How farmworkers in Washington state got lawmakers' attention

As unionization efforts have ramped up in corporate workplaces, employees in less traditional industries have also begun to form independent unions to advocate for their rights. For example, unionization efforts at video game company ZeniMax helped workers secure a pay adjustment, while an independent union formed at the Art Institute of Chicago secured the right for employees to have union representation in disciplinary meetings.

The République des Hyper Voisins, or the Republic of Super Neighbors, is an experiment organized by residents of Paris's 14th arrondissement to encourage community engagement, combat social isolation, and improve how the neighborhood functions. The group has organized mutual aid efforts, installed compost collection points, facilitated the launch of a new health clinic, and given residents opportunities to weigh in on local development projects.

Residents of Montour County, Pennsylvania rallied opposition against a proposed data center by gathering information about the project through public records requests, showing up to board meetings and hearings in the hundreds, making T-shirts and signs with protest messages, and circulating a petition that garnered more signatures than the number of people that voted there in the 2024 election. County commissioners ultimately voted against rezoning land to let the proposal move forward, but the company behind it is still pursuing potential sites elsewhere in the area.

Formed in 2022, Lift Every Voice Philly is a grassroots group of parent volunteers who advocate for changes in their children’s schools through testifying at public meetings, emailing and calling representatives, and providing education about district issues. The group was able to get school district policy changed to ensure that all students get daily recess and movement breaks and prevent schools from restricting access to bathrooms or water as punishment.

For the past year, community organizers in Baltimore have been going door to door to share Know Your Rights materials, as well as hosting trainings to help residents get involved in rapid responses against ICE operations in the city. Hundreds of people have been trained so far and the effort has led to the formation of about a dozen community-based ICE watch groups.

Participatory budgeting gives residents a direct say in how municipal funding is allocated by allowing them to submit project ideas and vote on proposals created by city staff. One program in Rhode Island, for example, saw nearly 300 people in nine neighborhoods voted on project ideas, with nearly a quarter of those voters reporting they were unlikely to vote in typical elections.

Capitalizing on broad political-organizing pushes across the U.S., the United Farm Workers (UFW) union signed its first contract in New York, offering significant protections to about 150 orchard workers.

The Kensington Community Resilience Fund supports local initiatives through participatory grant-making, a process where advisory committees made up of community members – who are deeply familiar with their community’s needs – help decide which organizations should receive a share of the funding. Since 2020, KCR has awarded $760,000 in grants to neighborhood programs.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) formed the first worker-driven social responsibility program in 1993, and since then they’ve advocated across industries for corporate social responsibility and preventing worker exploitation. The CIW also created the Fair Food Program which has helped add more than $45 million to farm workers’ paychecks.

Amy’s Kitchen workers led a two-year boycott of the company’s products with the support of the Food Empowerment Project, in an effort to petition for better working conditions. After several months, the company agreed to a meeting with the workers in which they crafted an informal agreement meeting their demands and guaranteeing they wouldn’t face punishments for their organizing.