Statements
Solidarity with Truckers Movement for Justice
On May 1, Truckers Movement for Justice (TMJ) - a grassroots labor organization of truck drivers who work in all areas of the trucking industry - brought truck drivers together from across the country in Washington, DC, for a picket outside the U.S. Department of...
It’s about power: Southern Worker School charts path for building workers movement in the U.S. South
“We heard from the rail workers. We heard from the truckers. We’ve got the longshoremen in the house, too,” said Leonard Riley, a longshore worker with the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) Local 1422 and member of the SWA Coordinating Committee,...
Bring the railroads under public ownership
The Southern Workers Assembly joins the Railroad Workers United and a growing number of unions and progressive organizations calling for public ownership of the rail infrastructure in North America. This is a critical initiative that would greatly benefit rail...
Solidarity with Climate Crisis Flood Survivors in Kentucky
The Southern Workers Assembly stands in full solidarity with our working-class and oppressed sisters, brothers and siblings of eastern Kentucky. The horrendous floods, brought on by decades, if not centuries, of corporate greed and intentional underdevelopment, is...
Defending and expanding abortion rights is part of the workers’ struggle
The Southern Workers Assembly stands in solidarity with the many thousands who have taken to the streets to demonstrate outrage at the Supreme Court’s imminent attack on women’s rights. We also recognize the special importance of the South in the fight to keep...
The First Step is Often the Most Difficult – Statement on ALU Victory
All congratulations to the good workers who led the ALU to its Labor Board election victory in Staten Island New York. Yours is an inspiring example of rank and file worker self-organization to improve working conditions and change corporate policies. The SWA will...
Bessemer, Alabama Amazon Workers Continue Struggle to Unionize
The second Bessemer Alabama Amazon workers and Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) labor board union vote will be counted starting on March 28th. It comes as a result of the National Labor Relations Board ruling that Amazon’s anti-union actions in the...
Rehire the Memphis 7! Solidarity with Starbucks workers organizing
The Southern Workers Assembly sends our solidarity with the Memphis 7 and all Starbucks workers organizing for rights, safety, and power on the job. We join the calls for Starbucks to immediately rehire these workers and stop their racist union busting campaign....
SWA Builds on the Support Created by the Bessemer Amazon Union Campaign to Launch a South-Wide and National Social Movement
In late 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, workers at an Amazon warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama contacted the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU) to begin a historic organizing campaign at the facility. In January 2021, the majority Black...
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. The South is a critical battleground for labor and the fight for social...