Organize!

Whether we are engaging in acts of resistance or creating new, alternative institutions, we need to create sustainable, democratic organizations that empower their members while also protecting against disruption. This section provides articles about effective organizing, creating democratic decision-making structures, building coalitions with other groups, and more. Visit the Resources Page for tools to assist your organizing efforts.

Starbucks Union Push In Atlanta Part Of National Organizing Trend

July 9, 2022 Michael E. Kanell, The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Organize! Atlanta, Georgia, Starbucks, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

About a dozen customers were spread around the Ansley Mall Starbucks on a recent Friday, quietly working at tables or fiddling on their smartphones. From behind the counter came the tapping of brewing tools, the crinkling of wrappers, a bean-grinder straining. Two baristas wore shirts with rainbows and the words, “So glad you’re here.” The café felt laid-back, friendly, bright, welcoming and diverse. The only sign that this one was any different than 9,000 other Starbucks stores was a button, half-hidden in the folds on one barista’s apron.

Yellowstone Tour Guides Are Building Momentum For Change

July 7, 2022 Mike Elk and Rachel Phua, Capital and Main. Organize! Labor Unions, National Parks, Worker Rights, Yellowstone

Recently, former President Obama launched a Netflix series celebrating national parks and their breathtaking views. One of the parks he zoomed in on was the 2.2 million acre Yellowstone National Park, describing it as a park that is “fundamental to our national identity.” But underneath the beauty of Yellowstone lies an ugly history of union-busting and intimidation by government contractors of National Park Service workers, the ones who labor to keep the park beautiful — a legacy that Obama failed to curb as president and one that Joe Biden has yet to address as the current occupant of the White House.

Women Are Taking Over The US Labor Movement

July 6, 2022 Chabeli Carrazana, In These Times. Organize! Labor Movement, Women, Worker Rights

As she considered striking at the grocery store where she had worked for a decade, the dozens of moments that had pushed Ashley Manning to that point flooded back. She vividly recalled the indignities she endured throughout the pandemic, starting with child care. When schools shut down, no one could watch her 12-year-old daughter. She wouldn’t allow her elderly grandmother, Ruby, to do it, fearing she would get sick. And her store, a Ralphs in San Pedro, California, where she is the manager of the floral department, refused to work with her schedule, she said.

Burgerville’s Union Racking Up Victories On Shop Floor

July 5, 2022 It's Going Down. Organize! Burgerville, IWW, Unions, Wages, Worker Rights and Jobs

Last December, The Industrial Workers of the World’s Burgerville Workers Union signed their first collective bargaining agreement with management, officially becoming the only fast food restaurant in the country covered by a federally recognized contract. This historic win comes as the culmination of three-and-a-half years of heated negotiations with management, seven strikes, and dozens of major picket lines. Over 75% of workers covered by the contract participated in the vote, with 92% in favor. The contract brings major gains to the five Portland-area stores with federal union recognition such as a grievance process, a three-month set schedule, and paid parental leave.

Recent Wins Inspire Organizing At Trader Joe’s, REI, Target, And Apple

July 2, 2022 Dan Dimaggio and Angela Bunay, Labor Notes. Organize! Labor Movement, Unions, Victory, Worker Rights and Jobs

“Seven months ago if you asked me about a union I would’ve said, ‘I don’t know, cops have them?’” says Sarah Pappin, a shift supervisor at a Seattle Starbucks. But on June 6, she and her co-workers voted unanimously to join Starbucks Workers United, part of an upsurge of organizing by younger workers with little union experience that is breathing new life into the labor movement. Now they’re dreaming even bigger. “We want to not just open the door for the rest of the food service industry, we want to kick it down,” said Pappin, who’s worked full-time at Starbucks for eight years.

Nonprofit, Human Services Workers Are Starting To Unionize

June 28, 2022 Rick Karlin, Portside. Organize! Civil Servants, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Makayla Wahaus’ journey to union activism started at Rensselaear Polytechnic Institute where she was a physics major. A course on food systems sparked an interest in social problems like food deserts and poor nutrition and the 2020 graduate ended up working for the non-profit Capital Roots, which works to make fresh produce available to people in neighborhoods where there are no nearby supermarkets or other healthy food sources. She says she loves her job, but wants more say in how the organization is run, and like others, says it’s increasingly hard to survive on the pay, which for many is under $15-an-hour. “Those are all factors that came together and made us want to organize collectively,” she said of the current drive to have Capital Roots employees join the Service Employees International (SEIU) union.

Wide Spectrum Of Class Struggles At Labor Notes conference

June 27, 2022 Martha Grevatt, Workers World. Organize! General Strike, Labor Movement, Labor Notes, Worker Rights and Jobs

Chicago, Illinois - The 2022 Labor Notes conference, sponsored by the magazine of the same name, brought 4,000 worker-activists to Chicago June 17-19. The multinational, multigendered, multigenerational gathering gave voice to a range of struggles, from union drives to strikes to building rank-and-file caucuses opposed to class-collaborationist union leaders. A rally the night before featured Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson, recently-elected Teamsters union President Sean O’Brien and incoming Chicago Teachers Union President Stacey Davis Gates. These union leaders spoke militantly to the crowd, which consisted mainly of Chicago Teamsters and people in town for the conference. Nelson called for a general strike.

