Region 5 Rap Session
Part 1: The Training
Colby and I getting ready to do the business.
Kansas City, MO brought the goods in 2024.
Branch 203 Union reps went to Kansas City, MO for our annual Region 5 Rap Session on February 3rd and 4th. Basically, this is training for your branch officers and stewards to bring back info to our branch. This is a short series of posts to tell you about what happens at a Rap Session and the good it does for our membership. Here’s a little of what you could expect.
First of all, let me say it’s a good time. Let me set the scene.
This is a place where everyone goes for good fellowship and a desire for education for all things Union. I’ve only been to two so far, but both times I am just amazed at the feeling of being surrounded by people who care about our rights and the labor movement as much as I do, if not more. Everywhere you look people are smiling, joking around, and carrying a bag of equipment expressly for taking notes and getting into the education. I’ve never met anyone with any ego there. I’ve never seen anyone who’s not glad to see you there. It’s an awesome feeling to be in the midst of your Union brothers and sisters and really get a sense of how big this is and how much we matter.
This place was loaded for the address from Brian Renfroe. I’m only getting a small part of the crowd here.
In addition to that, it’s a great place to hang and get to know your branch brothers and sisters. We have meals together, talk about the craft, laugh, and invest time in the people who are fighting the good fight with you. Personally, that’s been a highlight for me.
We were in the heart of downtown in the business district. Old historic buildings line the streets in every direction, and some bear modern renovations that make the place feel old and comfy, but fresh and interesting too. The streets were tight and busy, and because of that we walked where we wanted to go, for the most part. Walking a few blocks got us to food destinations, and it was much less than any of us walk on our route. The only bad thing about that was being stuffed with that KC BBQ and having to walk back to the hotel, haha, but I don’t regret it. I walked around a bit in some free time and snapped a few pics with my less-than-stellar phone camera.
When you show up to the hotel you check in, navigate the labyrinth that is the hotel room situation, and get to the class registration. There is a wide variety of classes that take up one or two hours each, and you get to choose which ones you’ll benefit from most. Working with your other branch members everyone can generally cover all the classes there so each member can bring info back to the branch that the others didn’t get. Some of the classes available this year were CCA & PTF Rights and Benefits, Community Service and EAP, Just Cause, OWCP and Advanced OWCP, Steward Rights, Beginner and Intermediate Steward, and several more.
After you’re all set up you get the evening to chill because the next morning it pops off.
Training in each class is a minimum of an hour lecture on practical info. It’s like a large classroom model where the lecture is given, questions can be answered, notes are taken, and handouts are given based on the presentation to take back to the branch with you. Presenters are available for a short time afterwards to answer more nuanced questions, or anything you didn’t want to ask in front of the class. I took the opportunity to meet one of our presenters that is our Regional Grievance Assistant, and he recalled me from previous phone conversations we had. It was nice to know I was a real person to them and not just a faceless caller asking for advice.
NBA David Teegarden addresses the group before a computer class presentation. What the heck is that image on there though, I don’t remember that…
Classes move quickly and continue all day with a short break for lunch. It’s casual, but hardcore because everyone there is there for the same thing. People are dressed comfortably, scrawl notes quickly, ask questions to further their understanding, and move to the next class. We have such a diverse region with a lot of representation, it was really humbling to be in the midst of.
We’re all checking our schedules and finding out where we’re going next.
After a long day of training I slept so friggin hard. My brain was stuffed with info, my stomach was stuffed with the good KC food, and my notebook was filled with all the things I’d learned. This was all just on Saturday, and the address from National President Brian Renfroe was on the docket for Sunday morning.
This training and event is available to branch officers and stewards generally, and this year our branch’s membership was small. I’m hoping shedding some light on this awesome event will inspire others to take the plunge and encourage them to get involved. Hey, it could be you.
Stay tuned for the write up of Renfroe’s presentation, there was a lot going on in it. Thanks for the read.