>>11411033, >>11411515, >>11414108
Facilitator's Guide for Federal Employee Activism Workshop
Format: A 2-3 hour session with two guest speakers; lecture, discussion, action planning
Room set-up:
A big circle of chairs or a couple of concentric U shapes are preferable so people can see each other.
If you have lots of tables, you could pre-organize round tables by agency or group of agencies
Objectives (write these up on a big piece of paper/board at front of room): for federal employees to
know their rights to dissent and organize in the workplace
know their rights as a private citizen
strategize about how to build solidarities in the workplace
build a local network across agencies
Who to invite for speakers:
A lawyer or union leader to speak on federal employee rights
An organizer or activist to speak on strategy and tactics
Ask your speakers how they want to be identified; if they are federal employees themselves, they probably will not want their agency named
NOTE: We strongly recommend that you include activists/organizers on your panel. Often lawyers on their own will focus on limitations that can be off-putting and result in a less than empowering session.
Materials needed:
Registration sign-in sheets, clipboards, pens, name tags (first names only)
Note cards or small sheets of paper, pens (the papers might say “my concern or hope is…” and a second set say “I intend to _ in the next week and __ in the next month” or you can give out blank paper with just verbal instructions)
White board or flip chart and large markers
Options to consider:
Group agreements: this is a brief exercise to establish the norms of the group and consent to any ground rules. For this workshop, some sort of confidentiality agreement should be included, as well as norms about respect. Here is some suggested language:
Ask everyone to speak for themselves, as they are and think today, not for others.
“What's learned in the room can leave with you, but what is said in the room stays in the room.”
More ideas are at the bottom of this document
Pre-registration - if possible, have names, emails and mobile phones in case of changes due to weather, etc. Keep the list secure, though.
Infiltration: keep in mind that it is possible that some of the people in the room are not there with good intent. They may be interested in inciting people to more radical actions than they are comfortable with, they may be planning a long-term infiltration with a particular group, or they may just be reporting back to someone who is opposed to what we are doing. The facilitator doesn’t need to do anything about this because everything in this workshop is legal, nonviolent, and in the open. However, '''it might be good to remind the whole group that public gatherings like this workshop are not a good place for specific planning or discussion of high risk actions and
suggest that when people are talking about particular situations relating to themselves, that they phrase their question or suggestion hypothetically, “if someone were considering doing X, what would the issues be?”'''
Suggest a place for people to go afterwards for coffee or drinks in case they want to continue the conversations.
Set-up (3 people recommended):
Configure the chairs, designate a place for people to put coats
Write up on the board/post large papers with the workshop objectives, the top-line agenda items, the draft “group agreements,” and the overview of the action planning exercise
Have 2 greeters at the door to offer optional name tags - first names only. If you have done a pre-registration, each greeter can have the registration list on a clipboard, organized alphabetically by first name. Just check off people as they come in and if unregistered people show up, assign them a number in case there is room for them.
If you are taking optional donations for space rental, etc., have a basket or jar set up by the door labeled “donations”
Pre-print the agency names/groupings in a large font and, based on the number in each group, figure out where in the room they will meet. Recommended groupings: security, intelligence and international affairs; health and science; regulatory, tax, and congressional; environment, agriculture, and parks; justice; other.
Pre-print the snowball and action planning papers (optional) or ask people to bring pen and paper to the event.
cont…
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https://www.scribd.com/document/482466222/Activism-Resources-for-Federal-Employees-2020#fullscreen&from_embed
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WReoPBzU18RbKEcCd6UWJk3HWwzjog4ZMLMfKzjOC4E/edit
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