The point of the shop paper is to get everyone in the existing or future bargaining unit on the same page theoretically and politically, in particular regarding the relationship between the workers, the owners/employers, their agents in the labor movement (the corporate/government/state unions), and the collective actions that need to be taken due to these exploitative and repressive relationships. This mass agitation and consciousness raising requires patient and systematic work among the actual workers in the operation, not just throwing statements out on social media and seeing what happens like the state unions and their activists do. PATIENT AND SYSTEMATIC CANNOT BE EMPHASIZED ENOUGH. It is better to have a small number of people who read the newsletter consistently month-to-month and can be counted on for feedback and relied on for participation in other aspects of revolutionary trade union work than to hand out a hundred copies of a single edition and then never follow up with anyone.

It’s also important to keep in mind that people don’t have to agree with everything, or even most things, to read the shop paper. If everyone automatically knew all the facts and were making perfect sense of them, then there would be no need for a shop paper in the first place. At the same time, management and their allies will fight vociferously against any independent media operated by the workers for the purpose of criticizing them. Consequently, every precaution should be taken to conceal the newsletter from management and state union staff. Indeed, it is often the case that the state union staff can be more territorial, vicious, and repressive regarding independent worker initiatives than the employers. It is within our rights to discuss the bargaining unit, but just to be safe, distribution (especially with new people) should be done whenever possible off the clock, whether during break or after punching out or before start of the work day.

Copies of the shop paper should be handed directly to the workers and not left lying around somewhere for people to take. Being careless with shop paper materials can only increase the chances of the wrong person seeing it and investigating further, and reduce the chances of the right person reading it. This also ties in to the need for distributors to be carefully monitoring the mood of the workers, and in to the goal of establishing a physical presence of the shop floor organization on the shop floor itself.

In workplaces where turnover is high, extra attention should be given to the veteran long-term employees, but the new hires who want to stick it out or want to be involved in bargaining unit activity shouldn’t be ignored either. The same is true of the better-paid skilled workers: their support cannot be taken for granted for one second, but if they can be won over then they should be considered an absolutely vital resource. Don’t be afraid to plainly ask people where they are going: do they want to join management, are they looking to leave the company altogether, are they looking for an organizing job in a state union, or do they want to stay and sweat it out in the operation? So long as someone proves themselves to be trustworthy, is not looking to be a lackey for management or a state union, and has no history of snitching, gossiping or blabbing, at some point they should be simply told that there is a semi-hidden workers’ opposition within the bargaining unit, and frankly asked if they want to read their newsletter. If they say no, then the answer is no. We aren’t here to badger anyone into doing something they don’t want to do, and it is only through long-term patient practical and theoretical work that the more reluctant workers will be brought up and won over.

If they say yes though, they should be given a copy, told not to share it with management or other “interested parties”, and followed up with in a timely manner. What do they agree with, disagree with, is there something they think we should be talking about, did something crazy happen on the job, do they have questions about conditions at other buildings/companies we can answer, and how can we best integrate them into the work if they support the newsletter?

The establishment and consistent maintenance of a roll for the workplace is extremely important. Once someone has read one edition and expects to read future ones, it is extremely important that this person’s name and work area be recorded in a safe place so they can be followed up with regularly. If the clandestine methods of organization are fully applied in a way appropriate to the workplace, and the workplace also has a state union or organizing committee leaning towards state union representation, there will be two trade union centers operating in opposite parallel. In building up the distribution network of the shop paper, you are effectively building up a clandestine means of communication among the trade union masses which may prove to be the decisive factor in an acute trade union struggle where the state union leaders are deliberately misleading and leaving the trade union masses in the dark while they negotiate a sellout in secret.

Under no circumstances can the distribution roll be turned over to a manager or state union or in any way subordinated to their work. (This must also be tied to the editorial policy of the shop paper, see the writing guide for more on this.) The roll should include how many copies were distributed each edition, and who and what job class they were distributed to. Ideally these numbers should reflect the actual composition of the workforce, but even if they don’t, it let’s us know our audience as well as the extent of our influence among the workers, which in turn determines what course of action we can take; are we influential enough to lead a wildcat strike, a slowdown inside, a rally, etc.?

The shop paper is the key theoretical link in the broader practical work and leadership of the shop unit, and distribution is in turn an essential key function in the work of the shop paper. Whether distribution is done well or poorly can make or break the work of the shop floor organization, can either take it and the workers it organizes to new heights, or condemn it to failure.