Taking Our Stories to the Rooms Where Decisions Are Made

Companies have their own story about who they are and how they treat their workers. Organizers and investors have to have theirs and back it up. In this module, Bev and Marcela talk about what happens when worker narratives meet the boardroom, the investor meeting, and the halls of power.

From the fight against Cop City in Atlanta, where workers at Home Depot and UPS were connected to grassroots organizations opposing a police training facility whose board included their own employers, to ICE raids in Home Depot parking lots that Marcela's team documented and brought directly to company management, this module shows how stories become strategy.

Key Takeaways:

• A compelling narrative can shift public perception, attract media attention, and pressure decision-makers

• Companies respond to business-case arguments and worker stories provide the evidence

• Coalition building across unions, community organizations, and investors amplifies the narrative

Reflection Prompt: Who has power over the conditions you described in your story? Is it a manager, a company, a pension board, a policymaker? Who else cares about this issue and might be an ally?