Over the last two weeks we’ve talked about acting together in small ways and making issues visible inside the workplace. Those steps are close to home. They build confidence and reduce isolation. In many cases, they may even resolve the issue on their own. Sometimes they don’t.

When an issue is visible internally and still hasn’t moved, the next step is deciding how it goes public.

This is not escalation, and it is not disruption. It is a procedural step. It expands the circle of awareness beyond the workplace and allows others to see what is happening.

This stage is primarily about exposure. It is about sharing information so that people outside of the organization understand what is happening long before any larger action takes place. That awareness can sometimes lead to solutions. The more people who understand an issue, the more minds are thinking about it. It can also create indirect pressure on those who have the authority to make changes.

Even when it doesn’t solve the problem immediately, this step is doing something important. It is practice. It is rehearsal for collective action.

Showing up together at a board meeting. Participating in an informational picket. Submitting coordinated public comments. Posting consistent messages across different spaces. None of these require complex logistics or dramatic gestures, but they do require some local coordination. They require people who are willing to do one thing together at the same time.

That raises a simple question. Who would stand with you in that moment? Who would you stand with? How many people could you count on to take one public step together? How many could there be if you invested in those relationships now?

This is why community building matters. Collective action does not begin at the moment of visibility. It begins in the dozens of small connections you build over time.

Talk to your coworkers. Not just about the issue at hand, but about their families, their interests, their frustrations, their ideas. Have those conversations often, and have them with many different people. The strength you build in those relationships is what makes coordinated public action possible.

Then join us next week at UNITY where we’ll talk about what happens after that practice step, after you’ve gone public, and what it looks like to get organized for the long term.

Joey Hicklin – WPEA Organizer & IT Admin