Provisionally approved 6/18/02
Leading and Strengthening Workers’ Organizations
Level III
RATIONALE: Labor Studies students should be able to examine and evaluate how the roles and performances of various leaders who represent or advocate for workers in organizations like labor unions, worker associations and advocacy groups. These students should be familiar with relevant source material on these kinds of leaders; they should be familiar with the terms and concepts used to describe and assess different styles and models of leadership. And they be familiar with concepts and theories of leadership and be able, where relevant to apply them those who offer leadership to workers. With this familiarity with the relevant source material on leadership, the student should be able to evaluate the effectiveness of various leaders in strengthening their organizations, ie., improving its capacities for organizing, bargaining, mobilizing members an/or allies, for developing new leadership, and for effective advocacy. In order to conduct this evaluation, the student should understand the structural, cultural, and attitudinal factors that enhance or impede both the exercise of effective leadership and organization-building over time. Finally, when given a specific case or situation, the student should be able to make an argument or proposal for leadership development that leads to a stronger organization.
COMPETENCY: Can analyze and evaluate how various leaders function and approach their roles in differing worker organizations and situations, and explain how leadership practices can strengthen those organizations.
CRITERIA:
1. Demonstrate a familiarity with relevant source material on the role of leaders who represent and advocate for workers.
2. Compare and contrast these sources and use them to explain how leaders function formally and informally in a variety of worker organizations and situations.
3. Evaluate case studies of leaders and explain how those leaders and their practices promote the strengthening of those organizations in terms of organizing, bargaining, mobilizing members an/or allies, developing new leadership, and advocacy.
4. Explain how structural, cultural, and attitudinal factors enhance or impede both the exercise of effective leadership and organization-building over time.
5. Formulate a recommendation for how more effective leadership in a given situation could contribute to strengthening an organization.
PORTFOLIO LINKS: All written work for this competency should be guided by the Portfolio III writing standards. All written work must at least meet the writing standards of Portfolio II.
STANDARDS:
1. The source material used in meeting criteria 1 and 2 should include at least six examples of different types and models of labor leadership. The examples may be drawn both from historical studies and contemporary cases including journalistic accounts. The examples should reflect a group of leaders from diverse backgrounds. At least one example should concern the leader a union local. (One example may be based on the student’s own experience in one of a variety of organizations that represent workers.)
2. The source material used in meeting criteria 1 and 2 should include at least two different studies of leadership that provide various terms for describing leaders or models of leadership and that provide various concepts and theories of leadership which may be applied to labor leaders. (eg. the material may include a presentation of the so-called “iron law of oligarchy” that is a theory which proposes that leaders of unions and parties tend to become less and less democratic in order to hold onto their power ; the material may include an argument for how members of an organization can replace oligarchy with democracy).
3. The three case studies required criterion 3 may include two of the six examples used in criterion 1. (But most examples of leadership are descriptive; a case study is an analysis of a leader and that leader’s performance.) One of the case studies may be developed by the student based on his or her won experience as a leader or by his or her experience with a leader in a labor organization
4. The situation evaluated in criterion 5 may be provided by the evaluator/instructor or may be based on the student’s own experience in an organization. The student may demonstrate this criterion either with argument essay or oral presentation that meets the criteria and standards of Portfolio III.
EXAMPLES OF DEMONSTRATION:
1. Prior Learning: Based on a student’s experience in his or her own worker organization, s/he may conduct an analysis of existing leadership practices and how they might change to strengthen the organization. Together with an evaluator, a student develops a brief reading list that encompasses literature and case studies related to labor leadership.
2. Independent Learning: A student works for at least 12 weeks with a worker organization or organizing initiative and, with the help of an evaluator, develops a case study of that organization or initiative that applies concepts and theories of organizational analysis and leadership. The student then selects two additional case studies from published literature and compares them with the organization or initiative with which the student has had recent experience.
3. Course: A student completes a CPCS course with a syllabus of literature and case studies that explain and identify analytic concepts related to organizational analysis and leadership.
4. Field Project: A group of students provide assistance to three different labor organizations, while at the same time observing, describing, comparing and contrasting models and styles of leadership demonstrated in different settings. The outcome of the field work is a joint report on what sorts of labor leadership seem to strengthen worker organizations in these particular cases.