Posts tagged Nonprofit Industry
Bigger Than Amazon Why Nonprofit Worker Unionizing Matters
June 13, 2022 // The growth of nonprofit worker organizing is one sector to watch for the slow resurgence of the labor movement. The unionization of nonprofits is the best way to defend public-sector workers, who have the highest rate of unionization. Unionized nonprofit workers make outsourcing and privatization more expensive and slow the further dismantling of the public sector. This is why unions such as IFPTE and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which have large numbers of members in public employment, find it necessary to support unionization in the nonprofit sector. Ultimately, continued organizing will be most effective coming from the bottom up. The fiery Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (NPEU) is the nonprofit equivalent of the Amazon Labor Union founded by Chris Smalls in Staten Island. NPEU was formed in 1998 when a group of workers at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) decided to unionize, and it remained small until the pandemic. Affiliated with the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE) Local 70, in the past four years, NPEU has grown a stunning 500%. Kaitlin Bell, NPEU communications chair and CLINIC Workers United member, told me recently, “Since 2018, NPEU has grown from 300 workers at 12 organizations to 1,300 workers at about 50 organizations.” unaccountable boards, ,outside funders,