September 2023 — Moving the Needle | Woods Fund Chicago
|
|
|
This year, labor organizing and union efforts have surged in momentum and support, receiving a national spotlight due to high-profile movements such as the growth of Starbucks Workers United, the dual WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes, and the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike that began this month.
Woods Fund Chicago recognizes Labor Day as an annual commemoration of the past, present, and future worker-led movements for labor rights, dignity, and protection.
|
|
|
Chicago has long been at the forefront of these movements — a historic role that proudly continues today through much of our grantee partners' work.
We celebrate the work of grantee partners including Alliance of Filipinos for Immigrant Rights and Empowerment (AFIRE) Chicago, Arise Chicago, Black Workers Matter, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos: United Workers' Center, Chicago Community and Workers Rights, Chicago Workers Collaborative, Equity and Transformation (EAT), Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, Latino Union of Chicago, Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Warehouse Workers for Justice, Women Employed, Workers Center for Racial Justice, and all of our grantee partners working across issues to advance economic justice in Chicago and beyond.
|
|
|
There have also been recent legislative wins for labor, such as HB3129, a new amendment to the Equal Pay Act requiring workplaces with 15+ employees to include pay scale and benefits in job postings. Learn more about HB3129 from Women Employed's Sharmili Majmudar in a WGN Radio interview about the amendment.
Several of our grantee partners also organize with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network's Desde Abajo Labor Enforcement (DALE) campaign, fighting for day laborer and migrant worker protections. Sofia Magdalena of Arise Chicago joined the response to the new DHS immigrant whistleblower policy, stating, "I invite all immigrant workers to leave fear behind. Fear and silence don’t win us anything. With this new process, it’s possible to be more protected for speaking up on the job. Now is the time to organize and take action at work!"
Additionally, Warehouse Workers for Justice organizers Adi Alvarado and Tommy Carden contributed to Liberation in a Generation’s report, “From Big Business to a Liberation Economy.” Download and read the report here.
On Labor Day — and every day — we honor this crucial work. Remember: Chicago is a union town.
|
Applications Now Open: Cultivate: Women* of Color Leadership & the Chicago Racial Justice Pooled Fund —
|
* trans and cis women, gender-nonconforming and nonbinary individuals
|
| |
Cultivate: Women* of Color Leadership (Cultivate) program envisions a world where women of color are wielding their innate and collective leadership to free society from structural racism and all systems of oppression. Through this work, they will bring forth a world where women of color are fully accepted, celebrated, respected, and valued.
Cultivate is a joint effort of Woods Fund Chicago, Chicago Foundation for Women (CFW), Crossroads Fund, Walder Foundation, and the Chicago Community Trust. This program is limited to grantee partners of those foundations. Woods Fund Chicago highly encourages qualifying grantee partners to apply! The deadline to apply is October 10, 2023. Learn more and apply now. If you have any questions, please contact WFC Program Officer Bahati Aimee at bahati@woodsfund.org.
|
The Chicago Racial Justice Pooled Fund provides grants to Black-led community organizing groups as well as allied community organizing groups addressing anti-Blackness. The Fund will raise and move $10,000,000 to Chicago organizations building and sustaining movements for justice that center Black lives and address anti-Blackness. Community organizing in this context means: Building movements and collective power to dismantle the systems, structures, and institutions that are rooted in white supremacy and perpetuate anti-Black violence. Woods Fund Chicago President Michelle Morales co-chairs the steering committee and WFC is a proud contributor to the Fund.
Applications are reviewed as they are received. Grants are awarded on a rolling basis. The deadline to apply is May 15, 2024. Prospective applicants can apply through Crossroads Fund’s grant portal. For questions, please email Leslie Ramyk at Leslie@conantfamilyfoundation.org.
|
Major Win for Erase the Gang Database Coalition and Woods Fund Chicago Grantee Partners —
|
|
|
Latinx Heritage Month — also recognized as Hispanic Heritage Month — takes place annually from September 15 – October 15. Woods Fund Chicago is proud to partner with and support Latinx/e communities in Chicago organizing for education, environmental justice, housing, immigration, labor, and overall racial and economic justice for all Chicagoans.
|
|
|
The Radical Promise of Truly Flexible Work
Why We're Reading It: Companies and organizations whose internal structures are built with neurodivergent and disabled people in mind demonstrate flexibility as a productive, sustainable practice in the workplace, challenging us to rethink traditional employment structures.
Harvard Business Review // Read now
|
|
|
To stay up to date with Woods Fund Chicago,
please visit: woodsfund.org
|
|
|
Not on our list? Subscribe here.
|
Top banner image: Warehouse Workers for Justice
Photo collage: left, Chicago Community and Workers Rights, middle, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos: United Workers' Center, right, Arise Chicago
|
|
|
Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
|
200 West Madison Street 3rd Floor | Chicago, IL 60606 US
|
|
|
This email was sent to dellacurtis88@gmail.com.
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
|
| |
|
|
