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: ‘THE NEW ORLEANS EXTENSION PROGRAN Mary Lawrance, Extension Director for Highlander Folk School (713g (For the information of Highlander's contributors and friends, we have asked Mary Lawrance to prepare the follching brief report - of the educational program conducted by her for the past year in New Orleans, working in sconfunction with the New Orleans Indus- | trial Union Council.) The objective-of the educational program in New Orleans was to take over the newly organized locals and help the organizers in servicing and educating the membership. The most successful results were had with the Reserve Suger Local, because this approach . was used. Several months intervensd between the time of organi- zation, and negotiation of a contract, which provided time to train officers and stewards to run their own union, and the rank and file to speak in meetings and follow the rules of meetings, and enabled the loca] to discuss and write ite own contract. This local knew what it was fighting for; 1t is ready to swing bebind ite new contract and make it work. The educational program was divided into four logical periods-- although not intentionally, The first three months were spent ma in-~ ly in the training of officers and Committeemen to do their jobs properly and to build their organization. The second period was devoted mainly to the stewards--training them to take up grievances and to build the union in their department. During the third session, emphasis was put on picking the unions in the greatest 2. need of help, and running a program individually for each of then, with the aseistance of the officers and stewards who had attended the earlier classes. The final aession was an effort to train as many as possible of the rank and file in the fundamentols of union- — _ iem at genoral meetings, departmental meetings, stowards' meotings, A Melati