Worker Organizing Playbook

Worker-by-Worker Organizing Playbook

Segmenting and converting Local 57 electricians, by life stage and history

Prepared for: Organizing directors and field organizers at IBEW Locals 1, 2, 309, 453, 649, 124 Status: Field manual. Intended for use by trained organizers; not a public document.

PART 1 — How to use this playbook

This playbook breaks the Local 57 electrical workforce into nine segments. Each segment has its own truth, its own fears, its own pressure points, and therefore its own conversation. A single-script approach fails for at least three of these segments and misfires for the other six.

For each segment, this document provides:

Who they are — the human picture, not the database row
What they actually want — the underlying goal, beneath the surface objection
What they fear — the unspoken risk that holds them in place
The opening — how to start the first conversation
The conversation map — where the conversation should go
The numbers that move them — which specific math to walk through
The ask — the next step that fits their readiness, not your timeline
What not to do — the specific mistakes that lose this segment

Treat each segment description as a hypothesis the organizer tests against the actual person. People are not databases. The segment guides the conversation; the person decides where it goes.

PART 2 — Universal principles (apply to all segments)

These apply to every conversation, every segment, every time.

1. Listen first. Talk second. Show third. Ask fourth. The temptation in organizing is to lead with the pitch. Resist it. The first four minutes of the conversation are for understanding who this person is. The next four are for sharing relevant numbers. The numbers should answer a question the person actually has, not your script’s next bullet point.

2. The number wins, but the relationship lands the number. The wage and pension comparisons are powerful. They are not enough on their own. A worker who learns the gap from a stranger will think about it for five minutes and forget it. A worker who learns it from someone who first asked about their kids and their commute and their last shift will remember it.

3. Confidentiality is your most important word. Every conversation opens and closes with an explicit confidentiality commitment. “Nothing you say goes back to your job. Nothing you say goes back to your union. I will not even tell my own steward we spoke unless you tell me I can.” Mean it. Live it. Never violate it.

4. The ask is always smaller than they expect. The default ask is “have a longer conversation, on your time, on your terms.” It is never “sign this card today.” Cards happen in the third or fourth conversation, after the wage floor, healthcare, and pension grant have been laid out and the worker has chosen.

5. No worker owes us anything. A worker who hears the numbers, thanks the organizer, and decides to stay at Local 57 is not a failure. They are a worker who made an informed choice. We do not chase. We do not pressure. We do leave the door open: “If you ever want to revisit this, you have my number. No pressure either way.”

6. The Bridge Fund changes the math of every conversation. Before the Bridge Fund, the ask required workers to absorb transition risk. Now it does not. Every conversation that used to end with “yeah, but I can’t afford the gap” now ends differently. Lead with the fund’s existence, not as a sales pitch, but as a structural fact.

7. House visits beat job-trailer visits beat phone calls beat texts. In that order. Phone and text are for scheduling. The first real conversation should be in a place the worker has chosen — their kitchen, a diner, a neutral coffee shop. Never on their employer’s property. Never where their foreman might walk by.

8. Talk to the household, when they invite you to. The most powerful conversation is one where the worker’s spouse, parent, or partner is in the room and engaged. Don’t push for it. When the worker offers, take it.

PART 3 — The Nine Segments

SEGMENT 1 — The Young Direct-Entry Apprentice

Who they are

19–25 years old. First union job. Likely first job with benefits. Often a kid whose parents are not in the trades, who found Local 57 through a friend, a high school job fair, or a guidance counselor. The carpenters’ apprenticeship was easier to access and faster than the IBEW JATC, so they signed up. They have been in the program 6 months to 2 years. They are doing well. Their family is proud.

They have no comparison point. They do not know what an IBEW apprenticeship looks like. They do not know what the area electrical standard is. They have never seen a Davis-Bacon wage determination. The number on their pay stub looks like real money to them — because it is the most money they have ever earned.

