Upcoming Events 🗓
Join us for the seventh series of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee’s Organizer Training Series, starting on Wednesday, March 9!
In four discussion sessions over two weeks, you will be introduced to the fundamental principles of effective shop-floor organizing: mapping and charting, leader identification, bringing co-workers together around common concerns, getting over fear, taking action, and escalating demands. If you are sick of feeling isolated and sick of feeling powerless, come join us for four 90-minute-long sessions over two weeks! Sign up here!
Workers in America are tired. We’re tired of working longer hours for lower pay. We’re tired of working in unsafe and unhealthy conditions. We’re tired of being controlled by bosses without our own voice on the job. The signs are everywhere, from the strike waves last year, to the “great resignation.” The working class has had enough, and we’re ready to fight back. For many workers, the question is not whether or not to take action. The question is how to get started. Beginning to organize with your co-workers is a daunting task, and it can be hard for a new organizer to know what the first steps are.
This is why training and education is an important part of EWOC’s work. We offer workers a place to go to learn the basic principles of organizing, so that they can gain the knowledge and skills they need to start taking action in their workplaces. Since 2020, we’ve trained hundreds of new worker organizers, many of whom have gone on to start campaigns and win demands at their jobs.
If you or someone you know is ready to organize, we would like to help you. Sign up today to start training and fight back against the boss.
World of Work 🌍
WA: Several construction companies and suppliers in the Seattle area are beginning to feel the pressure of the now eight-week long strike by members of Teamsters Local 174. The strike began when construction companies failed to bargain in good faith to address worker demands for higher pay and a better healthcare package.
TX: United Steelworkers (USW) rejected the contract proposed by Marathon Petroleum last week. USW is negotiating on behalf of around 30,000 workers who are fighting to improve their wages, working conditions, and health benefits. While the strike deadline has now passed, USW is continuing to negotiate with Marathon Petroleum.
NY: Amazon warehouse workers on Staten Island continue to fight for a union. LDJ5 is now the second Amazon warehouse on Staten Island, after JFK8, to file for a union election.
NY: Partners at five different shops in New York have joined the Starbucks Union movement, including the first roastery and first manufacturing team to go public. More than 76 elected officials have signed on in support of the unionization.
Mexico: Auto workers at a General Motors plant in central Mexico overwhelmingly voted to join the independent union SINTTIA. This is a major breakthrough for labor activists in Mexico, as it represents a break from the employer-friendly unions that have denominated Mexican labor politics for years.
Week in Labor History 📚
Feb. 7, 1894: Mine owners in Cripple Creek, Colorado cut wages from $3 to $2.50 a day, leading union miners to begin a five-month strike that ends in victory. In an unprecedented move, the governor calls out the state militia to protect the strikers from the owners.
New From Our Blog 📧
Millions of workers want a union, but union organizing campaigns are not reaching enough of them. For our blog, organizer Eric Dirnbach explains how the EWOC model can help to change that.
Opportunities
The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE) seeks a project organizer to work on campaigns among workers in higher education! UE is an independent, member-run union with a nationwide membership and a proud history of progressive political action and aggressive struggle to improve workplace conditions.
Solidarity,
Team EWOC
