Replication Toolkit

How to run this campaign in your region

Prepared for: Any IBEW jurisdiction, building trade union, or labor coalition facing a substandard-arrangement attack in their region. Source campaign: Respect the Craft — Pay the Standard, IBEW Locals 1, 2, 309, 453, 649, 124, St. Louis region, 2026–onward. Status: Open document. Intended for sharing across the labor movement, with appropriate adaptation to local context.

PART 1 — Read This First

This toolkit is the most movement-wide-impactful asset the St. Louis campaign produced. The underlying problem — one union signing a substandard agreement in another trade’s jurisdiction — is appearing in multiple regions and trades across the country. The pattern is not specific to St. Louis or to the IBEW. The response architecture below has been built and tested. It is yours to adapt and deploy.

Three operating principles govern the replication:

1. The framework is portable. The specifics are not. The 17 documents that make up the source campaign packet — press kit, Bridge Fund design, federal complaint template, direct mail, geofence ad brief, journalism pitches, intake page, labor council resolution, documentary treatment, 90-day schedule, carpenter dissent toolkit, worker organizing playbook, owner risk brief, political engagement playbook, capitalization plan, sustained campaign plan, crisis playbook, annual report template, ending plan — all generalize. The specific dollar figures, wage data, project lists, worker stories, and political contacts do not. Do your own data collection.

2. Diagnose before you deploy. Not every substandard-arrangement situation looks like St. Louis. Some are smaller. Some are larger. Some involve different unions. Some have more or less federal compliance exposure. A 4-week diagnostic period before launch will save 18 months of misdirected effort.

3. The most expensive mistake is doing this halfway. A campaign of this kind requires real money, real staff, real legal capacity, and real institutional commitment. Half-staffed, half-funded efforts produce half-credible results that the opposition outlasts. If the resources cannot be assembled, postpone — do not deploy a weaker version.

PART 2 — Diagnostic Framework

Before launching, answer these honestly.

A. The arrangement

1. What is the substandard arrangement specifically?

Which union is signing it?
What is the wage and benefit gap from your area standard?
How many workers are affected?
How long has it been in place?
Is it growing, shrinking, or stable?

2. Is the gap documentable?

Are both sides’ wage rates publicly available?
Are both pension plans’ Form 5500s available?
Are Davis-Bacon determinations published for the same work?
Can you produce a defensible side-by-side comparison?

If you cannot document the gap with sourced public data, the campaign’s foundational asset (the Loss Clock equivalent) cannot be built. Solve this first or stop here.

B. The workforce

3. What does the affected workforce look like?

Age distribution
Years in the trade
Entry pathway (direct entry from carpenters’, failed IBEW applicants, former IBEW, lateral from other crafts)
Family structure (young, family-supporting, late-career)
Geographic concentration

4. What is the workforce’s awareness?

Do most workers know the gap exists?
If yes — what keeps them in the arrangement? (Pension lock-in, dispatch loyalty, fear, “bird in the hand”?)
If no — what information would they need to act on?

C. Federal compliance leverage

5. Is there federal funding exposure?

IRA tax credits on local projects?
IIJA infrastructure funds?
CHIPS Act work?
Davis-Bacon Related Acts construction?

If federal funding is heavy in your region, the prevailing-wage and registered-apprenticeship leverage is large. If federal funding is light, the campaign’s federal-compliance pillar is weaker and other pillars must compensate.

D. Coalition capacity

6. Are the relevant locals coordinated?

Is there a multi-local committee structure?
Are the Business Managers aligned?
Has the International signaled support?

7. Are signatory contractor partners available?

Will the local contractor association partner with the campaign?
Will individual contractors fund the work?

8. Are allied unions available?

Building trades?
Public-sector unions?
Service unions?

E. The opposition

9. What is the opposing union’s posture?

Are they an AFL-CIO affiliate?
What is their political weight in your region?
Do they have a sophisticated communications operation?
Have they retaliated against similar campaigns elsewhere?

10. What is the contractor side’s posture?

Are the contractors using the substandard arrangement local or national?
Are they politically connected?
Are they likely to fight a campaign or to quietly move off the arrangement?

F. The political environment

11. What is the state-level posture?

Is the governor labor-friendly?
Is the legislature pro-labor or right-to-work-leaning?
Is the state attorney general likely to engage on prevailing wage?

12. What is the municipal-level posture?

Are major regional cities and counties labor-friendly?
Is procurement reform feasible in any of them within 12–24 months?

