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…
español abajo The Food Chain Workers Alliance (FCWA) is a bi-national coalition of 36 worker-based organizations whose members plant, harvest, process, pack, transport, prepare, serve, and sell food, organizing to improve wages and working conditions for all workers along the food chain. FCWA unites workers across all sectors of the food system. Our members use…
Los trabajadores de la industria alimentaria tienen calor, y la situación empeora cada vez más. ¿Sabías que en EE. UU. y Canadá no existen leyes federales que protejan a los trabajadores del calor extremo ni de las lesiones y enfermedades que este puede causar? En EE. UU., solo siete estados han promulgado sus propias protecciones…
Food Workers are HOT and it’s only getting HOTTER. But in the U.S. and Canada, there are no federal laws to protect workers from the injuries and illnesses caused by extreme heat. Only seven U.S. states have enacted their own heat protections, but even those do not apply to all workers. In 2024, OSHA finally…
August 5, 2025 We can all see that Palestinians are starving. We can all see that Israel’s intention is to kill, displace, or detain every Palestinian and annex their remaining lands. And we can see that the United States’ continued denial of this cruelty is rooted, in part, in our investment in the military-industrial complex…
JULY 30, 2025: It’s not an exaggeration — every day there’s a new ICE raid, a new unlawful detainment, new details about overcrowded and torturous detention facilities, or a new plan to centralize government data for DHS use. Across the food system, frontline workers are being swept up in this cruel process. Many of our members…
(español abajo) STATEMENT ON ICE RAIDS IN VENTURA COUNTYJULY 14, 2025 The state-sponsored violence that we witnessed in the immigration raids at Ventura County farms last week had nothing to do with upholding any law or protecting any population. These operations are meant to hurt, terrorize and kidnap people who work perilous jobs for low…
APRIL 22, 2025 Over the past two years, FCWA hosted a series of dialogues, focus groups, and hearings for workers across the food chain to discuss how they’re experiencing the climate crisis now, and to uplift a food worker vision for climate and environmental justice. Many of our members are engaged in this work already,…
On Tuesday, March 25, Alfredo “Lelo” Juarez was violently detained by ICE while driving his partner to her workplace. ICE agents broke his car window when Lelo tried to exercise his rights. He is currently detained at an ICE facility in Tacoma, Washington. Lelo has been a farmworker and community leader in Whatcom County, WA…
FEBRUARY 12, 2025 Today, Food Chain Workers Alliance published a new and critical resource on the state of work in our food system. Food Chain Workers in 2025: Labor and Exploitation in the Food System analyzes data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Census Bureau, and U.S. Department of Labor to find that food…
Dear Friends, Five years ago, we were excited to step up as Co-Directors of the Food Chain Workers Alliance, taking the reins from longtime leaders Joann Lo and Jose Oliva. FCWA had just celebrated its tenth anniversary, and it was an opportune moment for a transition to ensure the organization’s long-term health and vitality. As…
In 2012, FCWA launched International Food Workers Week (IFWW) to honor workers across the food chain and solicit public support for workers’ campaigns for better wages, working conditions, and protections. Food workers are one of the largest working groups in the United States, and they are essential to our economy and general well-being. They are…
