Organizing isn’t just a science, it’s also an art. Normally the latter is passed on through phone calls, debriefs, meetings, and late-night shit talk. This is an attempt to share with the next generation of union organizers some of those lessons learned along the way, some in victory, some in defeat. None of this is new. None of this is mine.

I certainly don’t have the answers, I just know it’s something that I’ve given my life to over the past quarter of a century. The art requires staying close to the ground where people are—and that’s messy. It requires us to relate to others, take chances, innovate, all while asking the hard questions of others and ourselves.

All of it is simple. None of it is easy.

— Brian O. Shepherd, United Auto Workers organizing director and lead organizer supporting Mercedes workers in Vance, Alabama. June 3, 2025.

The Art of Organizing

1) Be Quiet

After you have asked a question, be quiet and just listen.

2) Stop Being Weird

It’s not what you are saying, it’s how you are doing it. Stop being weird.

Organizers can easily get lost thinking about what’s the right question to ask or what is the right combination of words that will push this worker to make a decision. Not that it doesn’t matter, but most of the time it’s the non-verbal cues or delivery that people are reacting to more than what you’re actually saying.

If you’re talking really fast, and trying to bombard people with information, you’ve already set yourself up for the other person to put up some unnecessary barriers. Slow things down, be confident and speak calmly and you will notice that people will respond differently.

3) Trust Workers

Sounds simple, right? But how often do we go into conversations, meetings or campaigns with a predetermined plan and outcome?

There are three characteristics that organizers need to keep front and center when helping workers build organization:

1. Workers have the power to decide WHAT the problem is.

2. Workers must have the power to decide HOW to solve those problems.

3. Workers have the power to ACT on implementing the solutions to those problems.

There are systemic structures that prevent working people from acting on any of those three things. A large part of our role as organizers is to help people identify and break