Community organizing to build worker power: Bridging the gaps

Submitted by carlosjwj on April 12, 2007 - 3:05pm.
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This session will be on: June 30, 2007 - 1:00pm

It will be held at: Room 1206 room at the Westin Hotel

View schedule

Organization Description

Chicago JWJ is a coalition of labor and community groups who mobilize to defend workers' rights and improve standards of living.

Proposal Demographics

identify as women
identify as people of color
are immigrants (not born in U.S.)

Session Description

New strategies for organizing workers are crucial to reversing the decline of workers' power. An important part of emerging efforts is the bridging of gaps between the labor movement and those communities and constituencies most impacted by the loss of workers' power. Traditional models of unionizing a critical mass or majority at a workplace still hold central importance, but the activists in this workshop have made community organizing the basis for their efforts to build worker power. They seek to bring worker's issues to homes, neighborhoods, and community institutions, through community organizing. Their efforts bridge the gaps between workplace struggles and the specific histories and contexts of their communities and constituencies. They seek to put African-American, immigrant, low-income, temporary, or informal workers at the heart of today's labor movement. Discussion at this workshop will aim to identify further opportunities for communities and workers to organize together, and where these efforts overlap with other innovative straegies in the contemporary labor movement.


First Name

Carlos

Last Name

Fernandez

Contact E-mail

carlos@jwj.org

Proposing Organization

Chicago JWJ (Jobs with Justice)

Organization Website

www.chicagojwj.org

Position or Title

Programs Coordinator

Contact Telephone

3127386203

Alternate Telephone

7734504176

Event Day

Saturday, June 30th (Strategizing the Achieving of Another World)

Contact Address

333 S Ashland Ave

Format

fish-bowl, then open discussion

Contact City

Chicago

Keywords

Workplaces
Class struggle
Economy/ies (inc. Social/Solidarity Economies)
Informal sector
Labor
Migration, Migrant Workers
Workers

Audience Number

50-100 people

Contact State

IL

Contact ZIP

60607-2703

Person Reviewing

jerome and walda