What they actually want

To be told they made a good decision
To not let their parents down
To keep moving forward, not start over
To have a future they can describe to a girlfriend, a fiancée, a parent

What they fear

Looking like an idiot for picking the wrong door
Going home and telling their parents they want to change
Being last in line wherever they go next
The IBEW being “too hard,” too political, too clubby

The opening

“You’re at the start of a long career. Most guys never get to look at the math early enough to do anything about it. I want to walk you through some numbers you probably haven’t seen yet. Then you decide what to do with them.”

Conversation map

Their story. How did they end up at Local 57? Who recruited them? What did they think they were signing up for?
Their goal. Where do they want to be at 30? At 40? At retirement?
The math, gently. Show the hourly comparison first. Don’t lead with retirement — they are 20. They don’t think about retirement.
The lifetime number. Over a career, the gap compounds to $X. Show this after the hourly hits.
The pathway. Skills bridging. JATC credit for prior hours. Bridge Fund.
The ask. “Talk to your folks. Talk to whoever helps you make big decisions. Then let’s get coffee again.”

The numbers that move them

Weekly take-home gap. “$28 an hour, 40 hours, the gap is over a thousand bucks a week.”
10-year lifetime gap. (Retirement is too abstract. 10 years isn’t.)
What a journeyman IBEW electrician with their hours makes. (They picture themselves there.)

The ask

The smallest possible. “Take this one-pager. Talk to your people. I’ll call you in two weeks if you want — yes or no.”

What not to do

Do not criticize their decision to sign up with Local 57. They will defend it.
Do not criticize their parents for not knowing better. Their parents are heroes.
Do not push the political framing (the carpenters undercutting another union). They don’t care about that yet.
Do not assume they want to bring it up to their foreman. They almost certainly do not.

SEGMENT 2 — The Mid-Apprenticeship Worker (1–3 years in)

Who they are

Year 2 or 3 of the Local 57 program. Has some real skill now. Is starting to compare notes with electricians from other backgrounds — IBEW guys on shared jobs, family friends in the trade, the internet. Is starting to feel something is off, but cannot yet articulate it.

What they actually want

Confirmation that what they are sensing is real
A way out that doesn’t waste the time they have invested
To not look stupid

What they fear

Losing credit for the apprentice hours they have completed
Being treated as starting from zero
Disrupting the routine they have built

The opening

“I think you might already have a sense the numbers aren’t what you were told. I want to walk through what the actual standard is, and what hours you’d get credit for in the IBEW system.”

Conversation map

Their sense. What have they noticed? Who have they been comparing with?
Validation. Yes, what you’re sensing is real. Here is the math.
Their hours. Walk through what JATC would credit. Be specific.
The bridge program. Skills assessment, classification, expected timeline.
The numbers. Hourly gap. Annual gap. Pension gap at 62.
The fund. Wage floor while they transition. Healthcare gap coverage. Pension grant.
The ask. “Want to talk to a JATC instructor about credit? Confidentially?”

The numbers that move them

Hours JATC would credit for their Local 57 apprentice time
The classification they’d start at, and the wage that comes with it
The annual gap right now, not in 30 years

The ask

“Let me set up a 30-minute confidential conversation with a JATC instructor. No paperwork. No commitment. Just an assessment.”

What not to do

Do not tell them they are wasting their time at Local 57. They will defend the time they have invested.
Do not promise they’ll get full credit for every hour. Be honest about what JATC will and won’t recognize.
Do not skip the validation step. The worker came partway on their own; honor that.

SEGMENT 3 — The Newly Topped-Out Journeyman

Who they are

Just made A-card or equivalent. 25–32 years old. Three to seven years in the trade. Has just stopped being broke for the first time in their life. Is starting to think about a house, a family, a future. Loves the trade. Hates uncertainty.

What they actually want

Stability. They just got it. They don’t want to give it up.
Continued upward income trajectory
Respect from older workers — they just earned the right to be called “brother”

What they fear

Losing what they have just achieved
Going backwards
Being a punching bag in someone else’s political fight

The opening

“You just topped out. That took everything. Before you settle into the next 30 years at this rate, I want you to see what the next 30 years could look like at the actual electrical rate. It’s a conversation, not a sales pitch.”

