How Worker Centers Organize Low-Wage Workers: An Exploration of Targets and Strategies

Abstract

In response to the growing absence of unions from the private sector, community-based organizations known as worker centers have emerged as a new front in protecting and organizing workers. Scholars generally argue that worker centers have converged on a model of combining service provision with organizing and advocacy, supported primarily by funding from foundations and government agencies. I draw on interviews conducted with worker center staff, a dataset compiled from their public materials, and secondary research to add to the existing literature and to argue that a clear categorization of worker centers can be derived by attention to their primary workplace strategies. First, worker centers can be meaningfully distinguished by whether they attempt to raise standards in specific industries versus responding to problems in individual workplaces. But they can also be distinguished based on the extent to which they view public policy or winning agreements with employers as the primary route to systemic improvements. These divergences in strategy echo Progressive-era debates about the role for the state in redressing workplace ills. Similar to that era, strategic differences among today’s worker centers are driven less by ideology and more by the distinct structural challenges facing workers in particular political and economic contexts.

Immigrant workers' movements in the U.S.: Where are high‐skilled ‘nonimmigrants’?

“…Referring to the blurred difference between unions and worker centers, Chauvin (2016) identifies worker‐center based mobilization as ‘informal unionism.’ But while worker centers ‘emulate or complement’ unions' agenda (Garrick, 2021, p. 136), they do not necessarily bargain with employers (Griffith & Gates, 2019). ‘Multi‐sector’ worker centers have a ‘strong public policy component’ (Garrick, 2021, p. 137), but ‘sector‐based’ centers may form agreements with specific employers. Their agenda are laid around neighborhood, race and ethnic identities rather than occupational and industrial segments (Garrick, 2021).…”

“…‘Multi‐sector’ worker centers have a ‘strong public policy component’ (Garrick, 2021, p. 137), but ‘sector‐based’ centers may form agreements with specific employers. Their agenda are laid around neighborhood, race and ethnic identities rather than occupational and industrial segments (Garrick, 2021).…”

“…Similarly, the ‘cultures and structures’ of worker centers cater to ‘the lowest wage immigrant workers’ (Fine, 2007, p. 347). With limited resources, worker centers choose issues and groups that resonate with a wider population and potential donors (Fine, 2006; Garrick, 2021).…”