A structure test is a task an organizer asks a worker to do — something concrete, visible, and a little bit risky — to find out whether that worker actually has influence over their coworkers, or just talks like they do.

It's the difference between someone saying "oh yeah, everybody here is pissed off, they'd totally sign a card" and that same person actually going and getting five coworkers to sign a card, wear a sticker, or show up to a meeting. The first is an opinion. The second is proof.

Structure tests scale. Early ones are small and low-risk; later ones get bigger and riskier, mirroring what the campaign itself will eventually demand. Some common examples:

• Getting a specific number of signed union cards from a specific list of coworkers, by a specific date

• Wearing a button or sticker on a shift and reporting back who else did

• Getting coworkers to attend a meeting outside of work hours

• Delivering a petition or letter to a supervisor as a group

• Getting coworkers to wear the same color on a designated day

None of these are randomly chosen. Each one requires the worker to actually go talk to their coworkers, ask them to do something that puts a little skin in the game, and follow through. If the worker can't get five people to wear a sticker, they're probably not going to get fifty people to walk out.