Magaly Licolli, co-founder of Venceremos shared her experiences as a workers organizer for poultry workers in the northwest section of Arkansas. Magaly’s work at a non-profit community planning organization revealed the systemic problems facing migrant workers at the various poultry packing plants; mostly owned by Tyson. Some of the problems were disabled workers with no benefits, unstable employment, and harsh, unsafe, and severe working conditions in the middle of the COVID pandemic.

Although mutual aid had been established, the working conditions had not been addressed. As there were no organizations to address this issue, Magaly Licolli began the outreach of connecting with workers that came to her for aid.

As always happens, there came a tipping point. When Tyson increased the “line speed” in December 2020 to make up for the lack of workers due to COVID-19. Thirty workers walked off the line and refused to work that very day.

This is when Venceremos helped out by initiating a strike. The next day, the Tyson plant agreed to decrease the line speed and promised a few other items, such as staggered shifts, sanitizer stations, and protection such as masks. But the struggle had only begun and is going on still.

Currently, the migrant workers in Northwest Arkansas have a distrust of organized unions, due to the various languages among the workers and the inherent isolation from the Arkansas community, Venceremos has adopted a different successful organizing strategy learned from other worker’s-oriented organizations.

“Worker driven social responsibility model” consists of workers making contracts with the supply chain vendors and not their employers. Their working condition complaints go to these intermediaries requesting they be addressed to improve the quality and quantity of the product the vendors receive. This still requires a majority of workers to build a strong base for negotiation, however, it appears that supply chain vendors are more responsive to any problem which might impede their supply of products.

This new approach bears watching to see if it is a model that can be applied elsewhere. To read more, go to https://www.facebook.com/venceremosarkansas/

The post Another Way of Organizing appeared first on .

What kind of demands are they making? They’re making demands for more breaks, more hiring on Tyson’s part to make up of a lack of workers, less exposure to chemicals and more protections for workers in dangerous roles, as well as adjusting the line speed in the factory so as not to injure or wear out the workers. On top of that, they are staging a call to action for medical rights in Tyson. Tyson has a medical staff for injured workers, a staff they are forcing workers to report to. That staff is also telling workers they cannot report their injuries to any other practitioner not associated with Tyson. These are basic workers rights that Tyson is denying its workers. Rights that the Venceremos, headed by Magaly, are fighting to attain.

Who does the organizing? Organizing is done with the workers under Magaly’s leadership. The workers are in full agreement with the organizing and calls to action. It seems the workers have had enough abuse, and are more than willing to make a stand and demand rights they should rightfully have. Allies are welcome to support the movement, but the organizing is not done with allies. Organizing is done by and with the workers of the plant, while allies can help to put more pressure on Tyson.

This movement under Magaly shows her excellent leadership and organizing skills, and it reflects on women everywhere. It shows that women have just as much of a role in organizing, if not more so, as men do. It shows how powerful women are in the labor movements. The workers have had enough at Tyson, and Magaly’s leadership is showing them they deserve more.

The post Venceremos and Tyson appeared first on .

How did we lose our voice? History tells us we were once equal partners, equal leaders, and respected for our knowledge. How did that slip through our hands?

This last year has revealed to us all how our resources and infrastructure have been neglected, (while the wealthy top 1% have succeeded in pocketing billions of dollars), to the point that any crisis can topple the “safety net” that we expected our government to deliver. Why did we expect them to deliver? Because they told us so.

It is okay to be cynical towards all our elected officials. It is not okay to do “nothing”. Change our representatives, fight “Daddy Warbucks”, get us out of this perennial War Economy, where producing bombs is a top priority and human services, housing, and transportation have no funding.

We must step out of our family group and connect with larger and larger groups. We are half of the world population with no voice on how this planet is managed. We are also the caregivers of the future and our responsibility towards all the children in the world is on our shoulders, which we fully embrace.

If ever there was a time to organize, to reach out to like-minded people, it is now. The grandiose Institutions that have locked us out of participating in the bounty of our productivity, not theirs, are now being threatened by our grumblings and our protests. Not only do we protest against their defunding our most important infrastructure projects in favor of more “profitable” ventures for them, but their use of tyranny and violence against the very people that elected them!

Check out the Resources Tab. Join us, or choose one of the many links to other organizations to join. Some of those listed have been in existence for many years and have led the fight for us.

The post How Did We Lose Our Voice? appeared first on .