About Us

MISSION

Fuerza Laboral builds the power of workers. Based in RI and founded in 2006, we are an organization of workers who organize to end labor exploitation. We educate and train workers in their rights, we develop new community leaders, and we take direct action against injustices to achieve concrete victories. We work together with state and national coalitions in order to create a larger impact.

BUILDING SHARED, LASTING POWER

Fuerza Laboral works to create an environment in which people who share a common problem can work together to solve it. Our members and staff inspire workers to expand their horizons. We ask probing questions, use storytelling to relate successes and challenges, and role-play new experiences so that workers feel thoroughly prepared for whatever task, be it a direct action, a press conference, or an interaction with the police.

ACTION IS THE LIFEBLOOD OF FUERZA

Shel Trapp, co-founder of National People’s Action (NPA) and a mentor to Fuerza Laboral, once said: "Out of every hundred people, maybe five will be ready to move into direct action. I go where those five want to go."

Not only does taking action lead to victory, but the victories that come from those actions inspire and embolden others.

Who We Are

Member Leaders

First and foremost, Fuerza Laboral is its members. We are a community-based organization, and seek to develop local leadership in everything we do.

Worker-Owned Cooperatives

As a Worker-Owned Cooperative Incubator, Fuerza Laboral trains and supports workers to build their own cooperative business that operate with justice and fairness. We also assist existing businesses in transitioning to worker-owned co-ops. We link all of these co-ops together in a supportive network to shift the way business is done in our communities. We call it the Solidarity Economy. The following co-ops are part of our network (click on the names or the icons below for website links):

LUNA Community Care, CERO Cooperative, Inc., RI Birthworker Co-op, White Electric Coffee Co-op, Heartleaf Books Co-op, Four Buds Floral Studio, Nuts and Bolts Nursery, PVD Flowers Co-op, CommonPlace, 3D Anatomy Studios, Break the Cycle Cooperative Hub, Sol Power

We are currently in the process of building a construction finishing trades (drywall, painting, flooring) co-op that will be a union signatory with IUPAT DC 11 Painters’ Union.