Outreach

It was a snowy morning in 2002, I was a brand-new shop steward in CWA Local 3372 in Lexington, Kentucky, and I had volunteered to hand out the flyers for our contract campaign. I handed out 200 copies, then headed in to my shift at a Verizon 411 call center. When I passed the garbage can, I saw most of my flyers—wadded up and thrown away. In the two decades since, many unions have turned to email, texting, and social media to reach members. That’s a serious mistake. The humble black-and-white workplace flyer is still our most direct way to talk to our co-workers about why the boss is wrong and what we’re going to do to make the situation better. Since that day, I’ve made and distributed hundreds more flyers. Here are some lessons I’ve learned along the way. Your flyer will end up in the trash—so you only have a few moments to get across your most important ideas.