Conversation map

Their accomplishment. Honor what they just did. Specifically.
Their plan. What does the next 5 years look like for them? House? Kids?
Their current math. What does their take-home look like? Their pension contribution?
The area standard. Side-by-side, same classification, same hours.
The 30-year compounded gap. This is the number that hits this segment hardest.
The transition mechanics. Bridge Fund wage floor, healthcare, pension grant, signing bonus.
The ask. “Let me get you the personalized projection. No obligation.”

The numbers that move them

The 30-year compounded gap (this is the segment where this number lands hardest)
The pension at 62 comparison
The signing bonus + wage floor (because they value stability)

The ask

“Take a personalized projection. Look at it with your partner. We’ll talk again in two weeks if you want.”

What not to do

Do not minimize what they just accomplished. They will tune you out.
Do not push the political/solidarity framing. They want to be treated as a workplace decision-maker, not a partisan.
Do not skip the partner conversation. This segment makes household decisions, not solo decisions.

SEGMENT 4 — The “Bird in the Hand” Mid-Career Journeyman

Who they are

35–50 years old. 10–20 years in the trade. Owns a house. Has kids. Has a steady dispatch relationship with a particular contractor. Has known about the wage gap for years and has chosen not to think about it. Has heard the IBEW pitch before and has reasons it didn’t work.

This is the hardest segment.

What they actually want

To not blow up a life that mostly works
To protect their family’s stability
To not be a fool in front of the older guys

What they fear

A transition that puts them out of work for weeks or months
Losing a steady dispatch relationship with their current employer
Discovering they were wrong all along, in front of their wife and kids
Being treated as a “junior” again in a new structure

The opening

“I know you’ve heard versions of this conversation before. I’m not going to give you the standard pitch. I’m going to show you something specific: the wage floor, the healthcare, and the pension grant we built so that guys exactly in your position do not have to take a risk to do this.”

Conversation map

Acknowledge the history. “You’ve heard the IBEW pitch before. I get it. This isn’t that conversation.”
The Bridge Fund. Lead with what’s different now. Walk through the wage floor, the healthcare gap coverage, the pension grant, the signing bonus.
Their actual life. What does a transition look like for them, given their family, mortgage, dispatch relationships?
The math, but quietly. They probably already know the gap. Confirm it. Don’t lecture.
The 20-year pension projection. Their kids’ college. Their retirement. Their spouse’s security.
The bridge to their current employer. Many of their employers do work for NECA contractors as well. There may be a path that doesn’t require leaving an employer they like.
The ask. “What’s the smallest version of this you could test? Even a single conversation with a JATC instructor.”

The numbers that move them

The 20-year pension projection (this is the kitchen-table number for this segment)
The Bridge Fund wage floor — the specific dollar guarantee, week by week
The fact that a defined number of their fellow workers have already transitioned

The ask

“Talk to your spouse. Look at the pension number side by side. Call me when you want to look at it more closely. No deadline.”

What not to do

Do not push. This segment leaves the room if it feels pushed.
Do not minimize their loyalty to their current employer. Some of those relationships are real and good.
Do not promise things you cannot deliver. This segment has been promised things before.
Do not skip the spouse. The spouse is the closer in this segment.

SEGMENT 5 — The Failed IBEW Applicant (Old Wound)

Who they are

Applied to the IBEW JATC as a young person. Did not get in. Ended up at Local 57 — sometimes because they were directly recruited from the JATC rejection, more often by their own search. Carries that early rejection as a quiet wound. May have been treated impersonally by the JATC at the time. May have been a single round of testing or interview, never invited back.

