This sounds like you are not yourself working there. Then I think it will be hard because the first step would be to build trust. Why should they trust someone coming from without, a tourist? There is a reason every succesful case study includes a workforce that organises itself and not an organiser organising a workforce.
Organising a 'cold shop'
I wouldn't call vanguardism on all unsolicited organising efforts, unless its just a dues grab (which probably isn't worth your unions money when they could raid a similar union for much cheaper). There are a tonne of scenarios where you might want to go organise a workplace cold. In the end even in business unions (in Canada anyways) much of the real grunt work on a drive is done by the workers not the staff the real difference is how you fight.
Here's some tips:
1. Pose as 1st year business students doing a survey on workplace demographics, it will at least get your foot in the door. Also when gathering information names and contact info are key, but the businesses relations to other businesses, the owners of the business etc are also very important information.
2. Apply for a job there, not neccessarilly to salt but again at least you can get inside and maybe get a couple of names for a start. It also allows you to ask the employer some questions (how many people work there? What are shift schedules like? How many people per shift? etc).
3. Dumpster dive. Raid the trash round back, often recycling can be handy too. If it doesn't work the first time make sure you try a few times it may take a bit before you find out what day the good stuff is thrown out.
4. Try and case the joint find out if there is a resteraunt or bar that the workers have their lunch breaks together at. Make sure to become a regular at that establishment.
5. Find out where they take their smoke breaks.
6. Find out if a particular faith group/ethnic community is well represented and find labour friendly people from that group to help you get in touch with these folks.
Organising cold has no silver bullet you need to use a variety of tactics, there's probably ones I haven't thought of so by all means keep 'em coming.
In the end trust has to be built before anything much can happen, but you need to know who those folks are before you can meet them and have a relationship of trust.
EdWob, good advice. I don't know if you're on the international IWW e-mail lists (and, God knows, I wouldn't blame you if you weren't), but some Washington state Wobs recently announced they are creating an organizing Wiki. Your stuff would be ideal. I'll PM you the info in any event....
I'd be very interested to know if anyone has tried-and-tested techniques - or even just ideas - for organising unions in a 'cold shop' environment from scratch with no contacts.
Almost every organising case study one reads begins with a group of workers who already have the idea that they might want to form a union where they work, and gives an account of how they get on. But I'm interested in what must happen BEFORE that: ie good ways in which organisers might contact those workers in the first place and discuss unionising with them, without sitting and waiting for the phone to ring.
To be clear, what I mean is: how best to contact workers working in (say) the mostly non-union widget industry, and talking to them about the union's strategic plan for organising the widget industry in a manner which means that they may take part?