September 17, 2020
Fighting against wage theft is how Workers’ Dignity got started more than 10 years ago, and wage theft campaigns are still a central part of our work. These campaigns are where many workers learn the organizing skills they need to take on bigger industry fights, and they give volunteers places to plug in to support worker-led organizing. Wage theft volunteers, or promoters, support workers by providing translation and interpretation, accompanying workers through delegations, letter-writing campaigns, and direct actions, and by building community support networks. Worker exploitation was bad before the pandemic, and it has only continued now as bosses are trying to speed up work and squeeze an extra buck from workers who are putting their literal lives on the line. Our need for volunteer support is growing. Here, Armando’s volunteer team shares a snapshot of what it’s like to support a campaign. Read through to the end to find out how you can get involved!
On a clear February morning Armando showed up with enough snacks and atole to feed five thousand, though there were just a handful of us participating in the action. We were headed to Chapel Hill, a small town about an hour south of Nashville that’s home to Rick Daughrity, president and founder of Orion Building Corporation. Metro Nashville Public Schools contracted with Orion to renovate McMurray Middle School. As a part of the renovations, Armando and his team completed concrete work at the school, but they were never paid. After months of pressuring the school board to act—filling their inboxes, packing their meetings, protesting outside their building—Armando decided we should turn our attention to Orion. Because Orion was refusing to communicate with Armando, we planned an action in Rick’s hometown to share with his friends and neighbors about his complicity in wage theft.
The month before the action, our team spent several hours discussing our long-term strategy and making a plan for escalation. Workers’ Dignity values process. Our team follows Armando’s guidance and makes decisions together. Before the action, we assigned roles for the day, connected with community members near Chapel Hill to learn more about the area, made a plan to keep everyone safe, created materials to distribute, contacted the media, and invited friends to join us.
That day we posted a few hundred flyers around town and spoke with Rick’s neighbors and extended family. Afterward we debriefed over food. The action in Chapel Hill showed Orion that they cannot ignore us and expect us to go away. Armando has still not been paid, and our work as a team continues. Supporting a campaign is not always glamorous, and Workers’ Dignity doesn’t claim easy victories. La lucha sigue.
When we first walked into wage theft night last year, we had no idea what to expect. That night Armando and everyone we met made us feel like we belonged. They invited us into a community of people who come together over shared struggles, challenge exploitative bosses and unjust systems, and care for each other. Supporting Armando has given us a glimpse of what it means to act in solidarity. Participating in direct action has allowed us to challenge hierarchical institutions without recourse to these same systems of domination. More than that, it has given us a new awareness of ourselves as individuals within a community who are building the Nashville we want to live in, together. Dignidad vive!
Want to be a part of the Workers’ Dignity community and support workers like Armando in their fight for justice? Become a wage theft promoter! We are looking for volunteers who can speak conversational or fluent Spanish to support our wage theft program. Email rachel@workersdignity.org if you are interested. If you want to get involved but do not speak Spanish, stay tuned for a general volunteer orientation this fall. There’s a place for everyone in our movement to build worker power!