What they actually want

To be seen as a competent electrician despite the early rejection
To not relive the moment they didn’t make it
To know that the door is actually open this time

What they fear

Being rejected again
The IBEW seeing them as second-class
Their old JATC file following them

The opening

“I know you applied to the JATC years ago and didn’t get in. I want to be honest with you about how I think that went, and what’s different now.”

This is the only segment where the organizer should explicitly acknowledge the JATC’s past failure. Owning the wound — without grovelling — is the only way to make the conversation possible.

Conversation map

Acknowledge. “The JATC application process at that time was not what it should have been. You should not carry the result of that as a verdict on your career.”
Their growth. “You have been a working electrician for [N] years. The JATC of today is not in a position to act like that didn’t happen.”
The pathway. Bridge program, skills verification with credit for years of work, direct entry where appropriate.
A specific person. Connect them to a named JATC instructor or organizer who will handle their case personally and will not let them get lost in paperwork.
The numbers, secondarily. This segment cares about the wage gap, but cares more about being seen.
The ask. “Let me introduce you, directly, to [JATC instructor name]. They are expecting your call. They will treat you like the working electrician you are.”

The numbers that move them

The wage gap matters here, but the structural respect matters more
The Bridge Fund’s pension grant — recognition that they have lost real money over real years

The ask

A named human, available by a specific date, expecting the worker’s call. Never a form. Never a website.

What not to do

Do not pretend the JATC’s past treatment of them didn’t happen.
Do not defend the JATC. Be honest. People can smell defensiveness.
Do not promise they will be welcomed back with a parade. Promise something specific and modest.
Do not lose them to the bureaucracy after the first conversation. If a follow-up doesn’t happen on time, the wound deepens.

SEGMENT 6 — The Former IBEW Member Who Left

Who they are

Was IBEW for some period. Left — sometimes for a personal reason (relocation, family, a layoff that hit at a bad moment), sometimes because of a specific grievance with a local. Ended up at Local 57 because it was a way back into a union electrical job without re-applying to a JATC. May have ambivalence about the IBEW. May have anger.

What they actually want

To not eat crow
To be treated as a returning brother, not a prodigal
To know they will not be punished for having left

What they fear

Their old local treating them as someone who “left them”
Bureaucratic humiliation
Being a story other members tell

The opening

“I know you used to be in the IBEW. I’m not going to ask you to relitigate why you left. I want to tell you what coming back looks like now.”

Conversation map

No relitigation. State explicitly that the past is not on the table. They will relax.
Their continued skill. Honor the work they have done since leaving.
The mechanics of return. Reinstatement procedures, credit for current hours, classification.
The Bridge Fund. Yes, even returning members are eligible if they meet the underlying criteria — wage floor, healthcare gap, pension service-credit grant.
The numbers. Wage gap, pension gap.
The ask. “Talk to me about what would make this work for you.”

The numbers that move them

The wage gap, especially if they remember what the IBEW rate was when they left and can see how it has grown
The pension service-credit grant — they may have left with vested time, and the campaign can help them rationalize multiple pension records

The ask

A direct, no-paperwork conversation with the local’s reinstatement coordinator. Skip the form. Bring them in like family.

What not to do

Do not ask why they left. They will tell you when they are ready.
Do not promise their old grievance has been fixed if it has not.
Do not gossip about them inside the local before they have committed to come back. Their privacy is your responsibility.

SEGMENT 7 — The Female Local 57 Electrician

Who they are

A specific lived experience that no other segment shares. Often was attracted to the trades for the wages and the work itself. May have been recruited by Local 57 because it was the more visible apprenticeship in her community. May have experienced harassment or marginalization that she has not told anyone about. Often does not know that the IBEW’s percentage of women is also low, but has invested significant effort in diversity initiatives in recent years.

What they actually want

To be treated as an electrician first
A workplace where being a woman is not the daily story
A pathway that includes her, not one designed for someone else with her name added

What they fear

Being a token in any new structure
The IBEW being “worse” on culture than Local 57
Disrupting whatever stability she has built around her current job
Family and caregiving disruptions during transition

The opening

“I want to talk about the trade and your career, and I want to be honest that I know the trades have not always been the best place to be a woman in. I don’t want to sell you on something that has the same problems.”

