Build Worker Power in the South - Join the Southern Workers Assembly
The Southern Workers Assembly (SWA) is a network of local unions, worker organizations, and organizing committees, committed to building rank-and-file democratic social movement unionism in the South. Learn more >>>
Solidarity with Bessemer, Alabama Amazon Workers!
Between Feb 8, and March 29, approximately 6,000 majority Black Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama will begin voting by mail on whether to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale Department Store Workers Union (RWDSU). Solidarity from every corner of the labor and progressive movement is needed now to support this historic struggle. Learn more >>>
Southern Workers Fight for Medicare for All
Safe Jobs Save Lives Campaign
Workers across the US South are on the move demanding workplace safety amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic. Southern workers also need a strategy and self-organization to secure any gains they make through collective action. Learn more >>>
Bessemer, Alabama Amazon Workers Fight to Win Union
Between Feb 8, and March 29, approximately 6,000 Amazon warehouse workers in Bessemer, Alabama will begin voting by mail on whether to be represented by the Retail, Wholesale Department Store Workers Union (RWDSU).
These predominantly Black workers who have in recent months formed the BAmazon Workers Union, are on the cusp of launching a history-changing workers organization against one of the biggest and most powerful transnational corporations in the world, and its super rich union busting owner, Jeff Bezos. In addition, these workers are standing up to the racist, anti-union laws that suppress labor across the South.
Solidarity from every corner of the labor and progressive movements is needed now to show the workers in Bessemer that they are not alone, that all eyes are on the historic struggle that they are leading. This is especially needed as Amazon ramps up their union-busting tactics.
A Workers Guide to Meatpacking | Una guía para trabajadores sobre la industria de productos cárnicos
Bilingual English-Spanish!
A new booklet from the Southern Workers Assembly
⇒ Learn the facts and the fights across 16 southern states
⇒ Get the answers to ten basic questions about meat work in COVID time
¡Bilingüe español-inglés!
Un nuevo folleto de la Asamblea de Trabajadores del Sur
⇒ Los hechos y las peleas en 16 estados del sur
⇒ Las respuestas a diez preguntas básicas sobre el trabajo de la carne en el tiempo de COVID
News & Updates
Solidarity with Brookwood, AL Mineworkers Strike
Two significant labor actions have taken place in the South this year - both were in Alabama. The union organizing campaign at the Amazon plant in Bessemer and the mineworkers strike in Brookwood....
As part of Southern trend, Elizabeth City workers strike for better pay
After three years of receiving zero pay raises and working 16 months through a global pandemic with no recognition or hazard pay, city workers in Elizabeth City, N.C., staged a two-day work stoppage...
COVID-19 Safety & Health Webinar for Transit Workers
Upcoming health and safety webinar for transit workers, convened by our friends from the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (NCOSH)
The Two Pandemics
The following remarks were given by Ajamu Dillahunt -- a member of the Southern Workers Assembly steering committee, a leader in Black Workers for Justice, and a retired local president of the...
Statements
Solidarity with 3,000 Striking UAW Workers in Dublin, VA!
The following solidarity statement, issued on behalf of the Southern Workers Assembly, was written by Al Long, a retired IT worker and SWA member in Norfolk, VA. Sisters and Brothers of UAW 2069,...
Bessemer Amazon Union Vote: We Learn as We Struggle!
In spite of the vote count, important developments have resulted from the Bessemer Amazon workers’ campaign. We applaud the Alabama Amazon workers who took on the world’s second largest corporation...
March 20: Actions Planned Across the South in Solidarity with Bessemer Amazon Workers
On March 16, Southern Workers Assembly co-coordinator Saladin Muhammad spoke alongside Hammer & Hoe author and Alabama labor historian Dr. Robin D.G. Kelley on a national webinar about the...
Solidarity with Bessemer Amazon Workers Grows – Upcoming Actions
Solidarity for Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama fighting to organize their union with the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) has continued to expand across the country and...