G. Resources

13. What does the realistic financial picture look like?

IBEW International commitment available?
Local capacity for general-fund contribution?
Contractor partnership funding?
Foundation or DAF access?

14. What does the staffing picture look like?

Existing organizing staff capacity?
Can the campaign hire dedicated positions?
Is there an experienced campaign director available?

H. The scoring

After completing the diagnostic, score the readiness:

Signal	Strong (3)	Moderate (2)	Weak (1)
Documentable gap	Public sources widely available	Some sources, some inference	Hard to source
Workforce size	500+ workers	100–500	<100
Awareness gap	Most workers don’t know	Mixed	Most workers know
Federal funding exposure	Heavy	Moderate	Light
Coalition alignment	Multi-local, International support	Some locals, neutral International	Single local
Contractor partner	NECA chapter actively engaged	Some contractor support	No contractor support
Ally availability	Multiple unions, community allies	Some allies	Few allies
Opposition political weight	Limited	Moderate	High
State environment	Labor-friendly	Mixed	Hostile
Resources available	$5M+ multi-year commitment	$2–5M	<$2M

Scoring:

25–30: Strong launch readiness. Proceed at full scale.
18–24: Moderate readiness. Address gaps in the lowest-scoring areas first, then proceed.
Below 18: Not ready for full campaign. Consider targeted intervention (federal compliance only, or contractor-side only) rather than full multi-front campaign.

PART 3 — The First 30 Days for a New Campaign

Before you build the full 90-day launch (per 90_day_launch_schedule.md), spend 30 days on the regional foundation. These steps come before day -30 of the source campaign’s pre-launch.

Week 1 — Authorization

Convene the relevant Business Managers in a single meeting. Share this toolkit.
Secure written authorization to scope the campaign. Not commitment to run it yet — authorization to investigate.
Identify one staff member to lead the 30-day diagnostic. They are the future campaign director.
Confirm International posture: supportive, neutral, opposed.

Week 2 — Data and documentation

Build the regional version of the wage and benefit comparison.
Pull the relevant Davis-Bacon determinations.
Pull Form 5500s for both pension plans.
Pull LM-2s for the opposing union (regional council and any sub-affiliates).
Identify all federally-funded projects in the jurisdiction over the prior 24 months.
Map signatory contractors and their estimated market share.
Identify the affected workforce size and characteristics (interview 5–10 workers if access permits).

Week 3 — Coalition mapping

Identify the natural coalition: which other locals share your jurisdiction; which other unions have aligned interest; which community organizations.
Map the political landscape: which electeds are sympathetic; which procurement bodies might be moveable; which state legislative champions might emerge.
Identify potential opposition: which carpenters or other trade officers might attack the campaign; which electeds are aligned with the opposing union.
Identify potential carpenter dissent prospects (private conversations only at this stage).

Week 4 — Resourcing and decision

Complete a real budget projection for Year 1 and the 3-year horizon, using the source campaign’s capitalization plan as a template.
Identify funding gaps and likely sources.
Identify staffing gaps and likely hires.
Score the diagnostic framework.
Convene the coalition committee for a structured decision: proceed at full scale, proceed at targeted scale, or postpone.

If the decision is to proceed, the 90-day launch schedule in the source packet begins at Day -30, with regional adaptations made.

PART 4 — Adapting the Source Packet

Each document in the source packet requires specific adaptation. The notes below identify what stays, what changes, and what to be careful about.

A. press_kit.md

Stays: Structure, story arc, pitch framing, reporter outreach approach. Changes: All factual content. Use your data, your workers, your timeline, your projects. Careful about: Worker consent. Do not name workers without explicit current written consent. Even more importantly: do not use the St. Louis workers’ names or stories in your kit without explicit permission from those workers — their story is theirs.

B. bridge_fund.md

Stays: Trust structure, benefit categories, governance, confidentiality protocol, launch sequence. Changes: Dollar amounts, capitalization sources, signatory contractor pool, regional cost-of-living adjustments. Careful about: Trust law varies by state. Have local counsel review the trust structure before any commitment.

C. prevailing_wage_complaint.md

Stays: The template structure, filing process, IRS parallel filing approach. Changes: All project specifics. Use your projects, your wage determinations, your contractors. Careful about: The legal theory must be validated against your specific facts. A complaint that worked in Missouri may not work in your state without modification. Local counsel essential.

