This summer, students from the Philadelphia Student Union visited the town of Matewan, West Virginia; a town with a rich history of coal miner organizing. There, a man named Wes Harris explained the conditions faced by coal miners in the early 20th century, and that some miners are still experiencing today. This visit was part of a larger immersion into Appalachia, to better understand poverty in this country and how to build a multi-racial movement to end it.

For two years, guards at the Philadelphia Museum of Art have tried to win dignity for themselves and their families.  But, they've been ignored.

Along with guards, thousands of JwJ supporters have let museum leaders and the employer, AlliedBarton, know that wages that fall below the Federal Poverty Guidelines, bad and expensive health care and inadequate training are not good enough for the men and women who protect our city's most priceless cultural treasures.

Have they heard us? No. We too have been ignored.

 
One of the main road blocks that workers face to exercising their rights on the job is the powerful and frightening coercive power that an employer has over an employee. Imagine an election in which the party in power could force you to attend mandatory meetings to tell you why you should not vote for the other party. Imagine the party in power could also make you lose your job, and harass your neighbors who support the opposition party. The party in power could bring in professional campaigners (lawyers and anti-union consultants) to help them win their election. They were guaranteed access to the voters every day leading up to the election -- but the opposition party could only campaign in secret and when their volunteers happened to catch other voters at home. Let’s say that the party in power could also sit you down, all by yourself, and interrogate you to see how you intended on voting?

The Domestic Worker's Bill of Rights is before the New York State Senate RIGHT NOW.  Help make New York the first state in this country to respect and protect the lives and work of domestic workers.  Domestic Workers United (DWU) has worked hard the last 5 years to get this far- the New York House has passed the bill and the Governor has promised to sign it.