In case you missed it, we’re the cover story of the Indypendent this month — “Labor of Love: EWOC is Pioneering a New Model for Empowering Workers.”
If you’re in NYC, be sure to pick up a copy at any one of their many red Indy boxes on the street in Queens, Brooklyn, or Manhattan. Here’s an excerpt:
The COVID-19 pandemic pushed many workers over the edge, with employers subjecting them to a litany of unsafe working conditions: crowded spaces lacking social distancing, poor ventilation, lack of PPE, unruly customers, ailing colleagues forced to continue working due to a deficit of paid sick days (or none at all). The list goes on. Millions quit their jobs while other workers remained but began to speak out against poor working conditions. Although the fear of becoming infected with COVID-19 and getting sick or dying was the original spark for protesting employees, many have decided there’s no normal to go back to and want to organize their workplaces.
EWOC was founded in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic by former Bernie 2020 organizers who didn’t want to stop organizing. The initial idea was simple. “Don’t Quit. Organize.” Give workers who want to organize the education and support they need to do so. EWOC employs a gamut of approaches, from one-time petitions demanding workplace improvements to solidarity unionism to the NLRB election process.
In a country where the union-membership rate — 6% of private-sector workers and 10% of all workers — is the lowest it’s been in more than 100 years and an estimated 50 million unorganized workers would like to belong to a union but don’t, EWOC’s approach has been flexible: make use of all paths to worker organization and help workers find the path that best suits their situation.
“When folks are absolutely miserable at work, they should quit. But, overall it would be better for society and the working class if more people stuck it out and organized for improvements,”
Image: Parents and kids show support for Bright Horizons workers