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All Together Now
Partnership for Working Families Builds the National Movement for Economic Justice
In February, more than 200 people representing 22 states and 82 local, regional and national organizations including labor, academics, environmental and civil rights groups attended the Partnership for Working Families’ (PWF) second annual convening of the network in Atlanta.
The three-day event included sessions organized by skill area (researchers, organizers, executive directors, attorneys), break-outs by issue area (retail-grocery, construction industry, healthcare, hospitality and others) and by issues such as building the movement in “red” states.
“The event was really inspiring for our coalition members. Learning about the campaigns of other organizations energized us to get started building the movement in Pittsburgh,” said Tom Hoffman, Executive Director of the newly formed Pittsburgh UNITED.
PWF was formed in 2002 by four California organizations—LAANE, San Diego’s Center on Policy Initiatives, San Jose’s Working Partnerships USA and the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy—to foster and assist similar organizations around the country in planning and implementing programs to build the power of working families at the local and regional level. Today, 16 organizations from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta and Seattle are partners in the PWF network, representing regions that account for 14 percent of the nation’s population.
The Partnership promotes peer-to-peer learning between staff at member organizations and provides and coordinates technical assistance, training, and support. Important victories have already been scored by newer organizations in Atlanta, Denver, New Haven, CT and Milwaukee, while an exciting new community benefits campaign is underway in Seattle.
“This powerful movement—with community leaders and rank-and-file workers taking action together for a better future—is our best hope for building a new middle class,” said PWF’s recently appointed Executive Director Leslie Moody, formerly head of the Denver-area labor federation.
In Orange County, PWF helped to jumpstart Orange County Organized for Responsible Development, which is building a strong progressive coalition in a notoriously conservative stronghold.
“PWF provided a critical mass of start-up funding, materials, legal advice and technical assistance that enabled OCCORD to gain momentum over a short period of time, and our coalition has been inspired by groundbreaking CBA [Community Benefits Agreement] victories in L.A. and San Diego,” said Eric Altman, formerly a researcher with UNITE HERE International and now Executive Director of OCCORD.
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