(Download)

No "News" is Good News

Focus groups with workers repeatedly show that most have no great interest in receiving "news" or "updates" or "reports" from the union.

They assume "news" is something the institution wants to tell them for the benefit of the institution or its leaders.

What they want is information about their own rights, benefits, and security -- or about specific ways they can help improve their situation.

So if you produce flyers on a regular basis for a particular group of workers and want a masthead to provide continuity, avoid names like News, Bulletin, Update, Report, or Digest.

Instead, try names that help workers see that the information is about them, not the institution, and is about action they can be involved in, not just reporting on what the organization and its leaders are doing.  Examples:

Stronger Together

Unity

Action

United for Quality Care

United for Justice

Words like these often can be used in combination with phrases in smaller type that help build group identity and/or convey the sense of an ongoing campaign.  For instance…

Nursing Home Workers
STRONGER TOGETHER

County Workers

UNITY

Contract
ACTION

Health Care Workers
UNITED FOR QUALITY CARE

JUSTICE

For Janitors

Courtesy of TheWorkSite.org