The Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee: A New Model for Worker-Led Organizing.

The article discusses the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) as a new model for worker-led organizing. It highlights the obstacles faced by workers in the United States who want a union but do not have one, both externally and internally within the labor movement. The EWOC model focuses on lowering unionization costs through volunteer organizers, utilizing digital tools, and spreading worker power. The article explains how EWOC was founded and its mission to support immediate fightbacks and worker-initiated unionization. It also emphasizes the importance of planting organizing seeds widely, supporting any worker who wants to organize, and relying on volunteers. The article concludes by discussing the limitations of EWOC and the potential for its model to be adopted by larger unions and organizations. The text discusses the concept of "seeding" in labor organizing, which involves providing organizing tools and support to as many workers as possible in order to increase the number of union drives and campaigns. This approach is seen as a necessary innovation in today's decentralized economy, where workers are spread out across small establishments. The text argues that unions should adopt a more proactive and ambitious approach to organizing, saying yes to all workers seeking organizing help and relying more on volunteers rather than paid staff. The text highlights the success of organizations like EWOC and the NewsGuild in implementing this approach and calls for the labor movement as a whole to embrace these strategies. [Extracted from the article]