Organizing Institute - Criticisms

Criticisms

The OI has been criticized on a number of issues.

Some labor union organizers point out that the organizing model contains a notable flaw. The model has a tendency to promote "staffing up"—an organizing approach which relies on hiring and training large numbers of full-time staff organizers and researchers. These staff organizers are often recruited from outside the ranks of the membership. The staff-driven organizing model, critics say, fails to empower workers, contributes to weak elected leadership, does not educate members about the nature and role of unions, fails to prepare members for effective collective bargaining, and leads to worker dependence on regional or national staff.

Another problem of "staffing up" is the "churn 'em and burn 'em" effect. New Organizers are being recruited into an already crowded marketplace, creating what the AFL-CIO has termed, the "race to the bottom" (competition resulting in wage-undercutting). With unions lacking in real political and financial support of organizing programs, there is no demand for the perpetual supply of entry level staff. Simply put, supply exceeds demand. As in multi-level marketing, money is made off of the bottom tier before they quit and the emphasis is on recruitment to replenish a new batch of bottom tier hopefuls. Permanent job placement and career development are lacking.

Other critics contend the OI training programs do not go far enough in terms of mentoring and real-world skill-building. The OI, these critics claim, often place new organizers in positions with unions not committed to the organizing model. Without full financial, staff and political support, these new organizers often become disillusioned, suffer burnout, and leave the labor movement. Others learn poor organizing habits, and lose their effectiveness.

The OI has also been criticized for meddling in affiliate politics. In the early 1990s, OI leaders began to realize that many AFL-CIO affiliate unions gave only lip-service to aggressive organizing. The OI subsequently developed a program to "educate" national, regional and local union leaders about the benefits of the organizing model. The education program, promulgated by Bensinger during his tenure as OI director, became an integral part of the AFL-CIO's organizing push after Sweeney named Bensinger director of the AFL-CIO Organizing Department in 1996. But a number of elected union leaders perceived the program as a thinly-veiled attempt to interfere in their internal politics. In August 1998, Bensinger resigned as director of the Organizing Department after only 18 months in the position. The education program continued to create problems over the next five years. Bensinger's replacement, Kirk Adams (the AFL-CIO's southern regional director and a former organizing director at SEIU) resigned in January 2000 after only 16 months on the job. Adams' successor, Mark Splain (the federation's Western regional director and a former SEIU organizing director in California), was named as Adams' replacement in May 2000. But Splain resigned in October 2003. Stewart Acuff, deputy director of the organizing department, was named Splain's replacement.