Announcements 📜
Patrick Cate, EWOC organizing coordinator since June 2022, is stepping down from his position. Patrick has seen this work through some amazing and challenging moments, while consistently providing compassionate support for our volunteer organizers. We appreciate him and everything he’s done to build EWOC and the labor movement. Daphna Thier will be stepping into his role in the interim, and there will be other announcements about staffing coming soon. Patrick leaves us with these parting words:
I am immensely grateful because of the relationships we have built and proud for the amazing work we have accomplished. While my time at EWOC has flown by, I know this is only the beginning of this movement. Thank you all so much for your selfless commitment to the workers’ struggle, and I look forward to rejoining you all as a humble volunteer!
Solidarity forever,
Patrick
Recap of All EWOC Summer Call
We loved seeing everyone who attended the All EWOC Summer Call! It’s always energizing to take a moment with our EWOC family to celebrate our milestones and reconnect with one another. For those we missed, we hope to see you in December for our year-end All EWOC Call. In an effort to create more spaces for volunteers to engage with one another, we’ll be launching new programming opportunities including a Labor Book Club beginning with Hamilton Nolan’s new book, “The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor.” More details to come, so stay tuned! Email [email protected] with questions.
Upcoming Events 📆
The Socialism Conference 2024
August 30–September 2, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois
EWOC is thrilled to endorse this four-day conference featuring dozens of participatory discussions, lectures, and workshops organized by groups from all over the country. COVID-19 safety policies will be applied, and masks will be provided for those who do not have one. A number of sessions from the conference will also be live-streamed virtually so that those unable to attend in person can still join us. Register here by Friday, June 28 for the early bird discounted rate! Visit Socialism Conference • Socialism 2024 to learn more and register today.
Tech Workers Coalition
TONIGHT! Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT via Zoom
If you’re involved in a tech campaign, join us at the next TWC’s Workers Circle. This is a space for tech workers who are organizing at their workplaces to learn from and support one another. All levels of experience are welcome! Register here or connect on Twitter/X: @techworkersco
EWOC Foundational Training Series for Workplace Organizers
Tuesdays, July 9–30, 2024, 9–10:30 p.m. ET / 6–7:30 p.m. PT
In four 90-minute weekly sessions, you will learn how to approach your co-workers, build a team of organizers among them, and develop a campaign. You will meet other workers who are organizing, learn helpful tools, practices, and principles for winning workplace improvements and getting a democratic voice over your working conditions. We also welcome those who are interested in joining EWOC as a volunteer and supporting other organizing workers! Space is limited to 120 participants, so register here today!
Everything You Need to Know About to How to Start a Union
Thursday, July 11, 2024, 8:30–10 p.m. ET / 5:30–7 p.m. PT
In this 90-minute session we’ll cover rights, laws and best practices. An experienced organizer will speak to the general laws governing union recognition, affiliation to existing unions, and the process for getting a union off the ground. We’ll also have breakout sessions with experienced union organizers for people to ask specific questions about their workplaces and campaigns. Don’t miss out, register here today!
EWOC in the News! 📰
Here’s where we celebrate EWOC campaign wins and EWOC mentions in the press.
- Nate Wendt, EWOC’s media lead, talks to My Labor Radio for a fulsome discussion about his origins as an activist and how workers can get support from EWOC. You can connect with Nate on socials: @taom82 (Instagram), @NateWendt (Twitter/X)
- EWOC organizers based in Madison, Wisconsin, were featured in a segment on WORT radio. Scroll to Friday, June 14, 2024, find Labor Radio. Search for these time markers:
- 7:20-11:10 Colin Gillis discussing bargaining efforts at SEIU
- 15:50-22:00 Sara Gia Trongone and Andy Bruno representing EWOC!
- Can Anti-Racism Spur Labor Organizing? (Labor Politics): Research from Eric Blanc’s forthcoming book sheds light on the social movements that had the most impact on new organizing.
- Austin Pets Alive workers create the largest animal shelter union in the U.S. (KUT Radio): Austin Pets Allied Workers (unit size ~200) won their vote to join IAM district 776, despite some of the worst union-busting you can imagine. PAWlidarity to EWOC organizer Yana Kalmyka and Texas’s newest union shop! Check out our EWOC blog post written by worker organizer, Morty Gillum. Insta: @austinpetsalliedworkers; website: apaw.livelifeunion.org
- The University of Maryland Medical Residents and Fellows (unit size ~950), supported by AFT and EWOC, won their union!! 628 yes to 19 no with 66.3% voting! So much love to this wonderful crew of workers and EWOC organizer Dino Ngyuen! After three years of conversations, planning, and organizing, they beat back the anti-union firm Littler Mendelson and formed the first resident and fellow union in Maryland! You can read their victory letter with a shoutout to EWOC here. Instagram: @umresidentsandfellows
- Workers at Bruegger’s Bagels in Iowa picket for community support (Des Moines Register): Newly formed Bruegger’s Workers United picketed outside of their Coralville, Iowa, location in protest of unfair labor practices. Checkout the press coverage from the Des Moines Register, Iowa City Press Citizen, and More Perfect Union about this amazing campaign supported by EWOC organizer, Ahst Tomaszewski. Twitter/X: @BrueggersWU
- Glenstone museum workers vote to form union (Washington Post): Congrats to Elizabeth Shaw, Hannah Cianci, and fellow worker organizers at Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland, who won their NLRB vote and joined Teamsters, Local 639 amidst harsh union-busting. EWOC advised them during their campaign and several workers graduated from our EWOC foundational training and fellows program!
