Training & Leadership Development

The Training and Leadership Development department plays a key role in the Texas AFL-CIO's investment in building and shaping a bigger, broader, and rising labor movement in the state of Texas. The department oversees the execution of the Texas AFL-CIO Ruth Ellinger Labor Leaders School, a year-long comprehensive leadership development program for rising leaders in the Texas Labor Movement; holds political training and boot camps to help members understand the forces that are shaping their lives and what is necessary to be able to change those forces through political action; collaborates with the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute and others to build a new corps of trained organizers in Texas; develops and delivers training and programs, with guidance from the Texas AFL-CIO Racial Justice Taskforce, to increase understanding of the issues connected to racial justice in our unions and our communities and provide effective outlets for action; provides training on basic union leadership skills such as grievance presentations, parliamentary procedures, running a meeting, volunteer recruitment, etc.; and helps coordinate and support education programs of other union organizations, such as affiliates, local central bodies, constituency groups, the AFL-CIO, and constituency groups.

Our Work

Ruth Ellinger Leadership Academy: This one-year training program is a skill-building and leadership development course managed by the Texas AFL-CIO – in partnership with affiliate unions, local unions and Central Labor Bodies – to help grow and support the next generation of union leaders in Texas. The program is open to union members who live and work in Texas who are nominated by their Local, International, or Central Labor Body. Program participants attend four weekend-long training sessions over the course of a year covering topics like the basics of organizing, shifting power, and intersectionality in the labor movement.

AFL-CIO Organizing Institute: In April 2024, the Texas AFL-CIO partnered with the Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation and the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute to bring a state-of-the-art training opportunity to Houston, Texas.

Read our recap of the incredible weekend.

And hear from participants directly about what they gained from the training.

Contact: Lorraine Montemayor | lorraine@texasaflcio.org