Organizing in the Shadow of Slavery: Domestic Workers, Farm Workers and Low-wage Workers in the South

The session will include a brief history of how the legacy of slavery has shaped the development of the economy in the US, and the persistant racism and sexism that has led to the ongoing exclusion of key workforces of color from recongition and basic workers rights. The exclusion of farm workers and domestic workers from the National Labor Relations Act, and the exclusion of civil sector workers in the South from the right to organize are two examples of this reality. This combined with neoliberal globalization has led to the deterioration of working conditions and the right to organize for all low-wage workers, mass displacement and migration, poverty, and exploitation of migrant farm and domestic workers from the global South in the US. Despite this, farm workers, domestic workers and low-wage workers in the South have been organizing for better conditions and continue to innovate new strategies to hold employers and the state accountable.

The session will put organizations organizing on these fronts in dialogue with each other and with labor historians and political economic theorists in order to deepen the analysis of the roots of oppression facing these workforces, identify the common histories and current struggles and strengthen the organizing through making connections. Organizations will present on their work and their organizing methods and engage one another on key questions related to building a coordinated low-wage workers movement in the US that can undo this racist, sexist legacy, and win justice and respect for all workers.