- Heat waves make restaurant kitchens unsafe. Workers are fighting back (Grist): EWOC is mentioned in this relevant article about the climate crisis and its impact on the labor movement. You’ll also find significant quotes from EWOC environmental cohort facilitator, Yana Kalmyka.
- Book Review – Unite and Win: A Workplace Organizer’s Handbook (California DSA): A fantastic review of EWOC’s new handbook, “Unite and Win.” Jeb Purucker gives a personal account of how the handbook has provided practical support for himself and other workers. The EWOC handbook is available for purchase.
World of Work 🌍
- Teamsters and Amazon Labor Union (Portside): Teamsters join forces with Amazon Labor Union. This could change the game for ALU’s organizing efforts against a behemoth corporation like Amazon.
- Taming Amazon, renewing labour (Canadian Dimension): A comprehensive article that provides context on the challenges of unionizing Amazon and the potential role of Teamsters from a Canadian perspective. It’s definitely worth the read as long as you can overlook the Canadian spelling of “labor.”
- UAW president investigated over alleged retaliation against union leaders (The Guardian): Shawn Fain has expressed cooperation with this investigation. Read the UAWD Steering Committee’s statement on their vote to remove departments from Sec’t-Treasurer Mock.
- Judge Orders UC Grad Students To Halt 6-Campus Strike (HuffPost News): Six campuses have seen walkouts over the University of California’s protest crackdown, but a court sided with UC in granting a temporary restraining order.
- Supreme Court sides with Starbucks over court orders in labor disputes (AP News): This article provides a summary on the court’s ruling regarding Starbucks organizing and its effects on the labor movement going forward.
- How Women Are Changing Labor Unions (Portside): Within unions, spaces once largely dominated by white men, leaders say they are pushing women of all races and men of color to take on leadership roles.
- The Biggest Organizing Wave You Never Heard Of (MLToday): A close examination of the recent wave of private- and public-sector organizing in Virginia written by organizing veteran, Chris Townsend.
- The Starbucks Ruling Proves That Workers Can Only Rely on Their Own Power (msn): Hamilton Nolan presents a brutally honest analysis of the Starbucks ruling and how the labor movement can emerge from this moment, clear-eyed and stronger.
- Fight for a Union on X/Twitter: Fight for 15 is now Fight for a Union! SEIU has historically been a big proponent of union-adjacent strategies and pro-worker legislation like FF15. We’re excited to see this rebranding to prioritize new organizing efforts.
Sustaining Donor Spotlight 💰
Siena Chiang has been an EWOC sustaining donor since September 2022
“I’m a sustaining donor because EWOC is unlocking a form of power that we all possess: the power to act collectively with our co-workers. Through teaching the skills of organizing one’s workplace, EWOC is showing thousands of people what it actually means to participate in a democratic process and what it means to have agency. The potential impacts are enormous and expand way beyond improving each individual workplace!”
“I deeply believe that worker power is the best lever we have for building resilient, care-based communities and getting back the agency and self-determination we all deserve. If enough workers in the U.S. are organized to take action in unison, we unlock the ability to make material change across so many issues negatively impacting our lives: healthcare, climate, decarceration, housing, education, etc.”
We love hearing why so many donors are committed to contributing to EWOC on a monthly basis. Tell us why you’re a sustaining donor!
New on our Blog and other Labor Resources 💻📚
- A PAW in #PAWlidarity by Morty Gillum: Find out how the Austin Pets Allied Workers union fought for the right to better treatment for themselves, their co-workers, and the pets they care for.
- What to Do if the Boss Retaliates by Bill Barry: Sometimes retaliation can be a great tool for organizing. This blog post provides several practical examples of how you and your co-workers can use it to your advantage.
- Resources to help you prepare for getting laid off:
- A layoff guide: What to do before, during, and after getting laid off (Vox)
- What To Do After Losing a Union Job (LawInfo)
- A Layoff Guide (Collective Action in Tech)
- Shawn Fain’s ‘Other Bible,’ A Troublemaker’s Handbook: A Troublemaker’s Handbook is free to download from the Labor Notes website!
- The Local | NYC-DSA Labor Working Group: A new substack, The Local, provides New York labor news from a diverse writing staff. They are only 60 subscribers away from their 1K goal!
