take This Course

If you’ve started getting endorsement questionnaires from unions, take this course now! If you don’t have those in hand yet, this course is best taken after you have your basic campaign plan in place and are determining your strategies and how to meet your fundraising, volunteer, and vote goals (preview: unions might be able to help).

Take Aways

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Make the most of union endorsements in your campaign
• Develop a prioritized list of unions and contacts whose endorsements your campaign should seek
• Navigate the process of earning a union endorsement
• Deliver a 2-3 minute endorsement pitch to a union representative

By the end of this course, you will have these resources for your campaign:

• Worksheet: “Planning to Earn Union Support”
• A list of union policy websites
• An example Endorsement Pitch

Sign up and enroll in this course to begin!

Course Instructor

Elissa McBride Instructor

Secretary-Treasurer, AFSCME Elissa McBride is Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, which represents 1.6 million workers. She was elected by acclamation by the International Executive Board in March 2017. McBride joined the labor movement as a member of the United Auto Workers District 65 in 1989. In 1991, she was recruited to the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute, a new initiative to expand the ranks of union organizers and grow the labor movement. McBride became the New England organizing director for the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers and later directed the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute training program. At the AFL-CIO, she trained hundreds of community activists and organizers to build power in their workplaces by reaching workers one-on-one and moving them to take collective action. McBride joined AFSCME as the director of the Education and Leadership Training Department in 2001. In this position, she used interactive teaching methods to prepare union members, leaders and staff to lead the labor movement into the future and become more effective champions for equality, justice and dignity on the job. McBride lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, with her daughter, Rosie.