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Question:
Hello,
I am so thankful that a service like this exists and I thank you for providing this service.
Two questions: I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker writing a book on coping with the bully at work and as a social worker I feel compelled to not only offer psychological explanations but to also offer guidance and direction on creating environmental change. Where may I direct a reader if he/she would like to work towards social change of for example decreasing the tolerance that employers have for bullies in the work environment: especially managerial bullies. Or creating laws that allow for legal recourse on the part of a targeted employee.
Second question: I would like to form a social workers union. Nurses are unionized, teachers are unionized but only in the UK are social workers unionized. Should I start by just calling the AFL-CIO and asking them my questions? Or perhaps I should call a nurses Union and asked them how they formed...
I thank-you in advance for any assistance and direction you may be able to offer me in attempting to answer these questions.

Answer:

Hi Laura,
 
A warm welcome to the Community Tool Book (CTB) and Ask an Advisor, I hope we can provide you with timely, useful, and directly applicable information as you seek to create environmental change in the workplace to mitigate workplace bullying and starting a union for social workers. I must say these are questions I have yet to encounter here at the CTB so to me they both interesting and a challenge!
 
Well, let me try to answer your second question first because it's the easier of the two to get my head around. The good news is that I think you answered your own question about contacting the AFL-CIO and state nurses unions. I did a Google search and here's the link to the AFL-CIO: http://www.aflcio.org/Learn-About-Unions/How-to-Join-or-Form-a-Union. As the link indicates, this is where you would go if you want to learn how to either join or form a union. From what I understand, the National Federation of Nurses, United American Nurses, and many of the states that have a nurses union merged into the AFL-CIO so I think that's a good place to start. Contacting a state nursing union to find out how it formed along with information from the AFL-CIO should give you clear and specific steps to take in forming a nurses union where you are. That said, I would be remiss if I didn't call your attention to the resources we have here in the CTB. We actually have a whole section on Organizing for Effective Advocacy - Information on advocacy principles, advocacy research, providing education, direct action campaigns, media advocacy, and responding to opposition which is exactly what you want to do. If you go to the top left of our home page and click on "Learn A Skill," then click on the Table of Contents and scroll down you'll see this section. Click on Chapter 33 - Conducting a Direct Action Campaign and go to Section 10 - General Rules for Organizing for Legislative Advocacy. The related toolkit is number 10 - Advocating for Change. Good luck, we'd be interested to know how your advocacy work turns out!
 
Your second question presents more of a challenge, a little more involved, but not impossible. In fact, the section I just mentioned and the related chapter and toolkit would prove informative and instructive for anyone you might send our way (we'd appreciate it). However, before sending them to that particular section I think that you might want to have them start with a brief primer by clicking on "Learn A Skill, " Table of Contents, and then scroll down to the section entitled "Overview - An overview of the Community Tool Box and frameworks for guiding, supporting and evaluating the work of community and system change," specifically, Chapter 1. Our Model for Community Change and Improvement; you've got to start somewhere. Next, click on the second button from the left, "Help Taking Action" and then click on "Best Change Practices" which shows processes for implementing the 12 Best Change Processes or activities that have been shown to promote community change and improvement (this is what you're after I think). Staying within "Help Taking Action" three other resources I highly suggest are: "A Model for Getting Started," "Databases of Best Practice" and "Online Courses, " especially the online courses. There are 8 modules from which to pick and choose according to need. Last, click on the "Connect" button, top middle, and then click on either of two fantastic resources: our CTB "YouTube Channel" and "Community Stories." It will take a little digging to sort through either, but it's well worth the effort because both provide illustrations of real community change by real people in real communities - money.
 
Well Laura, I think that covers your questions. Listen, if you're not satisfied with these answers come back and we'll work together to find a more suitable answer. With that, thank you again for visiting CTB and for your interesting and challenging questions (a bit of a stretch for me, but that's okay). Remember, you're never alone. Be well, take care.
 
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Question Date: jeu, 05/12/2016