Direct Organizing
Learning from over a decade of organizing low-wage workers as part of the national Fight for $15 campaign, MWC organizers are trained in fundamental labor and community organizing techniques.
PROGRAMS
At the Missouri Workers Center (MWC), we believe that workers have to organize their strength in numbers at their jobs and in the halls of government to have the power to make more of the decisions about the things that affect their lives. Our organization brings together direct worker and community organizing with strategic campaign planning and narrative development to drive comprehensive campaigns to rebuild civil society, improve the lives of all workers, and defeat the racist systems that divide us against each other. We do this through a multi-faceted program that includes:
Coalition Building
MWC maintains diverse coalition tables, convened by region, to support worker organizing campaigns and to drive statewide, issue-specific campaigns.
Narrative Development
MWC is shifting harmful narratives about deservedness, work, and race to narratives that promote a family-sustaining economy for all workers, regardless of who they love, where they come from, or what they look like. MWC’s communications and organizing teams work directly with low-wage workers to develop their storytelling, public speaking, and media interview skills, as well as create opportunities for workers to share their stories in local and national media outlets, among other forums.
Strategic Campaign Planning
MWC works closely with other labor and community organizations to provide strategic campaign planning support. Our research, communications, and organizing teams coordinate to provide power mapping, policy analysis, direct organizing support and training, narrative development, and communications support to drive comprehensive campaigns. For example, these campaigns have demanded good jobs and affordable housing from billion-dollar sports franchises and good union jobs in our municipal transit system.
Civic Engagement
Voting is one of the most important tools that workers have to improve their own lives. MWC’s civic engagement, organizing, and communications teams collaborate to educate voters on relevant issues, expand the electorate by registering new voters, and maximize participation in our democracy through our voter education and mobilization program. MWC has engaged tens of thousands of voters to pass statewide initiatives to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour, guarantee up to seven days of earned sick leave, and secure Missourians’ right to make their own health care decisions, including abortion.
IMPACT HIGHLIGHTS
key statistic
58%
of KC voters rejected the Royals stadium sales tax ballot measure on April 2, 2024, blocking $2 billion from going to a billionaire sports team
key statistic
St. Louis Amazon workers won
$12.5 million
in total annual wage increases for
4,150 workers
in STL8 and SMO2.
key statistic
To win Prop A, we collected
32,349 signatures,
knocked
22,374 doors, and registered
2,550 voters.