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New Advocacy Organization Protects and Advances the Rights of Retail and Food Employees

Submitted on Tue, 03/11/2008 - 12:50pm

Disclaimer: Brandworkers International is not an official IWW project. members of the IWW participate in Brandworkers International.
For Immediate Release: Brandworkers International

Contact: press (at) brandworkers.org

March 6, 2008

New Advocacy Organization Protects and Advances the Rights of Retail and Food Employees

Brandworkers International Provides a Combination of Legal, Advocacy, and Organizing Support

New York, NY- Prompted by a transforming job market, workers' rights advocates have launched a non-profit organization to protect the rights of the increasing number of workers employed at retail and food chains. Based in New York, Brandworkers International links retail and food employees with concerned individuals to make positive change on the job and in the community. Over three hundred employment attorneys have already joined with Brandworkers to offer legal assistance to workers in need.

"Retail and food workers need an innovative organizational voice to face the variety of challenges posed by a globalized economy," said Brandworkers senior adviser Jennifer Gordon, a professor of labor law at Fordham Law School and a recipient of the MacArthur 'Genius' Fellowship for her leadership on low-wage worker issues. "By connecting under served employees with social change resources including lawyers, labor unions, and community groups, Brandworkers will help ensure that workers' rights are both protected and expanded."

Brandworkers has three major areas of operation:
  • Legal Defense-Plus connects retail and food employees with legal support and enables them to broadcast their voice in the public arena.
  • Brandworkers.org is an online resource for retail and food employees throughout the supply chain as well as communities concerned about the impact of the big brand corporations. Committed individuals can log on and sign up as volunteer Brandworkers Campaigners to propel change in their community. The Brandworkers Blog features news, views, and analysis on the retail and food sectors as well as workers' own voices from behind the brands.
  • Workplace Justice Campaigns combine class action lawsuits, union/community organizing, and public education to win improved wages and working conditions.
"Millions of people work at profitable multinational retail corporations, yet find themselves among the working poor," said Liza Featherstone, contributing editor at The Nation magazine and an expert on retail and fast food employment. "The low-wages, sub-par benefits, insecure work schedules, and intense hostility to union organizing common at the multinational retailers calls for just this kind of spirited action."
Brandworkers' mission is to empower retail and food employees with social change tools to increase employer compliance with the law and improve working conditions. It advocates for employees across the supply chain and across borders - from cash register to warehouse to production facility - to gain recognition for the economic, social, and cultural contributions of retail workers.

"Together, workers and community members have the power to make real change at the corporate chains," said Daniel Gross, the founding director of Brandworkers. "Join us at Brandworkers.org and help build the movement for brand justice."


Brandworkers does not accept corporate or government funds. Your financial support is indispensable to sustaining a voice for justice at the big brand corporations. Please make a contribution to Brandworkers today at http://www.Brandworkers.org/contribute.