Statements

February 6, 2017

Becoming Unstoppable: Addressing Classism in the World & in our Movement

The Southern Maine Workers’ Center is an organization building a grassroots movement for human rights. We approach our work with the fundamental belief that working class and poor people “employed or not “know how the American economy works, because it works on top of them.  In order to create a more just economy we know…

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Jobs

October 12, 2016

We’re hiring! Join our Work With Dignity Committee as a part time organizer.

JOB DESCRIPTION This is a part time (20 hours a week) organizer position within the Southern Maine Worker Center (SMWC)’s Work With Dignity Committee. The Work With Dignity (WWD) Committee is SMWC’s worker and workplace organizing wing. We aim to help workers identify, create, and implement economic justice campaigns and programs that represent their priorities….

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Members

July 29, 2016

“Everywhere we go/people want to know/ who we are/ so we tell them…”

“Everywhere we go/people want to know/ who we are/ so we tell them…” Ronald Flannery, HCHR Organizer, Southern Maine Workers’ Center  July 23, 2016 “Everywhere we go/people want to know/ who we are/ so we tell them…” Ronald Flannery, HCHR Organizer, Southern Maine  Workers’  Center   July 23, 2016 While travelling from the RNC to the DNC…

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Statements

June 16, 2016

Who Doesn’t Love a Cheesy Metaphor?

You may have noticed that we at the Southern Maine Workers’ Center enjoys a metaphor almost as much as we enjoy a good pun. This year at our Annual Meeting we honored some of our incredible partner organizations with “Community Pollinator Awards” for their work bringing people and communities together to create change. We also…

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Jobs

May 17, 2016

We’re hiring a part time organizer for our Health Care is a Human Right campaign

We’re hiring! SMWC is looking for a part time organizer for our Health Care is a Human Right campaign. At SMWC we believe that a health care system treated as a public good and based on the human rights principles is a fundamental step toward economic and racial justice in our communities. We’re organizing a…

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Jobs

May 17, 2016

We’re hiring! SMWC is looking for a part time organizer for our Health Care is a Human Right campaign

We’re hiring! SMWC is looking for a part time organizer for our Health Care is a Human Right campaign.  At SMWC we believe that a health care system treated as a public good and based on the human rights principles is a fundamental step toward economic and racial justice in our communities. We’re organizing a…

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StatementsHealthcare

April 21, 2016

SMWC Joins Call for Portland to #SaveIndiaStreet

SMWC Joins Call for Portland to #SaveIndiaStreet Health Care is a Human Right. This is an undisputable truth. Yet, we live in a nation and a state that daily denies people access to necessary and quality health care services, based primarily on income. The Southern Maine Workers’ Center (SMWC) organizes for a truly universal, publicly-funded…

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MembersWorkers

January 5, 2016

Guest Blog: Catholic Teachings and Workplace Justice

What Catholics Believe: The Seventh Commandment, Part 2 Do Not Steal; Treat Workers Justly By Father Michael J Seavey Reprinted from The Harvest: The Magazine of the Catholic Diocese of Portland January/February 2016, p.10 If we were to see a story on workplace theft, we might imagine an armed robbery with masked intruders emptying the…

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Statements

December 14, 2015

#RefugeesWelcome (our statement of solidarity)

(On November 25th, 2015, the Southern Maine Workers’ Center wrote the following statement as a show of support for Syrian and other refugees. Many things have happened between that time and now, however the urgency remains. Thank you to our members for reading this message of solidarity and to Ali Mann for making the video.)…

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Members

December 10, 2015

From Portland to Paris: It Takes Roots to Weather the Storm

From Portland to Paris: It Takes Roots to Weather the Storm A report from SMWC’s Meaghan LaSala from the COP 21 in Paris, France At the Southern Maine Workers’ Center, we use a framework of human rights to help us envision the world we are building toward. We are organizing a broad based movement for…

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MembersWorkers

July 31, 2015

Why we need a universal wage: Heather shares her story about tipped work

On July 20th, members of SMWC’s Work With Dignity Committee attended the Portland City Council’s workshop session on tipped credit and the new minimum wage ordinance. The ordinance needs to meaningfully include tipped workers by raising their base wage (the amount the employer actually pays hourly), as well as the minimum wage they have to earn up to once…

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StatementsWorkers

July 14, 2015

Universality: Tipped Workers and the New Minimum Wage

Portland’s Municipal Minimum Wage is Strengthened by the Inclusion of Tipped Workers As many people have heard, Portland City Council is backing away from the minimum wage ordinance they passed on Monday, because it calls for a raise in the base wages of tipped workers. Our Work With Dignity Committee, which has advocated for increased…

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