D. direct_mail.md

Stays: The personalized math framing, the household-decision-maker focus, the privacy posture. Changes: All wage and pension numbers; designed materials; mailing list source. Careful about: Personalization data must be accurate per recipient. A mailer with a wrong number undermines every other communication.

E. geofence_ad_brief.md

Stays: The targeting tiers, creative concepts, platform mix, KPIs. Changes: Specific fence locations (your jobsites, training centers, halls). Careful about: Programmatic device-ID supply chain varies by region. Vet vendors carefully.

F. journalism_pitch_emails.md

Stays: The cold-pitch structure, follow-up cadence, embargo protocol. Changes: Outlets and reporters — every region has different press relationships. Careful about: National outlets that covered St. Louis may not cover your region unless the story has its own merits. Pitch on your story’s own terms.

G. intake_landing_page.md

Stays: The structure, copy framework, privacy notice template, FAQ structure, technical specifications. Changes: Specific numbers, local office addresses, phone numbers. Careful about: State privacy laws vary. Have privacy counsel review the notice for your state.

H. labor_council_resolution.md

Stays: Model resolution language, briefing deck outline, Q&A prep, adoption playbook. Changes: Specific councils, dates, sequence based on your relationships. Careful about: Each council has its own bylaws and procedural norms. Brief the parliamentarian.

I. documentary_treatment.md

Stays: The three-act structure, character types, visual approach, distribution strategy. Changes: Specific characters, region, timing. Careful about: This is a separate, $1M+ production. Do not start filming without producer, director, and financing in place. Generic union video shops do not produce festival-quality documentary.

J. 90_day_launch_schedule.md

Stays: The week-by-week cadence, decision gates, owners matrix, risk register. Changes: Dollar amounts, specific deliverables, regional partners. Careful about: Do not compress the pre-launch period. Skipping the 30-day infrastructure stand-up is the single most common reason regional campaigns fail.

K. carpenter_dissent_toolkit.md

Stays: The three-meeting vetting rule, channel structure, talking points, retaliation response, non-abandonment principle. Changes: The specific opposing union, its internal culture, the relevant dissent population. Careful about: Internal opposition networks in different unions look different. UBC’s structure produced one kind of dissent map; sheet metal, painters, ironworkers, or any other union’s structure will produce a different one. The principles are the same; the specifics require local intelligence.

L. worker_organizing_playbook.md

Stays: The segment framework, conversation structures, kitchen-table technique, pay-stub conversation, objection map. Changes: Segment composition based on your workforce diagnostic. Some segments may be larger or smaller in your region. Careful about: Your workforce may have segments not present in the source playbook (e.g., a large immigrant worker population, a large veteran population, a particularly young or particularly old age distribution). Develop additional segment guides as needed.

M. owner_contractor_risk_brief.md

Stays: The risk framing, slide-by-slide structure, delivery protocol, target tiers. Changes: Regional GC list, regional financial data, regional procurement contacts. Careful about: The framing must be union-neutral. A deck that reads as adversarial to any specific union will be received differently than one that reads as a risk briefing.

N. political_engagement_playbook.md

Stays: The ask ladder, briefing memo, model state bill, municipal procurement clause, campaign finance discipline. Changes: Specific elected officials, state legal context, regional procurement bodies. Careful about: State campaign finance law and lobbying disclosure requirements vary significantly. Have election counsel review before any political ask.

O. bridge_fund_capitalization.md

Stays: Donor categories, case for support structure, briefing deck outline, stewardship cadence. Changes: Specific donor names, ask amounts calibrated to regional capacity. Careful about: Foundation grant pipelines have 6–12 month decision cycles. Plan accordingly.

P. year_2_sustained_campaign.md

Stays: Operational rhythm, year-by-year objectives framework, win conditions, decision points, staffing plan. Changes: Specific targets calibrated to your regional scale. Careful about: Year 2 is when most campaigns fail. Do not let the long-term plan get optimistically ambitious during launch enthusiasm — calibrate to sustainable effort.

Q. crisis_playbook.md

Stays: All of it. The crisis scenarios generalize completely. Changes: Counsel contact details, regional press contacts, regional political crisis-response relationships. Careful about: Pre-drafted statements must be reviewed by counsel for state-specific defamation and labor-law context.

R. annual_report_template.md

Stays: Structure, principles, sectional templates. Changes: All content. Careful about: The annual report is the campaign’s most enduring artifact. Treat it accordingly.

