Communicating with members is a key part of encouraging their participation. Surveys provide an effective way for members to communicate their thinking.

Surveys Have a Number of Purposes:

• To find out what workers think — about organizing a union, negotiating a contract, lobbying for legislation, controlling stress or other health and safety hazards, reducing discrimination, and so on.

• To get members involved in union activity. Those who conduct the survey gain experience and a new sense of commitment. The workers surveyed appreciate that union leaders are interested in what they have to say.

• To send a message to management, government officials, or other authorities. Involvement of workers in a survey shows that it is not just union officials who are concerned and organized on a particular issue.

• To develop information which can be used to support media campaigns, bargaining demands, grievances, or other activities.

• To interest potential volunteers in getting more involved in the union. Sometimes, people are not involved because they don't even have enough contact to know what the union does and why it is relevant to their concerns.

12 Tips for Designing a Survey

1. Determine the specific objective of the survey and make sure this goal is reflected in the questions.

2. Determine who should receive the survey; for example, union members, non-union employees, or both.

3. Keep the number of questions to no more than 15 and keep them short and to the point.

4. Guide respondents through the survey by asking clear questions which flow logically from topic to topic, beginning with more general questions to more specific ones.

5. All questionnaires should include a brief introductory paragraph or letter from the president/executive board explaining the purpose of the survey, stressing the importance of the members' input, and thanking them in advance for their time and effort.

6. Very large local unions may wish to survey a representative sample of their membership instead of trying to contact everyone.

7. Demographic questions (age, sex, length of service, etc.) should be kept to a minimum, but should be included if the responses need to be divided into sub-groups.

8. Open-ended questions are harder to code and tabulate, but can be quite useful because they allow for opinions. It is suggested that you use the open-ended format when you cannot anticipate responses. Otherwise closed-format questions are the norm.

9. It is important to include an area for comments. People like to have the flexibility to express how they feel, perhaps concerning areas not directly covered in the survey.

10. Appearance and format are important (color, borders, clarity, etc.).

11. Methods for distribution and collection of surveys should be clearly outlined and explained to the stewards or other persons involved so that accurate records can be maintained.

12. General results of the survey must be relayed to the membership by some means (newsletter, bulletin board, etc.).

Distributing and Collecting the Survey

Surveys should be distributed and collected in person if possible and not by mail. This provides the opportunity to hear what people are thinking and to educate workers about their role in achieving union goals. It also will mean that more members will answer the survey. Make sure to offer help to any worker who wants assistance in filling out the survey.

The people distributing the survey should be given a brief training session. Some key points of that training should include:

• The surveyor's primary job is to get other people's views, not to give their own.

• If a worker makes negative comments about the union, the surveyor's job is not to argue but to find out more. After all, union leaders need to know where the weaknesses are, and workers need to feel that their comments are respected and will be reported back to leaders for serious consideration.

• Surveyors must emphasize that what we win depends on everyone's involvement. Ask workers to start thinking about how they are willing to help, and give them examples of the volunteer efforts that will be needed. It is important not to let workers think that "the union" is going to deliver results without membership support.

• You can create some spirit and visibility for the survey by publicizing the period when it will be conducted. Posters and flyers ahead of time about Survey Week can emphasize the importance of membership involvement in the survey.

• You might consider combining the survey with a membership drive if you have units with non-members, including agency/service fee payers.

  • One way to do that is to end the survey form with a membership application and ask volunteers to make a pitch to non-members to join.

  • Another way is to distribute the survey only to members, and to talk with or write to non-members saying that for the success of both the survey and achieving union goals you need their participation, ideas, and support.

  • The advantage to this approach is that you show non-members what they are missing by not participating. The disadvantages are that you may drive them farther away and may miss the chance to learn more about their concerns.

Writing Effective Leaflets

A leaflet is an effective way of reaching people and getting them to do something — like come to a union meeting, register to vote, or join the union. In order to write an effective leaflet, there are several things you should consider before you even start to put it together. For example, consider the following questions which will help clarify your thinking and improve your ability to communicate:

• Why are you writing this leaflet? What action or attitude do you hope to influence?

• What do you want to communicate to the reader? Clearly define your objective in your own mind

• Who are you trying to reach with this message? Your audience will determine (1) the tone of your leaflet (2) kinds of arguments used and (3) action requested.

• What are your most persuasive arguments? Identify the main reasons why it is to the reader's interest to act in the manner you suggest.

After thinking about the problem, you're ready to write