Developing Union Leaders

(This article appeared in the Sept./Oct. 2005 issue of The American Postal Worker magazine.) 

Joyce B. Robinson, Research & Education Department Director

In Detroit this summer, the union, in partnership with Wayne State University, offered a week of “Leadership Training for APWU Presidents.”

We consider these sessions significant to our goal to help local and state leaders run more effective unions. The training is designed to help participants acquire the knowledge and skills needed to meet the challenges of the future.

Sharon Al-Uqdah, president of the Greater Kansas City Metro Area Local, attended the first leadership development school in July. “I found new ways to build on the positives within my local, and new ways to meet the challenges of those not-so-positive issues.” Curriculum topics were: Strategy and Change; Understanding Leadership; Defining an Effective Union; Building the Union; Leading Volunteers/Mobilizing Members; Effective Problem Solving and Decision Making; Coalition Building; Getting Out the Union’s Message; Communicating One-on-One; Managing Conflict; Negotiating Agreement; Conducting Effective Meetings; Understanding Ourselves and Others; Leading a Diverse Union; Time Management; Making Effective Presentations; and Stress Management.

Fayetteville (NC) Area Local President Tony D.McKinnon Sr. called the training “invaluable,” saying that he has been attending APWU training sessions for decades and this was the best one he had ever been to. “It was a great learning atmosphere, with the instructors coming from a number of perspectives.”

“Too often, the focus of training is on litigation and grievances. This is a great beginning at helping APWU leaders develop the ability to better manage — and I don’t like to use that term — local unions for the challenges of the future, to adjust to the changing nature of the labor-management relationship,” McKinnon said. “It was especially useful to be taught how to hone some of the skills we already had but hadn’t been using.”

Also finding the training beneficial was Iowa APWU President Bruce Clark. “The way we do things often is too much like the relationship of an insurance company to its policy-holders — no matter how good your insurance provider represents you, it would never occur to you to see if you could be more active on its behalf, or whether they could use some help at the office.

“With this sort of training, our union is beginning to help our leaders develop in the art of organizing and mobilizing our members to be part of the great workingclass struggle.”