Have a plan and work the plan” is good advice for any individual or group. But, it’s often easier said than done unless a lot of hard work goes into devising the plan. That was the task confronting more than two dozen TWU local presidents, who were joined by key staffers at a three-day strategic planning session, March 31-April 2, at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Maryland.

International President James C. Little set the tone in his opening remarks when he thanked the local officers for participating in what he views as a top priority for the union in a rapidly changing political and economic environment. He noted that while an Obama administration made life easier for unions, it will still take a lot of effort and planning to reach our goals.

A case in point, Little said, is the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which despite the support of Obama will require a major campaign by the labor movement for passage. The meeting focused on two main topics: Organizing/membership growth, which included passage of EFCA and capitalizing on the addition of “green jobs;” and maximizing the benefit to TWU members from FAA reauthorization, stimulus spending and transit funding.

The strategic planning sessions were coordinated and led by attorney Mark Richard and Education & Research Director Bob Wechsler assisted with the logistics. Leading the group were two TWU Vice Presidents, Roger Toussaint, the Director of Strategic Planning, and J.W. Johnson. Dr. Jerry Brown led the session on green jobs.

Local presidents broke into smaller groups to tackle the individual topics, eventually making recommendations in six areas. They identified related goals (such as educating members on EFCA) and recommended strategies to accomplish the specific goals. They also identified resources and support that would be needed.

After receiving the reports from each group, President Little responded with plans to act on many of the recommendations. The local presidents participating were: EFCA John Feltz (2001), Todd Woodward (561), Pete Hogan (510), Sean Doyle (512) and Marvin Artis (248); FAA reauthorization Thom McDaniel (556), Steve Luis (514), Bob Owens (562), Howard Blaydes (590) and Don Tyndall (502); Green jobs Gordon Clark (530), Jerome Lafragola (1400), Steve Gilboy (563) and Jonathan Williams (2014); Organizing/member growth Orton Reynolds (264), Lillian Rowe (259), William Zimmerman (565), Dave Kellner (2020) and Kevin Smith (525); Stimulus Michael Walsh (282), Michael Lynn (2055), Todd Gibbs (521) and Fred Fink (2019); Transit funding Bernie Burkett (1), Delisa Brown (171), Irwin Lum (250- A) and Sandra Burleson (260). Blueprint for the Future ”