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Gina Glantz has been an organizer for five decades. "Organizing is personal. Organizing is hard work. Organizing counts."
Photo by John Byrne Barry

by John Byrne Barry
Working Smart Session
Bob Bingaman, Sierra Club; Gina Glantz, SEIU; Naomi Roth, Green Corps

Naomi Roth, one of the panelists on the “Wave of the Future” session, which focused on the primacy of organizing, told the story of a winning campaign, the kind of story we all want to tell.

Green Corps, the organization she serves as executive director, was running a campaign several years ago pressuring Royal Caribbean Cruises to install advanced wastewater treatment technology on its ships before releasing the water to the ocean. “Stop the royal flush” was one of the campaign slogans.

They worked in many port cities, but it was an organizer in Los Angeles, Jesse Littlewood, a senior in college, who turned the tide. He hooked up with religious groups and fishermen, and generated a big media splash about the strong alliances he forged. A week later, Royal Caribbean called and said it would meet the demands.

"Organizing builds power," said Roth. "And power is what it takes to win."

Sierra Club National Field Director Bob Bingaman moderated the panel, which also included Gina Glantz of the Service Employees International Union, who has been organizing for five decades. All three delivered the same message: Organizing is making a comeback. And it's more important than ever.

Glantz has been organizing for five decades, since as a high school student in the 50s she worked in Puerto Rico to help someone running for governor, who was, gasp, divorced. Back in the 50s and 60s and 70s, organizers were well-respected, she said, but then with the rise of television advertising and more restrictions of campaign finances -– "which I'm for, of course, but it did change things" -– the influence of organizers waned. 

But now, with a thousand channels and the Web, television can no longer dominate the message, said Glantz, and it's not as trusted as it once was.

Trust is a key reason that organizing is becoming increasingly important. “You’re more likely to trust your neighbor,” she said.

Bob Bingaman plugged the Sierra Club’s Partnerships Program, which is working to build stronger alliances with unions, religious groups, hunters and anglers, and more. 

During the Q-and-A session, one audience member from New York talked about the Atlantic Chapter's fight to oppose a water-filtration plant built in a park in a poor neighborhood. “But busloads of union members concerned about jobs dominated the hearings on the plant,” he said.

“We can't build alliances overnight,” said Glantz. “We need to start the dialogue, make the personal connections, long before it gets to the jobs versus environment vote.”

-- 09/09/2005 Fri
7pm