Solidarity Sunday: Treating the Symptoms
I recently saw a TV commercial for a drug that treats constipation that is caused by opiate use. A drug that treats a symptom that is caused by another drug that treats a symptom. Treat the symptom, which begets more symptoms to treat, rinse and repeat. The broken American Healthcare system at work. And big pharma and the 1%'ers laughs all the way to the bank.
It reminded me of how many locals often treat organizing. We have open job calls and the contractors are clamoring for more people (a symptom of robust job opportunities and contractors who are bidding and winning work.) So we garner our local resources and hit the streets, canvassing job sites and talking to as many people as we can. And that works for a while, until it doesn't.
Then the international office says "we need to reach more people!" So we "up the dose" and bring in more organizers from other locals to help us cover the jurisdiction in a 'blitz'. Spending tens of thousands of dollars manpower, travel costs, hotel rooms, meals, gas, etc. in a short-term effort to treat those symptoms, and show the contractors that we are doing everything in our power to fill those calls.
Here's the problem with that. It's treating the symptoms, not the root cause.
You could write out a description for the right person to fill those job calls: the right age, skill set, job history, attitude, geographic access to the job, etc. That is the right target to go after. And you could canvass every job site, gas station, supply house, distributor, etc. to reach that target but you'll still have the same 3 problems.
· Only a tiny fraction of them are ready for a change. In any category, less than 5% of your ideal target is in the market at any given time
· People move in and out of a market for job-changes based on situations in their own lives, not your organizing timeline.
· You can never predict with any accuracy the exact time when that target moves into the market, no matter how many bodies you throw at it.
The advertising weasels and digital snake oil salesmen will try and sell you on treating the symptom by only reaching those in the market right now using technology to predict the exact point when someone is looking to change jobs or look for employment options. In theory it makes sense because why would you want to reach people unless they are ready? But it doesn't work, because that's now how human beings make decisions.
You have to stay in front of them, constantly, with relevant stories to capture their attention before they are in the market, so that when those life events happen (and they will), they know about you and think of you first.
The best strategy is and always has been to treat the root cause by cultivating a relationship (called a Relational strategy) with your ideal target that speaks to their felt needs before they ever need you. Then complement that with a Transactional Strategy to convert those people who've fallen into the market. It's how we built our Organize 24/7 program to help our local union clients.