We believe that having a powerful and independent organization of labor movement staff is essential for rebuilding the labor movement and fighting for social and economic justice. We do this through developing strong contracts, empowering staff to advocate for themselves and practicing robust union democracy that leads to career sustainability in a changing world. We succeed by organizing ourselves around member-driven advocacy and professional development, sharing of resources, and localized chapter decision making.

The object of this organization shall be to organize all workers within its jurisdiction; to achieve for its members fair wages, hours and working conditions, together with active participation in the policies and operations of their workplace; to promote recognition and respect for the values of its members’ work; and to follow democratic principles.

Guiding Principles & Values

The Pacific Northwest Staff Union believes the success and revitalization of labor movement depends on understanding and committing to a clear set of principles and living those principles through a values-based approach to our everyday life as labor movement staff. PNWSU will educate and model principled action and values-based decision making to ourselves, the union members we support, workers in our communities both organizationally and as individuals. Furthermore, PNWSU commits to hold ourselves, as an organization and as individuals who are members of this Union, and the labor movement employers who employ us to the Union principles and values that are inherent and have been inherited from the generations of union members who came before us.

Guiding Principles & Values

1. Unity/Solidarity: The power of the Employer flows from the boss or the board and is consolidated. In opposition, the power of working people is diffuse and to be effective requires union members act in solidarity. Nothing of significance can be achieved acting alone or in discrete cliques of workers.
   Values:
   a) Commitment To Relationship Building
   b) An Injury to One, is an Injury to All
   c) Move as One
2. Open Robust Democracy: A union cannot act in solidarity if members do not, or cannot, participate in the decision-making process. To that end, PNWSU requires open democratic processes and structures of leadership that provide rigorous opportunity for representation and participation in the governance and decision-making of this Union.
   Values:
   a) Mobilizing/Organizing
   b) Accessibility for a Range of Abilities
   c) Transparency
3. Independence: An effective union must be governed by the membership and not by employers or other entities outside the membership. Employers act in their own interests and too easily attempt to subvert the interests of union members when given the opportunity. There is an inherent conflict of interest between the goal of improving the working conditions and profession-al lives of union staff industry-wide and unions whose primary industry is not representing union staff. This organization will not subvert its independence and ability to affect change to any employer or other labor organization.
   a) Member Driven
   b) Sanction our own Strikes
   c) Challenging the Notion that Labor Staff Aren’t Workers