S. campaign_ending_plan.md

Stays: All of it. The four end-state scenarios are universal. Changes: Calibration to your regional scale. Careful about: Read this before launching. The exit is part of the launch decision.

PART 5 — The Permanent Cross-Region Network

This toolkit’s value compounds if the campaigns that adopt it stay connected.

A. The cross-region peer network

The campaign committee of the St. Louis effort (and of any campaign that succeeds it) commits to:

Quarterly virtual peer-network meetings of all active regional campaigns
Shared anonymized data on what is working
Joint legal, communications, and research resources where mutually beneficial
Mutual support during crises

B. The peer-network operating principles

Each campaign owns its own jurisdiction. No campaign tells another how to run its work.
Information sharing is voluntary. Sensitive operational details are shared only when both campaigns choose.
Lessons learned are openly shared. What worked, what did not, what was tried and refined.
Cross-region pressure on a single international union may be coordinated where the opposing party is the same in multiple regions. The coordination is explicit, not opportunistic.

C. The annual cross-region convening

Once per year, an in-person convening of all active regional campaign leadership (campaign directors, lead organizers, one BM per region). One full day. Working session, not a conference. Agenda set in advance by the participating campaigns themselves.

The convening:

Reviews the state of each campaign
Identifies common challenges and opportunities
Reviews emerging substandard-arrangement situations in other regions
Refines this toolkit based on the year’s experience
Plans cross-region coordination for the year ahead

D. The toolkit’s evolution

This toolkit is a living document. Each year’s cross-region convening produces an updated version, incorporating:

New segments and tactics discovered in field experience
Updated legal precedents (federal and state)
Updated political and procurement opportunities
New regional pilots
Lessons from campaigns that succeeded — and from campaigns that did not

The St. Louis campaign committee, or its successor body, serves as the steward of the toolkit for a 5-year initial period. After that, governance transfers to whichever active campaign volunteers to host the steward role.

PART 6 — The 5-Year Movement Vision

If the toolkit succeeds:

By Year 1: This toolkit exists, is openly shared across the building trades, and is downloaded and consulted by labor organizers in multiple regions.

By Year 2: At least 3 additional regional campaigns have launched using adapted versions of the toolkit. The cross-region peer network is active.

By Year 3: The first non-IBEW trade campaign — sheet metal, plumbing, or another international facing a substandard-arrangement attack — adapts and deploys the toolkit. The pattern is recognized as cross-trade, not single-union.

By Year 5: A national network of 6–12 active regional campaigns operates. State legislation has passed in 2–4 states. Federal precedent has been established. The substandard-arrangement model, once a growth strategy in the construction labor market, has become structurally constrained in most of the country.

The St. Louis campaign — whatever its individual outcome — has made the next 100 campaigns easier.

That is the larger stakes. That is why this toolkit exists.

PART 7 — Getting Started

If you are an IBEW jurisdiction, building trade local, or labor coalition reading this for the first time and considering whether to deploy the framework in your region:

Step 1. Read this toolkit and the source campaign’s full packet (17 documents). Estimated reading time: 6–10 hours. Do it before making any commitments.

Step 2. Convene your relevant Business Managers and senior staff. Share the materials. Discuss whether the pattern matches your situation.

Step 3. Run the 30-day regional diagnostic per Part 3 of this toolkit. The diagnostic costs little; the campaign costs much. Do not commit to the campaign without completing the diagnostic.

Step 4. Contact the source campaign’s committee (see contact below) for a consultative conversation. We will share what we have learned, take your questions, and offer honest assessment. We are not selling anything. We are offering the experience of having done this.

Step 5. Make your decision deliberately. If the answer is yes, the source packet’s 90-day launch schedule begins.

PART 8 — Contact

The source campaign committee: Respect the Craft — Pay the Standard IBEW Locals 1, 2, 309, 453, 649, 124 [Address] [Phone] [Email] [Campaign URL]

For consultation: A standing offer to any labor organization considering a campaign of this kind: a confidential call with the source campaign’s lead organizers. Initial conversation, no commitment. Reach out through the contact above.

For toolkit updates: [URL for the current version of this toolkit, maintained by the cross-region peer network.]

This toolkit is offered freely to the labor movement. Adapt it to your needs. Improve it where you can. Share what you learn. The principle behind every page is simple: when one union starts undercutting another’s standards, the entire movement is implicated, and the response must be coordinated, well-funded, and built to last. The work is hard. The work is winnable. Do it well.