November 2025 Southern Worker School

Key Details

• Dates: doors open at 5pm Friday, November 7; programming concludes by 2pm on Sunday, November 9
• Register: southernworker.org/nov-school
• Meeting Venue: Goodwill Opportunity Center – 5301 Wilkinson Blvd, Charlotte, NC 28208
• Hotel: Holiday Inn Express – 108 Airport Commons Dr, Charlotte, NC
• Hotel booking link: click here (discount rooms at $124/night)
• Travel and lodging support available: Use registration form to indicate if you will need either or both

The Southern Workers Assembly will host a Southern Worker School on November 7 – 9 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The gathering comes at a critical time. Over the past few years, the SWA network has grown dramatically. There is also an urgent need to evaluate and re-focus our work to build workplace committees and workers assemblies given the wide-ranging attacks against the working class coming from the billionaires and the Trump administration.

This school will be focused on assessing our practice and the broader developments of the period, grounding ourselves in our methodology and approach to our work, and generally orienting ourselves around a shared strategy as we move ahead. 

Our weekend together will be heavily discussion-based. We will be circulating a few, short documents and soliciting others prior to the school that will inform our discussion around these key themes and topics:

• Summation of recent SWA struggles and the political climate
• Cadre development 
• Building workplace committees
• The workers assembly method
• Workplace blitzes and leafletting
• Launching a regional fightback campaign

The draft program for the weekend is as follows (and is subject to change):

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 7

5pm: Doors open

6pm: Dinner served

7 – 9pm: Program: The Current Situation

• • Intro + opening
  • Organizing report, reports from assemblies and on October 18 participation
  • NSPM-7 & implications on our strategy
  • Table and floor discussion to follow

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8

8:30am: Doors open

9 – 9:30a: Program opening

9:30a – 11a: Cadre

11a – 11:15a: Break

11:15a – 12:45pm: The Workers Assembly

1p – 1:45p: Lunch

2 – 3:30p: Blitz

3:30 – 3:45p: Break

3:45p – 5:15p: Workplace Committees

5:15 – 5:30p: Summation & Wrap Up

7 – 10p: Dinner and social (at hotel)

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9

9:30a: Arrival at the venue

10a – 10:30a: Opening and reflections on previous day

10:30a – 11:30a: The necessary elements for a regional campaign

11:30a – 12:30p: SWA Expansion agenda

12:30p – 1p: Close

Please review the below criteria for selecting the delegation to participate in the upcoming school from your workers assembly or other body. Your delegation should come prepared to bring back what is taken up at the school to workers in their committee and assembly, and should reflect the diversity of our class with respect to gender, race, nationality, sexual orientation, ability, etc. 

November 2025 Southern Worker School Participation Guidelines:

• 2 workers from each workplace committee (in a non-union workplace) in the assembly
• 2 workers from each workers assembly coordinating body
• 2 workers from each industry council
• Worker cadre in the SWA Rank and File Project
• SWA Coordinating & Political Education Committee members
• 2 workers from each organizational affiliate
• Preferred registration deadline: October 17 | Final deadline: October 31

Please register here: https://southernworker.org/nov-school

Scholarships are available to support your delegation on travel and lodging costs. If you have any questions or other thoughts, please feel free to reach out. 

Organize the South!

• • November 2025 Southern Worker School Planning Committee