I stayed so long at one place that the homeowner asked me to stay for dinner, Fries recalls. Fries and her fellow organizers operate out of a satellite office in a building owned by another labor union. It s late Tuesday afternoon and Fries and the organizing staff are mapping out a plan for home visits that will last well into the evening hours. Fellow organizer Ron Mofield and Council 62 Organizing Director Michelle Martin are dispatched to residences outside the city limits. Fries is going to work alone on the south side of town.
Fries swears by house calls.
You can t see and feel a response over the telephone. No one ever said organizing was easy. She s lined up six home visits and yet only one worker is at home. At one residence, a teen answers the door and says his mom isn t home. His body language suggests she may be lurking somewhere in the house.