The union movement works to improve the lives of all people who work—not just those who have the benefits of union membership. In fact, the AFL-CIO has formed partnerships with worker centers and other groups of working people who do not have the legal right to collective bargaining. Some, like taxi workers, have been misclassified as independent contractors. Others, including domestic workers and day laborers, have been excluded from coverage by U.S. labor laws.
All workers deserve fair treatment, respect and a voice at work, regardless of how they are classified by employers or regarded by labor law.
Our Worker Center Partners
The AFL-CIO works with worker centers, in both the United States and Mexico, on organizing campaigns, policy initiatives and legislative and other joint efforts.
California
Graton Day Labor Center
2981 Bowen St., Graton, CA 95444
The Graton Day Labor Center works to advance and protect the human, labor and civil rights of day laborers, domestic workers and their families by promoting leadership and worker solidarity.
Mujeres Unidas y Activas
Address: 3543 18th St., #23, San Francisco, CA 94110
Mujeres Unidas y Activas is a grassroots organization of Latina immigrant women with a double mission of promoting personal transformation and building community power for social and economic justice.
Oakland Worker's Collective
2501 International Blvd., Oakland, CA 94601
The Oakland Worker’s Collective is a new project of the Street Level Health Project. They are small membership-based project launched last year to help educate workers, specifically day laborers, on occupational health and safety and to promote civic engagement.
United Taxi Workers of San Diego
4265 Fairmount Ave., #180, San Diego, CA 92105
United Taxi Workers of San Diego is a multi-ethnic, membership-based organization formed after the San Diego taxi drivers’ strike of December 2009. High-lease prices and harassment by law enforcement and public transportation officials necessitated better self-representation and organization among drivers.
Iowa
Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa
P.O. Box 3268, Iowa City, IA 52244
The Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa (CWJ) is a membership-based organization that unites low-wage workers in Iowa across race, ethnicity and immigration status to pursue social and economic justice. It focuses on worker rights education, leadership development and issue-based organizing.
Massachusetts
Chelsea Collaborative
318 Broadway, Chelsea, MA 02150
The Chelsea Collaborative Inc., originally founded in 1988, uses education and community organizing to enhance the social, environmental and economic health of the Chelsea, Mass., community and its people.
Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health
1532 Dorchester Ave., Dorchester, MA 02122
Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH) strives to ensure that all workers earn their living and return home alive and well. MassCOSH unites workers, unions and community groups with environmental and health activists, to end dangerous work conditions, to organize for safe, secure jobs and to advocate for healthy communities.
Michigan
Lansing Workers' Center
909 W. Saginaw St., Lansing, MI 48915
The Lansing Workers’ Center was created by a coalition of community activists and union members to support workers in their daily struggles on the job and in the community. The goal of the Workers’ Center is to build class consciousness and class solidarity as a means by which working people can improve their living conditions.
New Mexico
Somos Un Pueblo Unido - United Workers Center
1804 Espinacitas St., Santa Fe, NM 87505
Somos Un Pueblo Unido was founded in 1995 to protect and expand immigrants’ rights in New Mexico. With a membership base of more than 2,300 people, Somos is unique to the state—the only community-based and immigrant-led organization actively committed to preparing immigrant leaders to promote worker and racial justice.
New York
New York Taxi Workers Alliance
250 Fifth Ave., Suite 310, New York, N.Y. 10001
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance is a membership-based not-for-profit organization fighting for the rights of New York City's 50,000-plus licensed yellow taxi drivers.
Tompkins County Workers' Center
115 E. State St., Ithaca, NY 14850
The mission of the Tompkins County Workers’ Center is to stand up for all people treated unfairly at work. They support, advocate for and seek to empower workers to create a more just community and world.
North Carolina
Western North Carolina Workers' Center
206 Collett St., Morganton, NC 28655
The Western North Carolina Workers' Center believes that the most vulnerable and isolated workers must be informed and engaged to end worker exploitation and abuse. Workers' Center staff work in western North Carolina to educate and activate allies, partners and leaders in the defense of workers' rights.
Virginia
Virginia New Majority
6397 Little River Turnpike, Alexandria, VA 22312
Virginia New Majority is the catalytic force for the progressive transformation of Virginia through mass organizing, leadership development and strategic communications. They aim to transform Virginia by organizing communities of color, women, working people, LGBTs, youth and progressive people.
Texas
Fe y Justicia Worker Center
1805 W. Alabama St., Houston, TX 77098
Fe y Justicia Center strives to create a safe space for low-wage workers to learn about their rights in the workplace and organize to improve working conditions on the job. Their mission is to promote dignity and just treatment on the job for working families.
Workers Defense Project
5604 Manor Road, Austin, TX 78723
The Workers Defense Project is a membership-based organization that empowers low-income workers to achieve fair employment through education, direct services, organizing and strategic partnerships
Washington
Casa Latina
317 17th Ave., South, Seattle, WA 98144
Casa Latina believes that access to honorable work is one of the ways that our democratic society is defined. Casa Latina's mission is to empower Latino immigrants through educational and economic opportunities.
Wisconsin
Worker Justice Wisconsin
1602 S. Park St., #116, Madison, WI 53715
Worker Justice Wisconsin (WJW) meets with 500 to 700 workers every year throughout Wisconsin who are facing a wide variety of problems in the workplace. WJW works to address the root of these problems—whether it is a problem employer, an inadequate law or a lack of a voice for workers on the job.