1959 Highlander Way · New Market,
TN 37820 · phone: (865) 933-3443 · fax: (865) 933-3424
e-mail: hrec@highlandercenter.org
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1959 Highlander Way · New Market,
TN 37820 · phone: (865) 933-3443 · fax: (865) 933-3424 |
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Grassroots Action for Global ChangeWorkplace Organizing & Local Government PoliciesOrganizations | Books | Videos 
The organizations listed below have been successful at organizing in local communities while participating in national and international networks, such as Jobs with Justice and Grassroots Global Justice, to increase their collective understanding of the impacts of international policies on local issues such as privatization, lack of access to health care, the prison-industrial complex, and poverty wages. Contact organizations whose work relates to yours to learn more about how they’ve framed their local issues as global justice issues and to get more information about the powerful connections being made in global grassroots networks. You can also read more about national and global networks like JWJ and GGJ below and in the following sections. OrganizationsThe American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO AFSCME works on campaigns to stop the privatization of public services. Many of their organizing materials are posted on their website at http://www.afscme.org/private. Alabama Arise Alabama Arise is “a coalition of 150 religious and community groups that promote fairer state policies toward low-income Alabamians.” They work on issues around housing, tax reform, transportation, health care, education reform, and welfare reform. They also work against the death penalty and unfair lending practices. Critical Resistance Critical Resistance “seeks to build an international movement to end the Prison Industrial Complex by challenging the belief that caging and controlling people makes us safe.” Their mission statement says: “We believe that basic necessities such as food, shelter, and freedom are what really make our communities secure. As such, our work is part of global struggles against inequality and powerlessness. The success of the movement requires that it reflect communities most affected by the Prison Industrial Complex. Because we seek to abolish the Prison Industrial Complex, we cannot support any work that extends its life or scope.” DEMOS Demos' purpose is “to help build a society where America can achieve its highest ideals.” They work for inclusive democracy, with “high levels of electoral participation and civic engagement, and an economy where prosperity and opportunity are broadly shared and disparity is reduced. Founded in 1999, Demos' work combines research with advocacy – melding the commitment to ideas of a think tank with the organizing strategies of an advocacy group.” Demos has four program areas: The Democracy Program, The Economic Opportunity Program, The State Governance for the Future Program, and The Promoting Ideas in the Public Debate Program. Grassroots Leadership Since 1980, the goal of Grassroots Leadership has been “to help build the infrastructure for a progressive Southern movement, including the leaders, organizers, organizations, networks and coalitions that will make long-term positive change inevitable. Over the past 22 years, [they] have worked to accomplish this goal in three ways: By helping organizations become stronger so that they can meet the goals they set for themselves, by creating new organizations and by providing strategic space for Southern activists to work together on common issues and campaigns.” Grassroots Leadership has field organizers in Georgia/South Carolina, Mississippi, and North Carolina. It has a major campaign to end the growth of “for-profit” prisons in the southern United States. Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy ITEP is “a non-profit, non-partisan research and education organization that works on government taxation and spending policy issues. ITEP's unique resources and capabilities enable it to provide policymakers, advocates, and the public with accurate, useful, and timely information regarding state and federal tax systems and how they affect taxpayers at different income levels. ITEP's mission is to keep policymakers and the public informed of the effects of current and proposed tax polices on tax fairness, government budgets and sound economic policy.” Jobs with Justice JWJ was founded in 1987 to improve working peoples’ standard of living, fight for job security, and protect workers' right to organize. They believe that in order to be successful, workers' rights struggles have to be part of a larger campaign for economic and social justice. To that end, they have created a network of local coalitions that connect labor, faith-based, community, and student organizations to work together on workplace and community social justice campaigns. JWJ coalitions exist in over 40 cities in 29 states in all regions of the United States. These coalitions take action around all kinds of issues, including the right to organize a union, living wages, global justice and student rights. In Louisville, Kentucky, JWJ organized a successful living wage as well as a worker exchange that took workers from Kentucky to