Mobilizing Against Inequality

Julie Winokur and Tim Raphael look to return to the honest and powerful storytelling that our country was built upon with their platform, The Newest Americans. This means amplifying the voices and stories of immigrant communities that make up so much of American identity. With a nuance and precision aimed to cut through the deafening noise of the current media landscape, The Newest Americans, offers a fresh perspective on powerful storytelling with the goal of social change.

Abby Lawlor is a strategic researcher at Unite Here Local 8 in Seattle, which represents about 5,000 workers in the hospitality industries of Oregon and Washington State. The organization, mostly consisting of women workers, boasts a diverse membership and includes workers from many immigrant communities. In the interview below, Lawlor details Local 8's #MeToo campaign, which has fought against sexual harassment and assault in hotel industry since 2016.

The Fair Food Program (FFP) is worker-driven social responsibility program that aims to combat the exploitative conditions faced by farmworkers in several states. This post aims to provide background to the development of the FFP as well as a summary of its many facets. It also includes a link to a full report by the Fair Food Standards Council. 

In a decision handed down by the Albany Supreme Court on Jan 3rd, 2018, a 2016 lawsuit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union on behalf of Crispin Hernandez was dismissed. The decision upheld a provision in the New York State Employment Relations Act (SERA) that exempts agricultural workers from the right to organize and collectively bargain. This post will serve as a review of the history and the implications of this decision.

Catherine Crowe is an organizer and communications representative for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC). In this interview, she details the campaign against the North Carolina Farm Act of 2017, which aimed to illegalize crucial union functions. In addition to discussing the details and implications of the law, she also discusses some of the goals of the union moving forward.

Edgar Franks is an organizer with the social justice organization Community to Community Development (C2C), from Bellingham, Washington. In this interview, he provides an overview of goals in advocating for the equitable treatment of farm workers as well as for a radical change in how we view our agricultural and food production systems.

Eduardo Rosario is the New York City Chapter President of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, he also works as an administrative coordinator for The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union (ASCME) local 375 and DC 37. In the interview below he details the relief efforts orchestrated by NYC unions in the wake of Hurricane Maria. He elaborates on the unique space that the labor movement occupies in society, which allows the movement to position itself as a catalyst for larger efforts of social justice and community solidarity beyond the workplace.

Romin Khan works for the German service workers union, ver.di, responsible for migration policy. In this interview, researcher Neva Low asks Romin about union attitudes and strategy in the face of anti-immigrant right-wing populism.