Updates

End 24-Hour Workdays

Home care workers, the majority of them immigrant women, are routinely scheduled for 24-hour shifts. They are expected to provide around-the-clock care while only being paid for 13 hours of work.

Amigas En La Lucha: A Panel Celebrating Women in the Labor Movement

Brandworkers’ 3rd Annual Labor Panel, Amigas en la Lucha, brought together women organizers in NYC to share struggles and victories in the labor movement. From bakeries to restaurants to street vendors, workers are finding power in solidarity and building unions for justice at work.

COVID Memorial

In commemoration of the 4th anniversary of the NYC restaurant shutdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic, One Fair Wage (OFW) organized a poignant memorial honoring the more than 12,000 restaurant workers who passed due to COVID-related complications. Amidst the remembrance, OFW unveiled their latest report, ‘Always Essential, Still Waiting for Change’, shedding light on the persistent inequalities plaguing the industry: escalating wage theft, widening racial and gender pay disparities, and pervasive harassment, particularly targeting women of color. Testimonials from workers like Tamara, a trans and workers’ rights advocate, vividly captured the struggles endured, spotlighting the dissonance between being labeled ‘essential’ yet unable to afford life’s essentials. Tefa, OFW’s national co-organizing director, recounted her own brush with COVID, emphasizing the heinous disregard for workers’ well-being. Despite the sobering realities, OFW’s co-founder Saru Jayaraman imparted a message of hope, rallying support for the One Fair Wage Bill (A1710/S5567) as a crucial step towards dismantling the systemic injustices perpetuated by subminimum wages, affirming that change is not only imperative but attainable through collective action.

Fundraiser for Palestine🇵🇸

On Friday, February 23, 2024 El Hormiguero co-hosted a fundraiser alongside Theory of Change (TOC) to raise funds for families in Palestine. The event took place at Starr Bar in Bushwick, Brooklyn, where hundreds of folks joined us, to help raise funds and enjoy...

Hot Labor Year🔥

  We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who joined us at LIC Beer Project on January 27 for our panel discussion, "Hot Labor Year: Stories from the Strikes." Your presence and engagement made the event truly special, and we're grateful for your...

2022 Highlights

As we reflect on 2022, Brandworkers’ 15th year as a workers center, we can’t help but look back and see how far we’ve come. The past year has been a period of intense internal and external growth and change at Brandworkers. This growth has only strengthened our vision...

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Our Winter Quarter Highlights

Since the late 1800s, we have celebrated May Day as a reminder of the power of workers coming together in solidarity. Each year, new efforts arise to suppress workers' rights, create dangerous workplace conditions and undermine frontline food factory workers. As we...

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Our Year in Review

Happy new year from the worker-leaders, board of directors, and staff of Brandworkers! Everyone's solidarity is important for NYC-area food factory workers building their own unions with the Industrial Workers of the World. With your support in 2021: Workers at a new...

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Spring 2021 Highlights

Spring 2021 Highlights

NYC food factory workers are building power across their industry by organizing for dignified jobs. Read below for some of the highlights this spring—organizing at a new food factory, actions workers and allies took in the Tom Cat Bakery campaign for immigrant worker...

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