Mexico to learn about working conditions in Mexico’s maquilas. The Kensington Welfare Rights Union KWRU is “a multiracial organization of, by and for poor and homeless people.” KWRU organizes welfare recipients, the homeless, the working poor and all people concerned with economic justice to end poverty. KWRU spearheads the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, listed below. Kentuckians for the Commonwealth KFTC believes in the power of citizens, working together, to challenge injustices, right wrongs and improve the quality of life for all Kentuckians. They work on issues around mining, renewable energy and tax reform. Kentucky Economic Justice Alliance KEJA is “a partnership of organizations that work together to create progressive social and economic change in Kentucky.” They “strive for change by building a base of politically conscious, organized people and groups that work to design and win new public policy,” achieving their goals “through the strategic interaction of community organizing and leadership development, research and policy analysis, and message development and delivery.” Labor Rights Now! Labor Rights Now!, an independent human rights group, seeks to expose “the most brutal forms of trade union repression: imprisonment, torture, abduction, and murder.” Since they began in 1997, they have contributed to the release of eleven imprisoned labor activists and trade union leaders around the world. Among their activities, Labor Rights Now! has helped investigate, report, and monitor violations of worker rights around the world. They seek to increase international pressure on governments that violate worker rights. Living Wage Campaigns Living wage campaigns are campaigns in cities and states around the country that require private companies with government contracts to pay their employees enough to keep workers off of food stamps and other government assistance. The living wage is usually set at or above the wage needed for a family of four to live at the poverty level, currently about $8.20 an hour. Successful campaigns have been waged in 119 places, including St. Louis, Boston, Los Angeles, Tucson, San Jose, Portland, Milwaukee, Detroit, Minneapolis, and Oakland. There are now more than seventy living wage campaigns underway in cities, counties, states, and college campuses across the country. For a list of living wage campaigns and victories, go to: http://www.livingwagecampaign.org/. You can also order the 2003 version of the comprehensive 180-page guide for organizing living wage campaigns: Living Wage Campaigns: An Activist's Guide to Building the Movement for Economic Justice by David Reynolds of Wayne State University Labor Studies Center with the ACORN Living Wage Resource Center on this website. In the South, a recent example of a successful living wage campaign took place in Louisville, Kentucky, in 2002. Read more at http://www.jwj.org/LocalCoal/KY.htm, or contact Kentucky Jobs with Justice at: UFCW Local 1227, Louisville, KY 40219, (502) 582-3508 or AFL-CIO, 34 Democrat Dr., Frankfort, KY 40601, (502) 695-6172 Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa MCC is a business group in the Basque region of Spain. It began in 1956 out of efforts to build an economically sound business in a corporation that manufactured oil stoves and paraffin heaters. MCC strives to use democratic methods in its organization and job creation. It works to promote the professional and social development of its workers. Chaired by Jesús Catania, MCC is the seventh largest industrial group in Spain. National Campaign on Dalit and Human Rights NCDHR is an organization based in India that seeks to promote the rights of Dalit people, often considered “untouchable” in traditional Indian society. They want to “cast out the caste system” and teach the public that “Dalit rights are human rights.” National Coalition for the Homeless The mission of the National Coalition for the Homeless is to end homelessness. They focus their work “in the following four areas: housing justice, economic justice, health care justice, and civil and voting rights.” Their approaches are: “grassroots organizing, public education, policy advocacy, technical assistance, and partnerships.” North American Alliance for Fair Employment NAFFE is “a network of organizations concerned about the growth of contingent work – including part-time jobs, temping, sub-contracting – and its impact on the well being of all workers.” NAFFE supports equal treatment (pay, benefits and protections under the law) for all workers regardless of employment status. Local member groups of NAFFE in the Southeast include: ARISE Citizen Policy Project, Birmingham, Alabama http://www.arisecitizens.org Northeast Action Northeast Action works to “foster a grassroots movement for social change in the Northeast where progressive individuals and communities can find joint purpose and common ground.” Their goal is to build “a movement that promotes democratic renewal and economic justice and the creative strategies, policies and leadership that make change happen. Northeast Action works with [their] affiliates on strategic direction and policy development, technical support and staff and leadership training. Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign The Poor People’s Economic Human Rights campaign is committed to uniting the poor across color lines as a leadership base for a broad movement to abolish poverty. They work to accomplish this through advancing economic human rights as named in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – such as the right to food, housing, health, education, communication and a living wage job. This effort began with the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, listed above. A primary part of the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign is the University of the Poor, which produces educational materials, videos and other resources to help poor people educate themselves and others. More information about the University of the Poor is available at http://www.universityofthepoor.org/. Public Campaign Public Campaign is “a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to sweeping reform that aims to dramatically reduce the role of big special interest money in American politics. Public Campaign is laying the foundation for reform by working with a broad range of organizations, including community groups around the country that are fighting for change in their states and national organizations whose members are not fairly represented under the current system. Together we are building a network of national and state-based efforts to create a powerful national force for federal reform.” Service Employees International Union SEIU represents 1.3 million service workers, many of which are hospital support staff, in the US and Canada. SEIU works against the privatization of public services and for living wages. Solutions to Issues of Concern to Knoxvillians Solutions is a grassroots social justice organization that seeks to unite diverse people, regardless of their age, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, income, or background, to work for changes on issues of common concern. Their primary mission is “to organize low and moderate-income people to get [their] voices heard and win changes in the policies of governments and businesses.” Tennessee Economic Renewal Network The Tennessee Economic Renewal Network is a labor, community and religious coalition working to secure economic justice for working people in Tennessee. TERN’s key campaigns have focused around plant closings, corporate welfare, the living wage, fair trade, globalization and international solidarity work. Tennesseans for Fair Taxation TFT works to create a more fair and progressive tax structure in Tennessee that ensures adequate revenues for the benefit of all Tennesseans. They work with a wide variety of groups across the state to educate and organize for a more progressive tax system. United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America UE is an independent, democratic national union representing some 35,000 workers in a wide variety of manufacturing, public sector and private non-profit sector jobs. Although most UE members work in electrical manufacturing, metalworking and plastics, additional members have a wide range of other occupations. UE is a member-run union, the first union to win rights such as paid vacations and seniority privileges for workers in basic industry. They have fought for the rights of women workers and against racial discrimination. UE has a cross-border alliance with Mexico's Frente Autentico de Trabajo (Authentic Labor Front). The two organizations worked together to oppose the North American Free Trade Agreement and continue to work together to improve living standards and working conditions across borders. Read more about the UE/FAT alliance at http://www.ueinternational.org/. U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives The U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives was founded in May 2004. The organization links worker cooperatives and shares information on worker democracy. BooksTo Move a Mountain: Fighting the Global Economy in Appalachia To Move a Mountain, by Eve Weinbam, is an inspirational account of how a group of Appalachian men and women, politicized by the disaster of local plant closings, became unlikely activists in the Tennessee statehouse and the protests in Seattle. Weinbaum’s firsthand look at the devastation wrought by the closings of community-sustaining factories tells moving stories of dislocated workers facing the dark side of corporate globalization. With striking portraits of managers, workers, organizers, and local officials, the book uncovers a government and economic leadership whose policies show little regard for the workers they leave behind. Yet despite the repeated defeat of the workers, an astonishingly fiery economic justice movement sprung up in Tennessee as factory workers transformed themselves into activists, generating coalitions, starting allied campaigns for living wages, and writing groundbreaking legislation. VideosFrom the Mountains to the Maquiladoras: A TIRN Educational Video In 1991, the Tennessee Industrial Renewal Network conducted a Worker Exchange Project with members of Comite Fronterizo de Obreras, Border Committee of Women Workers, an association of women who work in maquiladora factories on the United States/Mexico border near Matamoras, Mexico. The video documents the trip made by nine Tennessee women, primarily factory workers, to this area. The women have conversations with CFO members, visit a colonia where workers live, and interview the manager of a General Motors Plant. The video provides a look at the reality of life in the maquiladora region while demonstrating the importance of building worker-to-worker solidarity in an increasingly global economy. 