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Continued from Part 3

The first hurdle you have in getting your message out to the general public is the local reporter or editor. Your approach to the local media is very important, so you should spend some time trying to connect on a personal level.

That means you can’t just send a press release … or a letter to the editor … and then hope for the best.

Give them a call … make sure they got it … see if they need more information … introduce yourself as the point of contact on this and other issues relating to the union and the local workforce.

It won’t take long to figure out where a reporter or editor stands on the issue of unions … their import or their irrelevance to the public debate. But don’t let that initial reception throw you off your game.

My firm … Tricom Associates … helped Goodyear workers – members of the United Steelworkers – win a good contract after the 2006 strike, at a time when striking workers were unhappy and the international union hadn’t been able to move the goalpost in negotiations. We also alerted communities to toxic toys and the dangers of unregulated trade with China, working with the labor-management Alliance for American Manufacturing, publicizing town hall meetings for AAM and the Steelworkers-Sierra Club Blue Green Alliance, helping to build a groundswell for creating new "green" jobs.

We are working with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers to promote solar, wind and nuclear energy, jobs their members have been performing for years, and building up the image of electricians in communities across the country. We are working with the Fire Fighters to boost their image as well, particularly in the political arena.

We’re working with Union Privilege of the AFL-CIO to promote benefit programs designed specifically to help union members deal with the 2009 recession, with assistance for the laid-off and the disabled, for those who go on strike, to cover hospital bills and insurance premiums, as well as credit card and mortgage payments.

We’re also helping the flight attendants at American Airlines win a decent contract, after nearly seven years of crippling concessions. And helping flight attendants at Delta get a union, building on the merger with Northwest Airlines, where the Association of Flight Attendants represents employees.

In all of those campaigns, as we reach out to the general public, we must translate the goals of the union, and its members, for a general audience.

That means we needed to “universalize” our messages – to connect with everyone, and not just a single group – as if we were only communicating with other local union members.

In the case of the Blue Green Alliance town hall meetings, for example, the message already extends across a broad universe.

The Steelworkers and the Sierra Club, now working with Al Gore’s We Campaign, bring labor and environmentalists to the table, as well as local businesses and associations promoting the renewable energy industry.

When you put all those together – in an era of finite resources, dangerous and costly reliance on fossil fuels, 3 million lost manufacturing jobs outsourced to other countries in just the past five years – the Steelworkers have recognized a self-interest that goes beyond the economy, to the core of life and sustainable growth.

So, lucky for us, the Green Jobs town hall meetings have broad public appeal. We contact the media and tell them the story, they get it and show up to find out more, so they can tell the story to their readers.

Likewise, we launched the toxic toys campaign leading up to the Christmas season, in a year in which millions of lead-tainted and other dangerous toys made in China were being recalled.

The Steelworkers’ Women of Steel conduct home-based demonstrations showing how to test for lead in toys and other products. We contact the media and tell them that concerned mothers and grandmothers are showing neighbors how to protect their kids.

Now, that’s a powerful image. The media get it, and show up with cameras to show local viewers what concerned mothers and grandmothers, with resources from the Steelworkers, can do.

Early last year, the Steelworkers came out to a couple of different events at congressional offices across the country, protesting China’s dumping of toxic products in the U.S. market and demanding trade regulations to protect Americans.

We contacted the media and told them the latest in the long-running Toxic Toys campaign. They showed up, and their reports put pressure on members of Congress to do the right thing on trade, toughening inspections and adding people to an agency the Bush administration had been trying to waste.

Read Part 5

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