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Unlock Your Power to Create Change!
Workers across the South Sound are organizing for better wages, safer workplaces, and respect on the job.
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The South Sound Organizing School (SSOS) trains everyday workers, community members, and union activists on the strategies and skills needed to build power in workplaces and communities.
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Through hands-on workshops, discussion, and real-world examples, participants will learn how organizing works, how campaigns are built, and how workers win lasting improvements.
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Classes are designed to be practical, accessible, and immediately useful for anyone interested in organizing.
Limited seats are available for each session.
What You’ll Learn
South Sound Organizing School teaches practical organizing skills used by unions and worker-led campaigns across the country.
Level I — Foundations
This track introduces the core principles of organizing and worker leadership.
Participants will learn how to:
Traits and Tools of Successful Organizers
This module provides an overview of the essential traits, skills, and strategic tools required to become an effective labor union or social justice organizer. Students will share their own insights and ideas as we explore what is required to transform our worksites and communities.
Targeted Organizing
Learn how organizing goals and targets are established to build greater power and density in our movements. Students will discover several unique ways to engage with the unorganized and why a “pipeline” of leads is important for building momentum.
Conversation Models and Leader ID
This session provides training in the foundational skills of union organizing: the one-on-one (1:1) conversation. Participants will learn a structured framework designed to move others from passive dissatisfaction to active engagement and to identify organic leaders.
Deep Organizing
This module explores the lifecycle of a union organizing campaign, from first contact to first contract and why we can no longer rely on politicians, government agencies, and courts to defend the working class. Students will learn strategies for bringing others together to create real change in our communities and worksites.
Lessons Learned from Jane McAlevey (Organizing Roundtable)
This virtual roundtable explores the core organizing principles of Jane McAlevey, focusing on building high participation movements. Through short video segments and group discussion, students will learn to move beyond simple “mobilizing” toward “deep organizing” that wins.
These sessions provide the fundamental skills needed to begin organizing in your workplace or community.
Level II — Advanced Concepts
After learning the basics, participants will explore deeper organizing strategies and campaign-building techniques.
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Participants will learn how to:
Organizing in a Digital Age
This virtual workshop explores modern strategies for organizing workers and communities across sectors and industries. By integrating digital platforms with traditional paper-based methods, participants will learn how to overcome unique geographic, demographic, and generational barriers to effective communication.
Organizing Workers and Raising Standards with the Workers’ Bill of Rights
This session explores the organizing and bargaining strategies behind Tacoma’s Workers’ Bill of Rights (WBR). Participants will break down the initiative’s key protections—including the fight for a $20 minimum wage—and learn how to use the WBR as a powerful organizing tool in conversations with workers.
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We will close the session with a debrief on the Olympia Workers’ Bill of Rights, reflecting on lessons learned and how they can inform future organizing efforts.
Deep Canvassing and Narrative Storytelling
This follow-up module shifts from the “what” of the Workers’ Bill of Rights (WBR) to the “how” of persuasion. Participants will master Deep Canvassing – an evidence-based method of non-judgmental listening – and Narrative Storytelling to cut through the noise of opposition and connect with voters on a human level.
Inside Organizing Strategies (Salting)
In this module, students will learn best practices for internal organizing campaigns culled from strategies used in right-to-work scenarios and effective contract campaigns. This session will also break down the tactical “underground” work of Union Salting – the practice of getting a job at a specific workplace with the intention of organizing it from the inside.
Organizing Roundtable
This final module presents the Organizer’s Masterclass Roundtable, where theory meets the front lines. Students will engage in a dynamic, high-level exchange with the instructors. This isn’t a lecture – it’s a strategic war room designed to help students synthesize everything they’ve learned about organizing, salting, deep canvassing, and digital-physical integration.
These sessions focus on the tools organizers use to build momentum, win campaigns, and expand worker power.
