Working Group on Labor and Community

 

The Working Group on Labor and Community is a national network of funders committed to educating funders about the labor movement and encouraging philanthropy to support labor-community partnerships that address issues facing the working poor.

Nearly a quarter of the American work force – 33 million workers – earn poverty wages of less than $10 an hour. Working families are increasingly likely to lack health care coverage, an affordable place to live, an opportunity for career advancement and a decent education for their children. The current economic crisis is hitting working families the hardest.

"There has never been a greater opportunity, nor a greater need, for unions and foundations to understand and build upon their common interests in supporting the needs of low-income and working families."
-Richard Magat, author of "Unlikely Partners: Philanthropic Foundations and the Labor Movement"

  

We are deeply concerned about America's widening gap in wealth, income and political influence, as well as the deteriorating conditions for immigrant workers vulnerable to the most extreme forms of exploitation.

The Working Group was formed in the mid-1990s. The Neighborhood Funders Group has sponsored the Working Group since its inception, as a natural outgrowth of its efforts to expand support for organizations that help low-income people improve their lives and communities.

The Working Group raises awareness in philanthropy about the most advanced and effective efforts by community groups and labor unions to bring low-wage workers out of poverty, including:

  • increasing wages through living wage and minimum wage campaigns;
  • making sure that public subsidies for economic development produce living wages and other benefits for the impacted communities;
  • bringing immigrant workers together into worker centers to recover unpaid wages, make dangerous working conditions safe, and otherwise protect the rights of low-wage immigrant workers;
  • ensuring that the transition to a green economy benefits all workers and that green jobs pay a living wage;
  • protecting the democratic right of workers to form unions and passing legislation to level the playing field so workers can more easily form unions; and
  • raising wages and improving working conditions for migrant farm workers.

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Recent Accomplishments

 

"Many foundations have social justice missions that are similar to the social justice objectives of many unions. Yet, even though we often share similar goals, we exist in two separate worlds, with different cultures and ways of doing things. By not working to bridge these worlds, we are both missing tremendous opportunities to advance our joint cause."
-Lance Lindblom, Nathan Cummings Foundation
  • Funder Teleconference on April 30, 2009 on the transition to a green economy, featuring Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins from Green for All, Leslie Moody from The Partnership for Working Families, and Kalila Barnett from Alternatives for Community and Environment.
  • Program Committee discussion about unity and disunity in the labor movement on March 17, 2009
  • Funder Teleconference on the Employee Free Choice Act on February 26, 2009 featuring Dean Baker from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, Mary Beth Maxwell from American Rights at Work Education Fund, and Lance Compa from Cornell University.
  • Funder Teleconference on November 12, 2009 on Health Care for America Now, a labor-community coalition working to win quality, affordable health care for all.
  • Several workshops and learning tours at the NFG Conference, October 1-3,2009. Workshop subjects included the partnership between the AFL-CIO and the National Day Labor Organizing Committee; immigrant workers centers; and the labor-environmental-community alliance that won an agreement about good, green jobs at the Port of Los Angeles.

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Tom Swift/Impact Visuals  
   
  "[In Las Vegas] the presentations were terrific and I think everyone learned a lot. Mainstream funders got a much better sense of what good unions can do and how much there is to be done. Frankly, we were all reminded of the incredible courage and the hopes of immigrants and other vulnerable folk who are trying to realize the promise of this country."
-Craig McGarvey, The James Irvine Foundation

Working Group on Labor and Community Coordinating Committee Members

  • Henry Allen, co-chair, Discount Foundation
  • Molly Schultz Hafid, co-chair, Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock
  • Charles Fields, Marguerite Casey Foundation
  • Laine Romero-Alston, Solidago Foundation
  • Janet Shenk, Panta Rhea Foundation
 
"The Ms. Foundation is deeply concerned about women's economic security. The Working Group keeps us up-to-date on the labor movement's successes and challenges in organizing women. It also helps us identify worthwhile projects that emerge from new organizing."
-Sara Gould, Ms. Foundation for Women
 

"Over the years, unions have been the driving force behind legislation raising the minimum wage, expanding Medicare coverage, strengthening pension insurance, bolstering federal job training and placement programs, and providing family and medical leave - changes that benefit all workers."
-Century Foundation Task Force on the Future of Unions

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Working Group on Labor and Community Program Committee Members

  • Holly Bartling, General Service Foundation
  • Ann Bastian, New World Foundation
  • Dave Beckwith, The Needmor Fund
  • Shona Chakravartty, Hill-Snowdon Foundation
  • Hector Cordero-Guzman, The Ford Foundation
  • Mary Estrin, General Service Foundation
  • Charles Fields, Marguerite Casey Foundation
  • Ken Grossinger, CrossCurrents Foundation
  • Eileen Jamison Tyrer, Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program
  • Jane Lin, Tides Foundation
  • Regina McGraw, Wieboldt Foundation
  • Michele Prichard, Liberty Hill Foundation
  • Victor M. Quintana, Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program
  • Guillermo Quinteros, Solidago Foundation
  • Bob Shull, Public Welfare Foundation
  • Ellen Widess, Rosenberg Foundation

Publications

Three Strategies for Bringing Low-Wage Workers Out of Poverty, NFG Reports, Summer 2008 • Issue Two • Volume Fifteen

Community Benefits: An Idea on a Roll! NFG Reports Spring 2008 • Issue One • Volume Fifteen

America Gets a Raise, One State at Time, NFG Report Winter 2007 • Issue Four • Volume Fourteen

Community Benefits Agreements: Ensuring That Urban Redevelopment Benefits Everyone, NFG, August 2005, by Greg LeRoy and Anna Purinton Worker Centers: Organizing Communities at the Edge of the Dream NFG, (Funders' Executive Summary), April 2005, by Janice Fine.

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LaborLine (PDFs)

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