Chapter Leadership Training

The next Worksite Leadership Academy will be a regional one including members from Vermont and Maine, and is scheduled for March 26-28, 2009 at Dartmouth College, Hanover NH.  For more information, click here or contact SEA Education and Training Coordinator Terri Wright at 271-3411 ext. 108 or twright@seiu1984.org.

2007 SEA LEADERSHIP ACADEMY
August 23-25, 2007
Hanover Inn, Hanover NH

Nine SEA members from various agencies around the state gathered at the Hanover Inn on August 23-25 for our union's exciting three-day Leadership Academy. 

"I enjoyed the chance to draw on the wealth of knowledge from all of the participants," said Fred Martin, president of Chapter 18 at the Merrimack County Department of Corrections.  "I gained skills to use in building a stronger chapter and union."

A comprehensive education program for union leaders, the Leadership Academy focuses on improving leadership skills, deepening the understanding of working people’s issues, and developing the ability to build strength and win in our workplaces.

Front (L to R): Sybil Bond (Ch. 37, NHES), Diana Richard (Ch. 16, DHHS), Carol Jeffery (Ch. 8, DOT), Fred Martin (Ch. 18, Merrimack County). Back (L to R): Jessica Levasseur (Ch. 20, DRED), Phil Burt (Ch. 4, DHHS), Ken Roos (Ch. 16, DHHS), Bruce Vanlandingham (Ch. 22, DOT), and Laurie Aucoin (Ch. 4, NH Hospital).

Participants are grouped with different people for each day of interactive, educational activities.  For historical perspective, a labor history timeline takes up an entire wall, and each morning a new marker appears on each work table called "Today in Labor History."

"What did I get out of this event?" pondered Diana Richard of Chapter 16, who works as an executive secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Health Management.  "The opportunity to familiarize myself with new people, gain knowledge from their experiences, and learn more avenues to talk to and engage new and present members."

On Day 1, participants involved themselves in exercises that would create a knowledge foundation for the subsequent days.  They discussed the U.S. labor movement today, how and why it reached its current state, and what can be done about it - even at the local level.  They also discussed and evaluated criteria for judging a union's strength, working in small groups to complete the phrase "I know the union is stronger when..."

Laurie Aucoin (l) and Diana Richard (r) working on a project

On Day 2 participants watched a short video called "Mouseland" created by a Canadian union.  This led to discussions about do's and don'ts of leadership, as well as the need to involve members in issue-based politics. Then they practiced recruiting members for union activities through a role-play exercise.  Finally, they wrote Issue Action Plans, pinpointing a specific issue at each of their worksites and creating escalating steps of activity by members in order to get each issue resolved. 

On Day 3 participants developed Leadership Expansion Plans, in which they identified potential new leaders among their co-workers and created step-by-step plans for getting them involved.   Each participant then received a graduation certificate, presented to them by one of their fellow students. 

The entire Leadership Academy was held at the Hanover Inn, a union hotel where the workers are members of SEIU Local 560.

Carol Jeffery works with her group to identify political trends faced by public employees and how we as a union can affect those trends

The next Worksite Leadership Academy will be a regional one including members from Vermont and Maine, and is scheduled for March 26-28, 2009 at Dartmouth College, Hanover NH.  For more information, click here or contact SEA Education and Training Coordinator Terri Wright at 271-3411 ext. 108 or twright@seiu1984.org.