This email copy was written as a part of a sustaining donor fundraising drive with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee last Fall 2024. I interviewed two organizers from Berkeley, California in order to share how EWOC supports workers through their story. At the end of this month-long drive, we surpassed our 2024 goal by bringing in more than $2,500/month in sustaining donor funds and $1,991 in one-time donations.
Dear Friend,
Workers at Urban Ore, a salvage yard and thrift store in Berkeley, California, had been organizing for over a year before they knew that a project like EWOC existed.
Before discarded items go to a landfill, many recyclable building materials, scrap metal, furniture, appliances, and other heavy objects are recovered by Urban Ore. Some of these items are taken to the receiving department where they’re assessed and repurposed by workers like Sarah and Benno.
The work involves a great deal of physical labor, but Sarah and Benno believe that Urban Ore is a special place to work and that they provide a valuable service to their community.
During the pandemic, after one of their coworkers contracted COVID, Sarah realized that her employers didn’t have a plan to keep them safe. Even after a year and a half into the pandemic, Urban Ore owners did not have adequate safety protocols in place. As staff turnover increased, workers faced increasing physical demands, all while pay stagnated.
Sarah and Benno’s coworkers began searching for an organization that supported workers like them, who were not in a union but wanted to organize one. They had already built solidarity and trust for each other, but were in a holding pattern and had been turned away by an established union. Then they found EWOC’s local East Bay chapter.
Benno remembers logging into his first session of EWOC’s Foundational Training and seeing screen after screen of workers’ faces on a Zoom call. After organizing in isolation for so many months, the experience of talking with other workers and hearing their stories was invaluable. Benno realized that EWOC had set up a toolbox of approaches, resources, and education to steer organized workers towards successful campaigns. EWOC also sponsored Benno and other worker organizers to attend the Labor Notes conference this year. But we need resources to make this happen.
This month we’re looking for 200 new people to make a monthly commitment to EWOC. Will you sign up so that we can support more workers like Sarah and Benno?
Urban Ore Workers (UOW) went on to win their union election under IWW IU 670, and both Sarah and Benno were elected to the bargaining committee. They are now bargaining for a first contract and researching the possibility of creating a worker co-op through their union!
EWOC trains, supports, and empowers workers to understand the intricacies of their own workplaces, ask strategic questions, and execute those strategies.
Become a monthly donor, so that workers in every industry — who love their jobs and coworkers — can be supported and empowered to transform their workplaces.
Urban Ore Workers (UOW) went on to win their union election under IWW IU 670, and both Sarah and Benno were elected to the bargaining committee. They are now bargaining for a first contract and researching the possibility of creating a worker co-op through their union!
EWOC trains, supports, and empowers workers to understand the intricacies of their own workplaces, ask strategic questions, and execute those strategies.
Become a monthly donor, so that workers in every industry — who love their jobs and coworkers — can be supported and empowered to transform their workplaces.
Solidarity,
Team EWOC