This page is dedicated to training I have created and presented for Young Member Committees. All material was made and presented by Eric Chornoby.
2025 Young Member Conference
At the 2025 National Young Member Conference I created and presented two segments. While I assisted in multiple segments, these are the slideshows I designed and presented wholly. If you were in attendance you may notice I spoke I whole lot more than just these two – in nearly every segment. Unfortunately that was off the cuff to help the conference run and I do not have notes or a copy of that material.
Presentation One: “What to do when the Union breaks your Heart?”
That training is designed to help members deal with heartbreak – common in any Labor Union. This was inspired by an article and training by Labor Notes. The updates I made include making this APWU specific, Young Member Specific, and vastly expanded how to deal with Heartbreak over venting about Heartbreak.
The APWU has never had any training like this and is a unique tool to help the next generation of APWU Activists deal with their Union.
You can download and view that training below.
Presentation Two: “Building a YMC”
Building a Young Member Committee. This is a guide on the mechanics of forming a Committee, how to gain local support, and what a Local YMC does.
In this Presentation I take substantial inspiration from the APWU’s largest YMC – The 480-481 Area Locals YMC. As the Chairperson we created the Committee from the ground up two years ago without any other Committee to use as reference.
We dive into Constitutions, Roberts Rules of Order, mechanics of running a Committee, discuss POWER (Post Office Women for Equal Rights) and Retiree Committees as inspiration, what a Committee can do and finally funding.
This training acts as removing the veil on Committees and empowers Young Members to participate. When creating this training my focus was providing the road map I wish I had in 2023 when forming the YMC of the 480-481 Area Local.
I must close this section by saying I am very proud of helping and leading the 2025 Young Member Conference along with the National Young Member Committee. I must also thank Elizabeth “Liz” Powell, Anna Smith, and Omar Gonzalez. All three are National Officers who help mentor and lead the Young Member Committee. In addition, I would like to thank Central Region Coordinator Amy Puhalski for selecting me join the National Committee and allowing me to help so many States and Locals in the Central Region.
October MPWU YM Training
At the 2025 MPWU Educational Conference I assisted APWU Director of Organization with her segment on Organizing. As I work for the National APWU on External Organizing (Amazon), am the Chair Person of the 480-481 Area Local’s YMC and also am on the National YMC, I am uniquely positioned to help engage Younger Workers.
During this training we delved into forming a State Wide Committee. In real time (and unscripted) I went over how to write a Proposal, writing a Resolution, gaining support, and dealing with Executive Boards. The attendees attempted to pass a resolution to form a MPWU YMC, but this is not possible outside a Constitutional Convention.
Despite being unable to start a State Committee at this time, we were able to gain State support for needed resources to assist Locals in creating Committees. As the number two Officer in the MPWU (Executive Secretary) I took point. That culminated in me creating and scheduling a MPWU Training which covers:
- Forming a Committee (Using the National YMC Training I created)
- Robert’s Rules of Order (A New PowerPoint)
- Open Q and A and Discussion
This Zoom was sent to all MPWU Presidents for input and feedback. The date selected was October 19th at 4 PM.
New Training – Robert’s Rules of Order
This PowerPoint is the primary material covered under number two above. I have attended APWU Training on Robert’s Rules of Order (Which is excellent – hosted by Director of Research and Education), and external training on Robert’s Rules of Order. After a lifetime of attending APWU Meetings, acting as a Parliamentarian, and helping Young Members I quickly learned that the biggest obstacle to participation is not knowing the language spoken.
The PowerPoint includes some borrowed outlines and credit is given, some graphics I created, and a full breakdown of how Robert’s Rules applies to the APWU. We cover forming an Agenda, Motion Types, How to Raise a Motion, Nuances of RONR, Tips & Tricks and finally, how RONR applies to Committees.
The intent was to empower all Young Members to not only participate, but become actively involved.
Cheat Sheets
The APWU has a fantastic cheat sheet which I am not including. It is the most ‘straight forward’ Cheat Sheet on RONR. The following two documents are Cheat Sheets which I find useful. They are no substitute for the above or National APWU Training.
My Qualifications on RONR: My first meeting using RONR (that I remember) was in 1995. I have been to well over 100 Meetings that use RONR and simple osmosis accounts for a great amount of knowledge. In addition, I have attended APWU Training on Robert’s Rules of Order and several external trainings on Robert’s Rules of Order.
I serve on two Executive Boards which use Robert’s Rules of Order and have lead the 480-481 Area Local’s YMC using Robert’s Rules of Order. I have been Parliamentarian for the 480-481 Area Local as well.
I have owned several copies of RONR covering different revisions over the years, have several ‘quick guides’ and synopsis’s to RONR, etc.
Before I say something on RONR I refer to the source book itself (Currently 12th Edition), and if not explicitly covered seek guidance from the support websites and forums. Very few people have the experience in using or knowledge of RONR I have.
APWU Steward 