Miscarriage Of Justice Catalyzed A Movement Led By Asian Americans

June 26, 2022 Janine Jackson, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Organize! Asian Americans, Auto Workers, Civil Rights, Racism

Vincent Chin was beaten to death in Detroit in June 1982, by two white auto workers who reportedly said it was because of him that they had lost their jobs. At the time, listeners may recall, Japan was being widely blamed for the collapse of the Detroit auto industry. Chin was Chinese-American. Elite media, as reflected by the New York Times, didn’t seem to come around to the story until April 1983, with reporting on the protests emanating from Detroit’s Asian-American community about the dismissive legal response to the murder.

Alternatives To A World At War Divided In Two

June 25, 2022 Nora Garcia Nieves and Franziska Kleiner, People's Dispatch. Organize! NATO, New Cold War, Peace Summit, Wars and Militarism

This weekend, a Peace Summit is organized in Madrid where various organizations and international movements will meet to oppose NATO and work together to organize the struggle for real security of the people and the planet. The withdrawal of US and NATO troops from Afghanistan marked the end of an era: the Global War on Terror. Back in 2018, the Trump administration announced that the entire US effort would be directed at preventing Russia and China from consolidating as world powers. That idea of multipolarity – of a world with several poles developing and cooperating in peace – had to be destroyed to secure US global domination. We can also not forget that the announcement of the new US strategy came hand in hand with its withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a key agreement of Gorbachev and Reagan that helped reduce the risk of a nuclear war.

Amy’s Kitchen Faces Multiple Unfair Labor Practice Charges

June 25, 2022 Angela Bunay, Labor Notes. Organize! Amy's Kitchen, California, union busting, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

The spirit of unionizing is in the air, from Amazon to Starbucks. Now the workers in two frozen food factories in California are getting in on the action. But they're facing serious union-busting from their employer, Amy's Kitchen, despite its progressive branding. Amy’s Kitchen is the sixth-largest maker of organic frozen meals in the United States and the top U.S. producer of organic vegetarian food, according to the North Bay Business Journal. The company employs more than 2,000 workers, a majority of them Central American immigrants who do not speak English. On June 1, UNITE HERE Local 19, representing the workers of Amy’s Kitchen in San Jose, filed multiple unfair labor practice charges against the food company.

Union Kitchen Workers Declare Victory In Their Efforts To Unionize

June 23, 2022 Amanda Michelle Gomez, DCist. Organize! Unions, Victory, Washington DC, Worker Rights and Jobs

The National Labor Relations Board determined Tuesday that a majority of Union Kitchen workers voted to unionize, according to the freshly-minted labor union’s collective bargaining agent, United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 400. The NLRB reviewed the results of the formal election, which took place three months ago, after CEO and founder Cullen Gilchrist challenged some ballots — including those of two vocally pro-union workers who cast ballots but were fired before their votes had been counted. NLRB press secretary Kayla Blado confirmed that a majority of valid votes cast had been in favor of the union, 20 to 11. Barring no new objections, Blado says certification will happen by June 29.

A First Contract For Mexican GM Plant’s Independent Union

June 23, 2022 Alejandra Quintero, Labor Notes. Organize! General Motors, Mexico, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

An independent union at General Motors in Silao, Mexico, has ratified its first contract, with an 8.5 percent wage hike and benefit improvements—outstripping recent wage increases at other Mexican auto plants. The contract comes after workers voted last year by more than 3 to 1 to be represented by the National Independent Union for Workers in the Automotive Industry (SINTTIA) workers, ousting an employer-friendly union affiliated with the Confederation of Mexican Workers. The CTM has long dominated the Mexican labor movement and signed bad contracts behind workers' backs. “We obtained good results for our first negotiations,” said SINTTIA President Alejandra Morales.

Augusta Chipotle Workers Have Formed A Union

June 23, 2022 Christopher Burns, Bangor Daily News. Organize! Chipotle, Labor Unions, Maine, Worker Rights

The workers at the Augusta Chipotle are forming a union. The workers at the restaurant in the state’s capital filed for recognition as an independent union, Chipotle United, on Wednesday, according to the Maine AFL-CIO. That comes just a week after the Chipotle workers staged a two-day walkout in protest of what they called unsafe working conditions. Chipotle workers told the Kennebec Journal last week that low staffing is a big concern for them. Two workers are often doing the food preparation work of six people, and the restaurant will be staffed with three to four people when at least seven are needed. In a letter to the chain’s national management, they called those demands “unreasonable” and said they jeopardize the safety of customers and themselves.

‘Fight Poverty, Not The Poor!’: Thousands Rally In Washington DC

June 21, 2022 Tanupriya Singh, People's Dispatch. Organize! Poor People's Campaign, Poverty, Washington D.C., Worker Rights and Jobs

Washington D.C. - Thousands of people gathered in the US capital of Washington DC on June 18 to participate in the ‘Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls’. The action was organized by the Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) to address a broad range of interconnected issues affecting the country’s 140 million poor and low wealth people– including access to health care and housing, systemic racism, the climate crisis, and rising militarism. The PPC was joined by labor unions, religious organizations, and several climate action, human rights, and civil society groups. The rally took place over 50 years since the PPC was first founded and organized by civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, shortly before his assassination.

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