RAYTOWN, Mo. — The week of Feb. 2, directors of various International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Councils from across the United States and Canada — including IUPAT DC 3 — traveled to IUPAT headquarters in Hanover, Md., for its “2026 Directors of Organizing Summit.”
While focal elements throughout the conference, attendee Joshua “Josh” Wyrick — IUPAT DC 3 director of organizing — shared included best practices and future outlooks for IUPAT’s unions both locally and nationally, the awards portion drew momentum from recognized district councils nationwide — including IUPAT DC 3, who received “Campaign of the Year:” a feat 25 years in the making.
This awarded work, Wyrick shared in an interview, was the result of its bottom up organizing campaign — a worker-driven organizing campaign, where workers organize their National Labor Relation Act (NLRA) rights to form a union — which served as the first bottom up campaign for IUPAT DC 3 in 25 years.
“We didn’t know what it meant; none of our members had ever experienced anything like that,” Wyrick said in an interview. “We didn’t know what to think or how it worked, but we had the training that the international union had provided.”
And with this unfamiliarity and potential challenges, which can accompany an undertaking such as this one, the union had some reservations surrounding the project’s outcome.
“Most of the time, organizing campaigns fail; it’s not a high success rate, there’s so many factors working against not just the union but the workers themselves as well,” he said.
However, two factors, which Wyrick shared he believes played a pivotal role toward this campaign’s overall advancement — and are essential for any bottom up campaign — include: a worker-driven foundation and preparation.
“Workers have to be involved every step of the way,” he said in an interview. “Workers are the union. The staff’s job is to facilitate, educate, agitate and inoculate. We’re just here to give guidance — they’re the ones who have to make a union.”
And preparation, he shared, should serve as 80% of the campaign, with 20% allocated for action.
While IUPAT DC 3 does not currently have another bottom-up campaign in the works, Wyrick said that they are always looking for future opportunities.
“It’s not something we can make happen, the workers have to be the ones that want to do it,” he said. “All workers want to better their positions. Go out and talk to them, plant those seeds.”
But after two and a half decades, this national recognition was proof of just that.
“I want to thank Campaign Organizer AJ Herrera and all of the DC 3 staff. Without them, this all would have been impossible,” Wyrick said.
Julia Williams — a Kansas City native — is a reporter and digital producer for The Labor Beacon. A University of Missouri School of Journalism alumna, she previously served as the editor-in-chief of The Northeast News before joining The Labor Beacon staff.
Williams’s grandfather was a Claycomo Ford Motor Company retiree and avid UAW Local 249 supporter, allowing her to understand the union difference from a young age.
In her free time, Williams enjoys spending time with her family, traveling to see her friends and hanging out at home with her cat, Greta. She loves a good cup of coffee, seeing local, live music and shopping secondhand. With a passion for storytelling, she hopes to bring her knowledge of journalistic integrity to the Kansas City union community — giving union and labor workers a voice, while holding people in powerful positions accountable.
