Workshops

 

We have workshops that we call “Common Sense Economics.” The workshops lead people to a conscious understanding of the functioning of the New Economy and the ideological role of Neoliberalism in shaping that economy. We use popular education techniques to demonstrate how the top 1 percentile controls the majority of wealth in the country. This discussion leads to questioning how a small minority controls the vast majority – by the age-old strategy of divide and conquer. We discuss how systemic racism plays a part in deciding who gets the lowest paid, dirtiest and most dangerous jobs. We then discuss how multi-racial unity is needed to achieve real social change, as well as cross-border solidarity.

In Intersectionality and Organizing Across Issues workshops, we develop consciousness on the need for multi-racial unity to combat the divide-and-rule strategies of neoliberalism. These workshops lead to further workshops and dialogues to share experiences between different groups of workers with the objective of building alliances towards common goals.

We hold workshops on Defending Immigrant Workers. We have Know Your Rights workshops for immigrant workers to be able to protect themselves from raids by the deportation police. We have workshops on how immigration policy is used to make workers feel vulnerable about asserting their workplace rights and coercing them into working for lower pay, dragging down wages for everyone across-the-board. We teach how solidarity with immigrant workers and defending sanctuary policies protects all workers living standards.

We hold workshops on Protecting Workers’ Rights to Organize a Union. We have workshops on organizing for non-union workers to inspire them to organize their workplace and affiliate with a union. We hold workshops with low-wage workers and students on the importance of the Labor Movement in increasing wages for all workers, even at non-union worksites that need to compete for workers. These workshops help build the Labor Movement as a popular social movement.