EventsWorker Rights

November 28th, 2023

Wage Empowerment Workshop

For months, Work With Dignity and Political Ed Committee members have been working towards a workers’ rights & organizing training focusing on wage theft, which is one of the biggest problems we’ve seen workers struggle with in Southern Maine in the past few years. It’ll cover common types of wage theft + how we can protect ourselves…

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Statements

October 27, 2023

The Fight Against Israeli Apartheid Is A Fight For Freedom For Us All

SMWC stands with Palestine and all people around the world who are taking to the streets, airwaves, and halls of power to demand an immediate ceasefire in Israel/Palestine, and an immediate end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Demanding a ceasefire comes from an immediate need to stop the loss of life, both Palestinian and Israeli. The…

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Events

October 19th, 2023

Pumpkin Carving Party

You’re invited to SMWC’s Pumpkin Carving Party on Thursday, October 19 @ 5:30-7:30pm at 56 North St. in Portland. Another fun time brought to you by SMWC’s Membership Committee! 👻 Capitalism is scary 😧 but collective organizing scares the capitalists, and that’s what we’re all about! Come one, come all, bring the kids, costumes encouraged!…

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Events

October 3rd, 2023

Caring Is Creepy: A Halloween-themed Zine-making Party

On Tuesday, October 3rd from 5:30-7, join our Political Education Committee for CARING IS CREEPY!!! a Halloween-themed zine-making party to explore and create art about the spooky horrors of care work in this terrifying economy! 😱 What to expect from a zine party:casual time to talk about work, spooky things, and whatever is on our…

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Events

August 31st, 2023

Karaoke Night 🎤 🎶 Dreams Rising

Help us raise money for workers’ rights and the futures we dream of! What does the community of your dreams look like?  We want to build it together!  Don’t miss the biggest worker-centered, future-dreaming, community-building night of the year with the Worker’s Center on Thursday, August 31st at 7pm with karaoke and other performances, celebration, fun and connection. Help…

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Jobs

March 8, 2023

Request for Proposals: Event Organizer for the Annual Karaoke Fundraiser

Since 2018, SMWC has held a Karaoke (sometimes called “Care-aoke”) Fundraiser to bolster our grassroots fundraising efforts. Grassroots fundraising is key to the success of our organizing work, as it allows us the flexibility to be nimble and respond to crises in ways that foundation funding does not– and it brings more people into our orbit as donors and grassroots fundraisers.

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Press

January 9th, 2019

Letter to the editor: Maine lags its neighbors in offering paid sick leave

As someone who has gone without paid sick days at work, I understand how imperative it is that the state set a minimum standard for paid sick leave. Maine is one of only two states in New England that don’t require their employers to provide paid sick days. It is a shame how far behind we are on…

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EventsWorker Rights

September 8, 2022

Virtual Workers’ Rights Legal Clinic

The Southern Maine Workers’ Center partners with the Volunteer Lawyers Project to host a virtual Workers’ Rights Legal Clinic (WRLC) weekly on Thursday from 5-7pm over Zoom or phone. At the clinic, you can talk to a volunteer lawyer for a free half hour consultation. You can get advice on topics such as your legal rights at…

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NewsWorker RightsWorkers

June 10, 2022

SMWC Worker Support Hotline Pause June 10-September 5, 2022

The Southern Maine Workers’ Center is pausing our Worker Support Hotline from June 10-September 5 to focus on updating our WORK Manual, launching this year’s series of workers’ rights trainings, and reflecting on our hotline data to help us be more intentional about how our hotline can best support Maine workers. In the meantime, please check out…

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Events

March 2nd, 2022

The Non-profit Industrial Complex Study Session

The Political Education Committee presents… a one-time study session about the non-profit industrial complex, or the “NPIC!” based on the classic book, The Revolution Will Not Be Funded. The NPIC is “an unseen web of money and power that tries to undermine people’s struggles for racial, class, economic, gender and environmental justice” (Mumia Abu-Jamal). As organizers working…

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Press

February 7th, 2022

Portland to consider reinstating hazard pay for workers

The Portland City Council will discuss bringing back hazard pay on Monday. That would effectively raise the minimum wage for workers in the city. Hazard pay only took effect for a few days at the beginning of the new year but ended with the city’s state of emergency. The new amendment up for debate Monday night…

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PressCovid-19

February 4th, 2022

Pandemic calls for us to rethink impossible expectations of teachers

The role of the teacher in this crisis environment has been impossibly expansive: All at once, a teacher may have to serve as a student’s content expert, surrogate parent, social worker, mentor and tech support professional. Before vaccines were available, teachers were at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill from COVID-19. Yet teachers continued to assume…

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