Workers Centers and Unions

A New Alliance: Workers Centers and Unions By TIFFANY TEN EYCK

Last August, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON), a network of over 140 worker centers that organize mostly immigrant day laborers, entered into an agreement that would allow worker centers to apply for membership with local and state federations of the AFL-CIO. The agreement could signal a new chapter in the way organized labor relates to low-wage and immigrant workers. Over the past several years, unions have debated how to organize immigrant workers and create coalitions with worker centers that have strong ties to immigrant worker communities. However, the AFL-CIO/NDLON partnership marks the first step towards including either worker centers or day laborers in a systematic way.

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