Workplace Bullying Institute - Legislative Campaign, Advocacy for State Laws

THE (INCOMPLETE) TASKLIST FOR POTENTIAL
CITIZEN LOBBYISTS


You will be required to ...

- put your personal misery behind you so you can tell your story effectively, you have to have emotional distance (can tell your story without crying) to be a lobbyist on behalf of others

- identify your state elected representatives

- become adept at navigating your state legislature's website to discover, names, procedures, committees, bill tracking, and the history of bills sponsored by potential sponsors

Links to Every State Legislature
Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut
Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana
Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts
Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada
New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York Assembly New York Senate
North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma House Oklahoma Senate
Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota
Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia
Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

- make lots of telephone calls, send e-mails, write letters and beg for and attend in-person appointments to sell the need for legislation

- review the documents we created for you and be able to stay on message using the provided terminology and phrasing (without ever deliberately or inadvertently substituting other terms)

- understand the phenomenon of workplace bullying thoroughly (by reviewing most of the Workplace Bullying Institute website)

- be fluent when discussing research (the statistical aspects such as in the WBI-Zogby survey and some social science research terminology as found in articles posted at the WBI website)

- understand what the WBI-LC Healthy Workplace Bill (© David Yamada) does and does not accomplish (we teach you) and promise not to engage in any unauthorized use of it

- rehearse telling about your experience in a succinct 3 min. presentation (this takes time to perfect)

- be willing to talk to reporters intelligently about the WBI-led movement and unemotionally about your personal bullying tale

- sell, sell, sell, sell (lobbying is a sales job!)

- solicit endorsements for the bill from like-minded advocacy groups (calls, meetings, presentations, follow-up calls)

- rehearse staging an influential presentation (the Meet 'n Greet) to convince lawmakers to introduce the anti-bullying Healthy Workplace Bill

- have the energy to deliver 20-30 of those presentations in a one to two-day period of intense lobbying at the state Capitol

- have the skills of a telemarketer because follow-up calls are necessary all the time

- write letters to the editor, write opinion (Op-Ed) pieces for your local newspaper (books not required, though some in the group have gone on to write books)

- accept rejection, being told "no"

- be able to listen to opponents' arguments and to counter idiots without screaming at the nonsense they spew

- be able to testify at committee hearings in front of politicians

- engage and train others to testify and to tell their stories in ways that support the legislation and do not hurt the cause

- risk embarassment, being shamed by friends who think you have become too extreme and should just forget what happened to you in the past

- balance work and family with volunteer lobbying that requires you travel at least twice a year to the state Capitol and to spend several lunch hours and evenings meeting with politicians or attending events you are asked to attend (without supportive family, you and they will be miserable, so don't sign up if you anticipate conflict)

- avoid being re-traumatized as you repeatedly tell your story or hear the painful stories of others (however, it gets better with each re-telling)

- proselytize, sell, persuade, preach, cajole, be bold, retreat when necessary, spontaneously utter legalese jargon, be folksy and plain-spoken.

This is not the complete job description. The process typically modifies and expands the number and scope of projects required by itself. It will be tought to pass a law that corporations do not want passed. But you will have the high moral ground. Opponents actually have to defend abusive mistreatment at work (and they do)!

The work is not for the faint of heart!

Be careful about this commitment. Though it can feel like "work," it has proven life-changing to many advocates. It gives purpose and meaning to their post-bullying world. It is a positive way to get even with the indifferent employer and cruel bully by exposing their secret world. And it is low cost -- some printing, phone bills, gas to travel to the Capitol, but blessedly there are no attorney's fees! It will feed your soul.

And if the above tasks were not enough, you might want to apply to become a State Coordinator (a super volunteer). Read what's involved.


• IF YOU ARE STILL INTERESTED, PLEASE REGISTER AS A CITIZEN LOBBYIST WITH WBI-LC