Chicago New Fashion
When the United Electrical union workers at Chicago’s Republic Windows and Doors occupied their factory in the cold, early days of December last year, they were not alone. Hundreds of activists and community members turned out in solidarity, standing out front with picket signs and providing food for the workers inside. Many of these supporters were organized by a local group called Arise Chicago (formerly Chicago Interfaith Committee on Worker Issues), an example of a labor organizing model that is growing in cities across the country.
Beyond the coordinated organizing of local religious leaders and their communities, Arise’s pro-labor efforts include an arm dedicated to providing legal support and training to low-wage workers, particularly immigrant workers. This initiative is one among well over 200 functional “Worker Centers” that serve under-representad laborers in the United States. Arise Chicago’s director, Adam Kader, explains, “we’re a community resource … a place for workers to get educated about rights to learn about strategies for improving their workplace.”
The Arise Worker Center, like other organizations of its kind, began as a multi-faith religious advocacy group in 1991. The original members - among them Monsignor Jack Egan, Rabbi Robert Marx, and United Methodist Bishop Jesse De Witt - organized their varied religious communities to support labor initiatives on the north side of Chicago. When they published a comprehensive Workers Rights Manual in 2001, the group received a wide response as individual workers began calling with questions about their rights in the workplace. In 2002 the group added a Worker Center initiative specifically to respond to worker concerns about their workplace rights. Kader describes the early years of the Worker Center as a “rapid response” model, where workers’ calls were responded to as they came in - something the organization has tried to structure differently in recent years. Today, the Arise Worker Center is a member organization that somewhat resembles an actual union. Constituents are encouraged to “commit to other members” by contributing monthly dues (in any amount), attending and teaching workshops, and leading advocacy campaigns. With 215 members - primarily immigrants from Latin America and Eastern Europe, working in several industries - Arise’s Worker Center members have been able to take advantage of the broader network of Worker Centers to share stories and strategies.
In a 2006 Economic Policy Institute study of Worker Centers, Janice Fine described these organizations as “suggestive of earlier U.S. civic institutions” such as “fraternal organizations, political parties, settlement houses, and urban churches…” These early groups were places where immigrants found support and modern unions saw their beginnings. However, the organized unions that formed as a result - which provided job stability and secure wages to families in the 50s and 60s (when 1 in 3 workers was a member of a union) - have seen a steady decline over the past 50 years. The globalization of labor forces in manufacturing, and the nationwide expansion of unprotected job sectors (service industries such as food and janitorial services), has led to a modern economy in which few professions are protected against labor market competition.
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