1993, 25 minutes, $15.00. Outriders: Global Poverty Comes Home This film, directed by Peter Kinoy and Pamela Yates, depicts the heavy boom times in which people at the bottom of the economic ladder are becoming invisible, but a handful of desperately poor Americans refuse to disappear. Fifty of them: infants, teens, mothers, and grandmothers, crowd into a “freedom bus” and criss-cross the United States documenting the effects of “welfare reform” on other poor people. The bus riders then place the evidence of growing American poverty before the United Nations and demand justice for the poor. 1999, 1 hour, $30. The Take In the wake of Argentina’s spectacular economic collapse in 2001, Latin America’s most prosperous find themselves in a ghost town of abandoned factories and massive unemployment. This film shares the story of 30 unemployed auto parts workers who walk into their idle factory and refuse to leave. They are part of a movement in Argentina to reclaim industrial jobs and democracy. Directed by Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein. WorkshopsEthics and Values of Economics The Ethics and Values of Economics workshop is used to: “introduce the notion that the economy is constructed by human choices of certain values; get people thinking about their personal values and how economic reality might look if it reflected those values; and bring out some of the common beliefs and assumptions in the present economic system.” Globally Positioning the South: Making Choices for Your Community “Globally Positioning the South: Making Choices for Your Community” is a two hour discussion workshop designed to aid communities in looking at three approaches: Strengthening the Workforce, Strengthening Businesses and Strengthening Civic Relationships. The Growing Divide: Inequality and the Roots of Economic Insecurity The Growing Divide workshop gives participants an overview of “the massive income and wealth shift of the last 25 years.” It gives participants “an opportunity to discuss the effects of gross inequality on our lives and the lives of the people we know and care about; a discussion of the reasons for the shift; an inspirational review of movements in the U.S. that have reversed previous trends toward inequality; an opportunity to discuss strategy and meaningful action responses; and an opportunity to think about concrete steps that make sense for each of us.” The workshop uses participatory and problem-solving activities. The workshop can be ordered with accompanying flip charts or downloaded from the UFE website. Three Families The "Three Families" Exercise was developed by the Center for Ethics and Economic Policy. It “compares the impact of three types of taxation on three types of families. The exercise defines three types of taxes: flat, progressive, and regressive; illustrates the after-tax impact of tax policy on families of different incomes; tests what people think about which types of taxes are "fair"; and illustrates how much money is raised by the different types of taxes.” WEAR-TV WEAR-TV is an exercise that helps people see how economic issues affect the entire community. The workshop helps connect people from churches, people in community organizations, and workers to economic issues by sharing a variety of perspectives. This exercise was originally developed at an EAR Summer Institute, designed to address the impact of a plant closing on an Appalachian community. Other ResourcesGrassroots Economic Organizing Newsletter The GEO newsletter is focused on economic alternatives and a vision of a “solidarity economy.” The newsletter reports on and helps develop viable, just, democratic and sustainable alternatives to corporate capitalism, and promotes dialogue between diverse economic enterprises. “Manufacturing Layoffs – Hard Times for Rural Factories, Workers and Communities” “Manufacturing Layoffs” is a good mainstream analysis of the loss of factory jobs in rural North Carolina. In addition to making policy recommendations, this report looks at who is affected when factory jobs are lost and what kinds of jobs dislocated workers find. “Our Communities are Not for Sale! Local-Global Links in the Fight against Privatization” “Our Communities are Not for Sale!,” edited by Mike Prokosh of United for a Fair Economy and Karen Dolan of Institute for Policy Studies, is a 22-page document that reviews resistance and resources against privatization in many areas – education, public health, public housing, welfare, public safety and justice, water, social security, and global trade agreements. “Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States” This 2003 report looks at the circumstances leading to the budget shortfalls and tax fights occurring all over the United States. The report chronicles the tax increases on the poor and middle-class and the tax decreases on the wealthy that have taken place across the country since 1989. |
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