Subsection 6.4
Writing the narrative paragraph
Reading
The five indicators are the easy part. The hard part is writing the four-sentence paragraph that translates them into a campaign-strength judgement and one clear ask.
The lead organizer does not want a percentages dump. The lead organizer wants to know: which condition is the strongest, which is the weakest, and what is the next move?
The four-sentence template
- Strongest condition. Name the indicator above the threshold.
- Weakest condition. Name the indicator below the threshold.
- One driver behind the weakest. Connect it to something concrete: a department, a shift, a worksite.
- The ask. A specific, named next action.
Example narrative paragraph
Card support is above the 70% supermajority threshold organizers usually want before filing, which is the strongest signal in the report. Housecall coverage is the weakest indicator: only 52% of workers have been seen at home in the last 30 days, and the committee has two open seats in the night shift. The next ask is to fill the two committee seats and run a housecall sprint across the 68 workers we have not seen in 30+ days.
What “strong campaign” thresholds look like
The union-organizing literature converges on a few rough numbers: 70% card support before filing; 50% housecall coverage in the last 30 days; 60% structure-test response; a committee that reflects the unit’s demographics within 10 percentage points on race, gender, and shift. Use these as anchor points, not absolute rules.
Action: Mark this page complete when you have finished the activity above.