Ban the Box policies reduce barriers for the formerly incarcerated

When Juan Reid had a hard time finding a job after his release from prison, he finally founded a worker cooperative called Tightshift Laboring Cooperative. He wanted to create sustainable employment opportunities for himself and others coming out of prison. This is part of a larger trend of worker cooperatives in the Washington, D.C. area. The DC Employee Ownership Initiative and Coop DC are two groups helping businesses like Tightshift and others.

Civic engagement led to the passage of a bill that empowers and protects garment workers in California. Citizens were encouraged and taught how to mobilize and participate in the democratic process which eventually led to the successful outcome.

Philadelphia enacted a law in 2016 that allows for people convicted of minor crimes to get their records sealed by a court. In this article an employment lawyer who has worked for many years with people who have records talks about why it's extremely difficult for people to reintegrate into a community and get a job with even a minor conviction in their past. The shift has garnered support across political lines as people begin to realize the economic and other costs to society when people can't work and end up back in prison.

Siragugal Bricks is a community-owned brick kiln operated by rescued bonded laborers, aiming to rehabilitate and empower them to explore business endeavors and find more sustainable, safer sources of income. Since April 2022, 100 families have worked for Siragugal and local government organizations have helped obtain funding and supplies to facilitate Siragugal’s operations, such as power supplies, a work shed and a borehole for water.

Organizations like Milk and Dignity are filling in the worker safety gaps left behind in federal regulations by working with farms to implement worker-driven protections.

With help from national labor union Workers United, employees at Starbucks stores across the country are launching union campaigns in an effort to secure safer conditions and better pay. In all, 171 stores in 30 states have won union elections so far, and Workers United has filed to unionize at 302 stores in all.

4 Day Week Global offers workshops, cross-company mentorship, and assistance with tracking productivity and employee wellbeing to help companies implement shortened workweeks. The nonprofit has piloted its program with 38 companies so far, and organizations that have switched to a four-day schedule report increased productivity and improved work-life balance for workers.

In service industries that traditionally pay and treat workers poorly, worker-owned cooperatives serve as a humane alternative. Worker-owners at eight co-ops in four states describe the difference their jobs make in their working conditions and their lives. They also tell how larger collectives and cooperatives pool resources to help smaller co-ops with the funding and expertise they need, especially when confronted by a disruptive event like the pandemic.

A first-of-its-kind worker-led program in Vermont is helping dairy migrant workers to "hold farmers, corporations, and suppliers in the dairy industry accountable for the rights of workers in their supply-chains through a legally-binding agreement." Although not all dairy farm operations have joined in the program as participants, it has been enacted on 64 farms and helped bolster wages and housing situations for migrant farmers.

The government of Victoria, Australia partnered with businesses across the state to workshop ways cultural, gender, and other biases could be eliminated in workforce interview processes. By creating anonymous CVs, using non-gendered language, and training employees on unconscious biases, this "Recruit Smarter" plan saw increased employment consideration for women, minorities, and people with disabilities.