Conversation map

The trade, not the gender. Lead with the work and the career.
The honest acknowledgment. Both IBEW and UBC have culture work to do. Be candid about where each is.
The structural picture. Wage gap, pension gap, training quality. The numbers are the same regardless of gender.
The transition mechanics with caregiving in mind. Flexible scheduling during skills verification. Bridge Fund covers healthcare gaps including for dependents.
The specific people. Connect her to female IBEW members in the region who have transitioned or who can speak to current culture.
The ask. “Talk to [name], who has been through this. Then decide what’s next.”

The numbers that move them

Same wage and pension gap numbers as everyone else
Plus: child-care assistance and healthcare gap coverage specifics

The ask

A connection to a peer — a current IBEW journeywoman or instructor — for an honest peer-to-peer conversation. The campaign’s job here is introduction, not persuasion.

What not to do

Do not put her in publicity materials before she has chosen to be in them. The temptation will be high; resist it.
Do not tokenize. She is not “the female apprentice.” She is the apprentice who is a woman.
Do not promise the IBEW culture is perfect. Promise it is being worked on, with names of who is working on it.

SEGMENT 8 — The Older, Pension-Vested, Late-Career Worker

Who they are

50+ years old. 15+ years in the trade. Vested in the Local 57 pension. Has 5–12 years left before retirement. Is mentally close enough to retirement to be doing math, but still in the workforce. Knows the wage gap better than younger workers do; has watched it grow for two decades.

What they actually want

A retirement they can actually live on
To not lose what they have already earned
To finish strong

What they fear

Losing pension service credits they have already accrued
A transition that ends in being unable to find work close to retirement
Their wife’s reaction

The opening

“You have done this work for two decades. I want to talk specifically about your last ten years and what they can be worth, if you decide they should be.”

Conversation map

Honor the career. Specifically. They have built something. Say so.
The pension specifics. What is their current Local 57 accrual? What would equivalent IBEW pension accrual look like over remaining career?
The service-credit grant. Specific to their hours and age. This is the most consequential single number for this segment.
The healthcare picture. Including retiree health, which Local 57 may handle poorly compared to IBEW.
The math, retirement-forward. “If you transition now and work [N] more years, your retirement income is approximately [X] dollars per month higher.”
The spouse conversation. Almost always essential.
The ask. “Let me get you a personalized retirement projection. Bring your wife. Let’s sit at your kitchen table.”

The numbers that move them

Retirement income per month, side by side
Total lifetime retirement income, side by side
Healthcare coverage in retirement, side by side
The service-credit grant amount (specifically calculated)

The ask

A house visit. With the spouse. The personalized retirement projection on the kitchen table.

What not to do

Do not waste their time with abstractions. They want numbers and they want them now.
Do not skip the spouse. The spouse is the partner in this decision, full stop.
Do not pressure on timeline. They will move when they are ready. The Bridge Fund commitment buys you patience.

SEGMENT 9 — The Recently Hired Adult Career-Changer

Who they are

30–45 years old. Came into Local 57 as a second career. Was a delivery driver, a warehouse worker, a service industry veteran, a returning service member, a person leaving a difficult job in a different industry. Found Local 57 because it was the most accessible union electrical job at a moment when they urgently needed one. Is still in the apprenticeship or recently completed it.

What they actually want

The career change to be the right move
To make their family proud
To not have made another wrong decision

What they fear

Being “the guy who keeps switching jobs”
The next thing also turning out to have a catch
Looking foolish to their kids

The opening

“You came into this trade as a deliberate choice. You did the homework you could do at the time. Some of what you couldn’t see then, you can see now. Let me walk you through it.”

