WE DEVELOP LEADERS TO CONFRONT SOCIAL INJUSTICE
LEADERS AGAINST SOCIAL INJUSTICE
Our mission is to develop leaders to confront social injustice. As workers themselves, they stand on the front lines of the injustices they face, they are the best equipped to solve their problems through powerful and creative actions that obtain concrete results. Our engine is our reputation, credibility, and confidence.
BUILDING SHARING, LASTING POWER
Fuerza’s goal is to create an environment in which people who share a common problem can work together to solve it. Our members and staff inspire workers to expand their horizons. We ask probing questions, use storytelling to relate successes and challenges, and role-play new experiences so that workers feel thoroughly prepared for whatever task, be it a direct action, a press conference, or an interaction with the police.
ACTION IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF FUERZA
Shel Trapp, founder of NPA and a mentor to Fuerza Laboral, once said: “Out of every hundred people, maybe five will be ready to move into direct action. I go where those five want to go.”
We understand the fear of taking direct action, especially among people who are under constant threat of deportation. We address this fear head-on through training and transparent risk analysis. Members can then decide whether to participate.
The victories that come from those actions will inspire and embolden others to follow in their footsteps.
INJURED WORKERS COMMITTEE
The Injured Workers Committee builds the capacity of workers who have suffered workplace accidents to direct efforts to make the Rhode Island Workers’ Compensation System more accountable to undocumented workers.
ENDING WAGE THEFT
Our goal is to drastically reduce the incidence of wage theft in Rhode Island through targeted direct actions focused on changing industries, exposing subcontracting as a way of facilitating wage theft, and passing legislation and introducing procedures that increase the penalites on employers committing wage theft.
JUSTICE FOR IMMIGRANTS
The Justice for Immigrants Campaign aims to win legislation guaranteeing driver’s licenses for all Rhode Islanders, regardless of documentation status, as driving without a license often leads to detention and eventual deportation.
POPULAR EDUCATION PROGRAM
We facilitate workshops year-round on labor rights, immigrant rights, and leadership development.
WORKER-OWNED COOPERATIVE BUSINESSES
Over the past several years, Fuerza’s POWER Network (a worker co-op incubator) has devoted substantial time and effort to studying and receiving training in worker-cooperative development, recruiting worker-cooperators, creating a worker-co-op feasibility study and business plan, and creating tghe support for workers to develop their own organizational principles and policies.
AMAZING ALLIES
