Sectoral Research & Campaigns
Workshop Description:
Building deep and sustained union power and density means looking beyond individual companies or worksites to comprehensively assess an industry across all relevant employers and geographies. A sectoral approach to research, policy, and campaigning is vital in fragmented or subcontracted industries in order to raise standards and engage workers in building their union industrially rather than site by site. In this workshop, you will learn how to step back from one company’s operations or financials and look at the big picture. Cassandra Ogren and Jason Oringer of SEIU will walk you through the considerations behind sectoral campaigns, research strategies for preparing a sector-wide initiative, and deeper dives into case studies for sectoral organizing and power-building.
Workshop Leaders:
Cassandra Ogren is the director of SEIU’s Strategic Initiatives Department, which develops industry-wide and sectoral research and analysis to support the union’s goals. The department brings together research, capital stewardship, and policy experts to provide a multifaceted approach to critical sectoral work. Cassandra has been with SEIU since 2024 and previously led the research work in the Teamsters Strategic Initiatives department. She also collaborates with academic partners on industry and policy research and serves as faculty with the Strategic Corporate Research summer school. In 2022, she completed an MBA at Florida International University with a concentration in Marketing Channel Strategy. She holds an MA from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a BA from Oberlin College.
Jason Oringer is a Senior Research Coordinator with the Property Services Division of SEIU. He has been with SEIU since 2010. Jason focuses on investigating companies, industry trends, workplace practices and legal and regulatory issues primarily in the security services and janitorial industries to aid in worker organizing and bargaining campaigns as well as raising workplace and training standards. Over the last decade this work has contributed to campaigns that have helped tens of thousands of security officers, including in Silicon Valley and San Diego, win a union and improved wages and working conditions. In the past he has worked with other unions and locals including SEIU USWW, Workers United, UNITE, CFA, the United Steelworkers and the AFL-CIO. Jason earned an MA in Latin American Studies (Politics and Economics) from the University of New Mexico and a BA from UC Riverside.
