In 2021 we launched a new virtual leadership development training to replace our in-person model put on hold by the pandemic. It quickly became a core model, attracting more participants and connecting workers from all corners of North America in one learning space.
This month we launched our eighth organizing cohort, with 16 frontline workers from five U.S. states, one Canadian province, and multiple sectors of the food system: agriculture, processing, warehouse, service, and retail.
In their own words:
“I worked front of house in restaurants for many years… [then] I was an industrial baker for two years.”
“I work on a dairy farm, I’ve worked here for eleven years, driving tractors currently.”
“I work with calves and have been for six years.”
“I worked in the kitchen and now I’m in food delivery.”
“I worked in a vegetable greenhouse for eight seasons of eight months each time and had to endure harsh treatment, difficult working task and difficult working conditions.”
Over six sessions, FCWA organizers and member guest speakers will facilitate training on the current political context of labor organizing, gender justice at work and in our movement, and campaign planning and development.
We asked cohort members why they wanted to join the program:
“My coworkers and I unionized… because of the low pay, lack of benefits, and climate hazards we faced in our job. We faced really nasty union busting from the law firm that now represents Trump’s NLRB. The bargaining committee has been bargaining with management for 11 months now.”
“In my work place, majority of workers are afraid of being sent home if they speak out about different bad working conditions.”
“That every person has the opportunity to learn about our rights, that we are taken into account to participate and that we are respected regardless of who we are.”
“Continuous learning and adaptation, social change is a constantly evolving field where yesterday’s solutions may not be the most appropriate for today’s problem. I am motivated by the opportunity to learn in every interaction.”
This program is part of FCWA’s Organizing Institute, which aims to seed and support worker-led organizing across the food chain.
Thank you to our members who are facilitating worker participation in this cohort:
Alianza Agrícola
Brandworkers
The Farmworker Association of Florida
Justicia for Migrant Workers
Laundry Workers Center
Workers’ Center of CNY
Warehouse Workers for Justice
WECN-LA
Venceremos