Guidelines for chapter committees

Each chapter president is responsible for appointing the chapter's power committee and power committee chair.

Power Committees may engage many different volunteer power activists for a variety of activities. It's helpful to recruit members who are willing to share information and understand the concerns of chapter members.

Power Planning Guide, 2003

Power Grassroots Guide, 2004

There should be at least one power activist from each work site with five or more bargaining unit employees and one for each agency represented by the chapter with five or more bargaining unit employees

It is the responsibility of the power committees' to ensure that their chapter's voice is heard. Committees engage union members in local power-building activities.

The committee's responsibilities for the upcoming campaigns, for example, may include:

• Coordinating with the chapter president and other chapter officers (if they are not part of the power committee)
  
  
• Establishing the chapter's power committee with appropriate balance and representation from a variety of bargaining units
  
  
• Divide up the entire list of bargaining unit employees represented by the chapter among power committee members for the purposes of recruiting power activists to support power-building activities (i.e. Bargaining Preparation Season - completing the negotiations priorities survey) and carrying out other Union Power work
  
  
• Have regular power committee meetings, with focused, action-oriented agendas
  
  
• Make sure that power committee goals are established and met
  
  
• Organize power activists to distribute Union Power materials (e.g., buttons & stickers) among the bargaining unit. Remember, OCSEA will contact/distribute to the committee and the committee will be responsible for moblizing the power activists
  
  
• Keep the power committee and power activists lists accurate. Please send updates to OCSEA's Statewide Power Committee at headquarters. OCSEA will distribute to the power committee chair a list of all recruited power activists on a regular basis
  
  
• Make suggestions on ways of improving Union Power through your staff representative.

See Related

About Union Power - Learn more about this OCSEA initiative.

Descriptions of Activities (Glossary) - For an alphabetical list of activities and descriptions.

Types of Activity - Power-building activities can be grouped into three different types