Conversation map

Honor the change. Career changes are hard. They made one. That’s worth saying.
What they could not have known. The wage and benefit gap was not posted on the Local 57 recruiting materials. It is not their failure to have missed it.
The compounding math. Adult career-changers have less career runway than 20-year-olds. The gap matters more, faster.
The bridge. Their adult hours, their work ethic, the skills they have built — all transferable. They do not start over.
The Bridge Fund. Wage floor especially relevant — adult career-changers usually have higher fixed expenses than younger workers.
The ask. “Take the personalized projection. Talk to your family. We’ll talk again on your schedule.”

The numbers that move them

Compounded gap over remaining career — emphasize remaining career, not full career
Bridge Fund wage floor, specifically the weekly dollar guarantee
Healthcare gap coverage — older adults often have higher healthcare stakes

The ask

Take materials home. Talk to family. Schedule a follow-up in 14 days.

What not to do

Do not imply they made a mistake. They didn’t. They made the best decision they could with the information they had.
Do not push timeline. Adult career-changers need to weigh more than younger workers.
Do not skip the family conversation. Their decision to change careers was a family decision; this one will be too.

PART 4 — Cross-cutting techniques

A. The kitchen-table conversation

The most consequential conversation in this work happens at the worker’s kitchen table, with their spouse or family present, with a personalized projection on the table.

Setup:

Worker invites the organizer in. Never the reverse.
Organizer arrives on time, dressed for respect (not too formal — they are an electrician, not a financial planner), with no IBEW logo on their clothing.
A single sheet of paper: the worker’s personalized comparison. Not a binder. Not a laptop. One sheet.

Flow:

Small talk. Real small talk. Five minutes.
The worker introduces the organizer to whoever is in the room.
Organizer asks the worker to walk through what they want to talk about. Not the other way around.
The paper comes out only when the worker invites it.
The math is read out loud, slowly. Pause between numbers.
The organizer asks: “What do you see?”
The organizer listens.

The closing: “You don’t have to decide anything tonight. I’d like to come back in two weeks. Same kitchen, same table. Bring any questions you have. Bring your dad if you want. Bring your accountant if you have one. We’ll go from there.”

B. The pay-stub conversation

A specific technique for moving someone from theoretical to concrete.

The worker brings their last pay stub. The organizer brings a Davis-Bacon wage determination for an electrical job and a current IBEW area-standard rate sheet. They compare, line by line:

Gross hourly
Hours worked
Total gross
Health & welfare contribution
Pension contribution
Annuity contribution (if applicable)
Training fund contribution
Total package per hour

A single pay-stub conversation often does more than five generic conversations.

C. The retirement projection conversation

For workers 40+, the kitchen-table conversation should center on a retirement projection prepared specifically for them by the independent actuary.

What the projection shows:

Current Local 57 monthly pension at age 62
Equivalent IBEW monthly pension at age 62 (with Bridge Fund service-credit grant applied)
Lifetime retirement income difference, 20-year retirement
Healthcare coverage comparison in retirement

What the projection does not show:

Social Security (separately addressed)
Personal savings (separately addressed)
Anything that could be construed as financial advice rather than benefits information

The projection is reviewed by counsel before delivery and includes a footnote disclaiming financial advice and recommending consultation with a licensed advisor for personal financial planning. This is standard, defensible, and protects everyone.

D. The objection map

A handful of objections come up across most segments. The responses below are not scripts; they are starting points.

“I don’t want to leave my buddies.”

“You’re not leaving them. You’re showing them what’s possible. Most workers who transition bring two or three buddies with them in the next year.”

“My foreman has been good to me.”

“Your foreman doesn’t set the wage rate. The contract does. Your foreman can stay your friend. The contract is the thing we’re trying to change.”

“My contractor would never hire me back as IBEW.”

“Many do. The Bridge Fund has been working with NECA contractors specifically to make that pathway real. Want me to find out about yours?”

“I tried the IBEW before. It didn’t work.”

“I want to hear about that. Not to argue. To understand. Then I want to tell you what’s different now, and you decide.”

“This is just political.”

