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Training

Regular training series to help you build and advance workplace campaigns
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Fundamentals of Workplace Organizing

This EWOC training series will help you and your co-workers build your union from the ground up. You’ll hear from experienced organizers and people like you who are organizing their own workplaces. In small discussion groups with participants across the U.S. and beyond, you'll practice connecting with your co-workers, discover what you need to take strategic action around common concerns, and prepare for what the boss has in store.
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New York In-Person Trainings

We're hosting an in-person training session once a month all across New York City.
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Training Resources

If you’re enrolled in one of our training programs or are organizing on your own, be sure to check out these lists of resources compiled by organizers inside and outside of EWOC to avoid common campaign pitfalls.

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Connecting with co-workers

This two-hour session will teach you the basics on how to form an organizing committee and have conversations with your co-workers about building power to improve conditions on the job.
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Fellows program

This program is a great next step for anyone who has completed at least three sessions of EWOC’s Fundamentals of Workplace Organizing series and those who’ve successfully recruited two or more people to their organizing committee.
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Popular education

This is our method of teaching that centers the voices of workers and starts from their unique perspectives and situations and progresses to action and change at work.
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Frequently asked questions

EWOC holds training sessions on Zoom, which begin with a plenary presentation led by an experienced organizer and a worker who is currently or has recently organized their workplace, then attendees engage in small discussion groups, which use a popular education model. Workers in these groups relate the training content to their own organizing campaigns and support each other by learning and solving problems in real time. All discussions are led by EWOC-trained facilitators.

EWOC suggests that each worker logs onto either own individual device to better participate in a larger group discussions and track attendance. However, EWOC recommends gathering together in person as a “fifth session” or holding a debriefing meeting for attendees’ organizing committees.

All EWOC training programs are free for participants. However, EWOC commits roughly $400 per participant to operate a training, so, if you are able, please consider making a donation to keep EWOC’s training programs free.

EWOC’s training programs are designed for nonunion workers who are currently organizing, but any worker can come to learn, participate, and get inspired to start building an organizing campaign. The skills covered in these programs apply to union reformers and anyone trying to activate the base of their union. EWOC also recommends training programs offered by Labor Notes.

Yes! Local EWOC groups host training sessions both alongside national training sessions and also independent of them. If you are interested in a local training session, EWOC recommends connecting with a local group by signing up as a volunteer or reaching out to your local DSA chapter. EWOC also periodically conducts training sessions at large conferences, including Labor Notes, Socialism Conference, and EWOC’s own conference. 

EWOC recommends anyone interested in hosting an in-person training session first watch the plenary presentation and hear from experienced organizers and worker organizers as a group then discuss the training materials together. To host a hybrid training session, facilitators must first sign up as EWOC volunteers, graduate from EWOC’s Fundamentals of Workplace Organizing program, and complete EWOC’s popular education “train-the-trainers” program. Registration information is available at Fundamentals sessions and upon graduation. For more complete information, see EWOC’s hybrid training guide or email [email protected].

EWOC is not able to send out recordings of each session and does not record breakout groups, which are confidential spaces for workers to discuss their organizing campaigns. However, recordings of past presentations are available on YouTube.

EWOC has conducted many training series in Spanish, and Spanish-language training resources are available online. To support workers in other languages, please email [email protected] or sign up to volunteer.

EWOC training discussions are confidential, but they are not designed to be anonymous. Workplace organizing means building relationships and being authentic. EWOC takes seriously the privacy and data security of attendees and will under no condition release training registration data.

Yes! The majority of EWOC’s training sessions take place in breakout discussions, which is where attendees receive most of the session’s educational material. EWOC encourages attendees to both actively listen and participate in group discussions. While EWOC understands that this is sometimes not possible, we hope attendees join from a quiet location with a stable internet connection, ready to connect with other workers across the country.

EWOC does not offer its training programs for hire and encourages workers who are interested to attend the existing training programs and debrief together. EWOC’s training programs are free, but unions interested in training their staff members can donate at least $200 to help cover the $400 cost per training participant. Please email [email protected] to partnering with EWOC or offer a training program to workers associated with an organization outside of existing training program.