The aim at EWOC remains focused on building foundational power in workplaces from the ground up, by providing tools that guides and empowers actual workers looking to organize fellow employees and their larger community. As EWOC’s own Colette Perold said in last summer’s coverage of our organizing strategies:
“The goal of EWOC is twofold: to foster a new generation of shop-floor leaders by taking advantage of the spontaneous militancy of this unprecedented moment, and to teach a new generation of dedicated activists the nuts and bolts of labor organizing.”
Our upcoming training session, starting on June 3, will be executed with this goal at the forefront. The five-part training series will take an employee from a new workplace organizer to a powerful force for your coworkers. EWOC training leaders will guide workers through everything they need to know, including how to connect with your coworkers, determining your demands, and knowing what to expect from your boss when they push back. Over 200 people joined us for the last program, and we’re eager to build out this community.
Ready to learn how you and your coworkers can, together, win better working conditions, benefits, and wages? Sign up for our next training session.
Upcoming Events 📅
It’s our first birthday! EWOC has been hard at work this past year. We’ve supported workers in 1000+ workplaces, trained nearly 1000 people, built resources for workers taking action, and more. Now, we need to grow and we need your support to do so. Tickets for EWOC’s first virtual fundraising event are still available! Ticket sales include special packages with limited edition “Unions Are Cool” t-shirts and baseball hats. All proceeds will go directly to providing support and training for non-union workers organizing their workplaces.
The event will be held Sunday June 13 at 7:00 ET. Buy your ticket today!
The World of Work 🌍
We live in an unprecedented era of inequality and concentrated corporate wealth and power. International corporations have made billions by exploiting workers and paying poverty wages. Now these workers are beginning to fight back:
USA: McDonald’s workers in 15 cities across the country went on strike last week, demanding a $15 wage. The strike was organized by Fight For Fifteen and planned to coincide with McDonalds’ annual shareholders meeting. McDonald’s has recently raised wages in certain cities, but workers say that they are still not being paid enough to live off of. In the words of Kenyatta Cochran, a McDonald’s worker who led a walkout in Detroit, the message McDonald’s sends by paying workers $10 an hour is “Y’all disposable. Y’all replaceable. But me and my daughter are not replaceable. We’re not.”
International: Amazon is the most powerful corporation on Earth. It has made unfathomable amounts of money for its executives and shareholders, while its workers in the global south face dire workplace workplace conditions and meager pay. Yesterday Amazon workers across five continents took part in an international day of action, demanding that Amazon pay them fair wages, and respect their human right to safety and dignity in the workplace. Support this international coalition of workers by signing their petition here.
From Our Blog 🗣
Our own Sam Fleischman and Wen Zhuang interviewed Jane McAlevey for Jacobin, discussing the recent Amazon loss in Bessemer, what the future of labor organizing depends on, and how organizers can fight and win. Read the full interview here.
Solidarity,
Team EWOC