“It might look political from the outside. From your pay stub, it’s about $1,100 a week. You decide which lens you want to look through.”

“My wife/husband would freak out.”

“Good. Bring them. Bring them to our next conversation. I’d rather they ask me the hard questions than not have them in the room.”

“I’m too close to retirement.”

“That’s exactly why we should look at the service-credit grant. The closer you are to retirement, the more it can be worth to you. Let me get you a personalized projection.”

“I don’t believe these numbers.”

“You shouldn’t take my word. Look up the IBEW rate yourself. Look up the Davis-Bacon determination. Look up your own pension projection. Everything I’m telling you is verifiable in five minutes.”

E. The follow-up cadence

After the first conversation:

Day 1: Personal thank-you text within 24 hours. No ask. Just a thank you for the time.
Day 7: Brief check-in with one specific resource (the personalized projection, a link to the Bridge Fund FAQ).
Day 14: Offer the next conversation. Their place, their time.
Day 30: If no response, one final low-pressure note. “Door’s open whenever.”

After the second conversation:

Day 1: Same thank-you cadence.
Day 14: Active follow-through on whatever the worker asked for (intro to JATC, projection update, peer connection).
Day 30: Schedule the third conversation only if the worker has indicated they want it.

After the third conversation:

The worker is usually either ready to start the intake formally or has decided not to. Honor whichever they say.

If they decide not to: Send them one final message of appreciation. “You know where I am. No pressure. Take care of your family.” Then stop. Do not re-engage unless they re-engage you. Many of these workers come back six, twelve, eighteen months later. The patience is part of the campaign.

PART 5 — Organizer support and supervision

This work is hard. It happens at kitchen tables, in diners, on the phone at 9 p.m. when a worker finally feels safe enough to call. Organizers carry the stories of dozens of workers in their heads. Burnout is real. Mistakes are costly.

A. Caseload limits

A single organizer should not carry more than ~75 active workers in the pipeline at any given time. Above that, conversations get short, follow-ups get dropped, and the trust the campaign depends on starts to fray. If demand exceeds capacity, add organizers — do not stretch existing ones thin.

B. Weekly case review

Each organizer reviews their active caseload weekly with the organizing director:

Who is ready for what next step?
Who is stalled and why?
Who has gone quiet and might be lost?
Where does the organizer need help — a JATC connection, a Bridge Fund consultation, a peer introduction?

C. Confidentiality discipline

Worker names are discussed only with people who need to know. Case files are stored in the encrypted TPA system, not in individual organizers’ personal notes. Personal phones are not used for organizer communications with workers — campaign-issued phones with retention policies are used instead.

D. Mental and emotional load

The organizing director checks in with each organizer monthly, in a one-on-one not focused on metrics, about how the work is going for them. The campaign covers Employee Assistance Program counseling and respects time off without judgment.

PART 6 — Metrics and what they mean

For each organizer, the campaign tracks:

Metric	What it actually measures
Conversations per week	Effort
First → second conversation conversion	Quality of opening
Second → third conversation conversion	Quality of fit
Third → intake submission conversion	Quality of fund pitch
Intake → skills verification conversion	Bridge Fund function
Skills verification → dispatch conversion	NECA partnership function
Worker retention at 6, 12, 24 months	Total system health
Time from first conversation to dispatch	Pacing
Workers who decided not to transition	Volume and reasons

The single most important metric is the last one. A campaign that does not track workers who decided not to transition is a campaign that is not learning. Their reasons inform every other workstream — creative, Bridge Fund design, NECA conversations, political work.

The campaign committee reviews these metrics monthly, organizer by organizer. The review is not about judgment. It is about pattern recognition — where the system is working, where it is not, what the next adjustment should be.

This playbook is a working field manual. Specific scripts, sequences, and protocols should be adapted by each organizer to fit their voice and their region. The segments are starting points, not boxes; real workers do not fit one segment cleanly, and the organizer’s job is to listen for which segment’s truths matter most to the person in front of them at that moment.