Worker Rights

Over the last half-century, union membership in the United States has dropped precipitously, as manufacturers relocated overseas and the growing service economy has resisted most efforts at worker organizing. Despite contributing to record levels of productivity and corporate profits, American workers have seen virtually no change in their compensation since the 1970s, while economic inequality has soared. Unsurprisingly, workers have grown sick of this state of affairs and are fighting back. Philanthropy can help. A newly energized labor movement is rising, with workers successfully organizing at Starbucks cafés and Amazon warehouses, while unionized workers like teachers and truck drivers are striking at rates not seen in decades. Funders interested in supporting and advancing workers’ rights can give to nonprofits doing policy advocacy as well as nonprofits building and supporting grassroots workers’ movements. This guide offers advice about how donors can make a difference in this area. It highlights leading philanthropic strategies and offers guidance for donors new to this space to get started with their giving.  

Strategies for Impact

Nonprofits are engaged in a range of efforts related to workers’ rights. All this work is important and could benefit from greater donor support. Below, we discuss areas where donors might focus their funding and spotlight organizations that represent the kind of nonprofits that donors might consider supporting.   

• Support grassroots worker organizing. The main challenge confronting American workers is a lack of power, and the most effective way for workers to gain power is by coming together and taking collective action. This is the basis on which workers can form unions, leading to collective bargaining and greater leverage in negotiating with their employers. Today, there are grassroots workers’ rights nonprofits across the country organizing and advocating for groups that have been underrepresented in the traditional labor union system, including immigrants and women of color. Because these groups don’t have formal union dues to fund their work, they depend on donor support. Notable nonprofits include the National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and the Jobs With Justice Education Fund.

• Fund public policy advocacy and research. Federal and state governments exercise huge power over labor rights and worker conditions, and donors can influence these policies by supporting advocacy and research on issues like wages, collective bargaining rights and more. Progressive, worker-focused think tanks and policy centers in this important fight include the Economic Policy Institute, Center for Economic and Policy Research and National Employment Law Project (NELP). Likewise, a strong labor movement will inevitably be forced to deal with a federal court system that has become increasingly hostile to workers in the last several decades. Organizations like Demand Justice and People’s Parity Project advocate for a more worker-centric view of the law. 

• Give to groups fighting for pro-worker policies at the state and local levels. While there is a growing national movement around labor, legislation focused on workers’ rights has repeatedly been blocked at the federal level. A number of cities and states, however, have advanced exciting new laws in recent years in areas including higher wages, expanded worker protections and stronger regulations of abusive employers. This includes states like California, where a united Democratic legislature and governor have passed legislation laying the groundwork for sectoral bargaining, as well as more conservative states like Arkansas, where voters approved a minimum wage increase via ballot initiative in 2018. One of the best-known national groups in this area is One Fair Wage, which leads campaigns at the state and local levels to increase wages and eliminate subminimum wages. Another prominent national organization is the Fairness Project, which supports a variety of state and municipal ballot initiatives throughout the country.

Insights and Advice

In considering which impact strategies to support, donors should take into account their personal interests and outlook to find the best fit. They should also keep an eye out for emerging opportunities to give with maximum impact for workers’ rights. Here, we offer a few insights and suggestions:

• Don’t go it alone. Intermediaries and philanthropy-serving organizations can do a huge amount of the leg work of identifying opportunities in the field, and getting involved with one of these groups is a great way for donors to save time and give more effectively. Notable groups include The LIFT Fund, which focuses on helping workers organize, particularly in the South; ReWork the Bay, a funders table focused on worker empowerment in the California Bay Area, Economic Opportunity Funders, Funders Organized for Rights in the Global Economy (FORGE) and Funders for a Just Economy.

• Be informed about the limitations on philanthropic support of unions. The most important and effective groups in the fight for workers’ rights are off limits for many funders. Foundations, for instance, cannot give to labor unions, while individual donations to unions are not tax deductible. Individual donors can still choose to make non-tax-deductible contributions to groups such as the Amazon Labor Union and the Solidarity Fund for Starbucks Workers, or can make charitable contributions to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations like those listed above.

• Center diversity, equity and inclusion. Struggles for workers’ rights are deeply intertwined with struggles for racial justice, gender equality and all forms of social justice. Further, the low-wage workforce today is different from what it was when unions were at their height. Labor movements, too, are changing. More labor groups have adopted social justice frameworks and are approaching organizing through an intersectional lens. Some workers’ rights funders focus on issues like workplace safety for women and LGBTQIA+ people, or the intersections between racial justice and economic justice. 

• Embrace growth and change in the labor movement. Much of the labor movement of the 20th century revolved around manufacturing, but with the transformation of the U.S. into a service economy, sectors like food service, healthcare and gig work are becoming ground zero for organizing. There has also been an uptick in organizing among professionals such as journalists, tech workers, employees of nonprofit organizations and academics. 

• Consider the nonprofit workforce. Funders interested in workers’ rights may want to think about staff wages at the nonprofits they support — whether at workers’ rights organizations or in any other area you fund. As IP has reported, too many nonprofit jobs are still underpaid and unsustainable. This is partly a result of a historic tendency of funders to not want to fund “overhead” — which includes staffing costs — even though staff literally drive and implement all of the important programs funders support. Giving general operating support that nonprofits can use for staff expenses is one way to improve wages and conditions for the people who work at the nonprofits you support. 

For Donors Getting Started

Donors who are new to this space should take the time to learn about the landscape. A good place to start is by reading IP’s State of American Philanthropy brief on Giving for Workforce Development and Workers’ Rights. In addition, peruse recent articles that IP has published about what’s happening in this area of philanthropy. Another resource for donors who want to deepen their understanding of this area is labor-focused media such as More Perfect Union and Labor Notes. 

But the best way to get started giving for workers’ rights is to make some initial gifts, get to know the work of the groups you’re supporting, and connect early with a funding intermediary that can help you learn more about this giving area and increase your giving in a thoughtful way.

Have suggestions for improving this brief? Please email us at editor@insidephilanthropy.com.