All posts by Murphy Institute

Marketplace Features Prof. Milkman On Organizing During a Recession

The conventional wisdom states that recessions are terrible times to organize. During the Great Recession, union membership continued to decline, while public approval of unions reached a low. But, in a recent piece on APM’s Marketplace, Prof. Ruth Milkman explained that there’s an exception to this rule:

But in this recession, we’ve lost three times as many jobs in just the last few months.

“This is on so much grander a scale,” said Milkman. “And that’s more like the ’30s. That’s the only time in the 20th century when the crisis was this deep.”

It was the severity of the Great Depression that helped give rise to the biggest surge in organizing this country has ever seen.

“There are some very important lessons to be learned from what was definitely an uphill battle in the 1930s,” said Lizabeth Cohen, a historian at Harvard University and author of “Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939.”

The union movement was all but dead at the beginning of the Great Depression, said Cohen. Membership was, like today, at historic lows. But the economic pain of the Depression was so deep that it unified Americans in anger, especially the masses of unemployed.

And it was in that moment of anger, hunger and need that the organized labor movement coalesced to become a force of change that transformed the economy. Listen to the full segment here.

Public Domain photo via Wikimedia.

Graduate Analyst, Karp Strategies, NYC

Karp Strategies is an urban planning strategy consulting firm that builds stronger communities and thriving cities. We partner with our cross-sector clients to identify their unique needs and provide tailored solutions. We take analysis to action to allow our clients to make better decisions – and ultimately, to build stronger communities and better cities. We deeply value our holistic analytic methods, and maintain strong core values that equity and upside can go hand in hand when working on planning and development projects. We work on projects around the country, with projects currently underway or starting across the NYC region, Atlanta, and greater Boston. Our team works at the sweet spot where data, people, and place intersect: we strive to understand what drives change in places, and how people, businesses, and institutions exist and can thrive within that change.

Karp Strategies celebrated five years in June 2020, and we’ve grown tremendously since inception from one person to a team of 14. Due to COVID-19, we are working remotely through 2020 with the hopes of returning to our offices in Manhattan’s Financial District in 2021. This position will be fully remote, with access to tools to ensure great remote work, and could change to in-office in 2021 if safety and health circumstances change. We value and celebrate diversity and inclusion in our team. Karp Strategies is active in the field: our team members are involved with APA-NY’s Urban Design and Diversity Committees, ABNY, IEDC, NYBC, CoreNet, OHNY, RPA, Coro, ULI….let’s just say we are plugged into the action and keep our finger on the pulse.

With current projects ranging from economic and community development planning initiatives to stakeholder analysis and engagement, from infrastructure feasibility and resiliency studies to real estate advisory, Karp Strategies is working with many of the industry’s most dynamic partner firms and clients on pressing, timely challenges facing the country, region, and our city.

As our company kicks off additional projects, we seek to meet thinkers and doers interested in joining us who care as much about urban change and neighborhoods as we do. Karp Strategies is actively interviewing for a PT Graduate Analyst (Graduate Student Intern). Graduate Analysts support projects through research and writing, data analysis and visualization, engagement/facilitation support, and through supporting business development and marketing initiatives.

Learn more about this position and how to apply here.

Lead Organizers and Online-to-Field Organizers, Athena

Athena and ILSR are looking for an organizer to support and develop the leadership of small businesses and consumers to win policy changes that check Amazon’s outsized power and address rising corporate concentration across the economy.

Athena is growing a high-impact field support team, recruiting both Lead Organizers and Online-to-Field Organizers to support the coalition’s mission and its members.

This position is housed at an Athena member, the Institute for Local Self Reliance. The position reports day-to-day to Athena’s campaign director and is focussed on developing the small business organizer program at ILSR, with support and guidance from ILSR staff, and the consumer organizing program at Athena.

This position is national and can be either remote & based anywhere, or (post-Covid) based in one of ILSR’s offices in Washington, D.C., Minneapolis, or Portland, Maine.

About Athena — Athena works on delivering democracy by taking on a primary impediment to a democracy that represents us all and an economy that works for everyone: Amazon.com. We are a growing coalition of local, state-wide, and national organizations tackling the corporation’s nefarious size, power, scope and operations, in particular: antimonopoly remedies; local and regional governance; data abuse, especially the racism of surveillance technologies; environmental and climate (in)justices; and working conditions. More about our coalition is at www.athenaforall.org  

About the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) — ILSR is a national research and advocacy organization working to reverse corporate concentration and advance policies to rebuild the economic power and capacity of local communities. Our work illuminates the public policy decisions that have fueled concentration at the expense of local businesses, working people, and communities. It also shows how we can change the rules to create a more equitable, sustainable, and democratic future. We partner closely with a broad range of allies to move these ideas and policies. More at www.ilsr.org

Job Responsibilities: We are seeking an online-to-field organizer focussed in two groups, small business and consumers to:

  • Build a broad base and strong leadership of small business owners affected by Amazon and other monopolistic company business practices to accomplish the goals of ILSR, support one another, and advance policy and industry change campaigns through ILSR and Athena. This is an online-to-field organizing model that includes online social media communities, peer to peer texting, and field outreach.
  • Coordinate and develop an existing table of leaders of local and national small business organizations.
  • Develop and build leadership committees to drive small business public policy campaigns through an inclusive process that develops their organizing and advocacy skills, generates bold actions, moves policymakers and educates the public.
  • Build a broad base and strong leadership of people who shop at or are affected by Amazon’s business practices to accomplish the goals of the Athena coalition, to support each other, to enforce their rights, advance policy and industry change campaigns through Athena member organizations and the coalition overall. This is an online-to-field organizing model that includes online social media communities, peer to peer texting, and field outreach.
  • Work with ILSR staff and Athena staff to  organize actions, press events, and prepare communications materials such as testimony for public hearings, op-eds, and talking points.
  • Develop the leadership of people to share their stories with each other and publicly, with the media and online.
  • Participate in strategy development and planning to grow the organizing program and advance campaigns.
  • Build meaningful partnerships with community and policy allies to support campaigns, our members, and core organizing work.

Qualifications:   

  • Minimum 3 years organizing campaign experience, ideally with in person organizing and using digital strategies.
  • Strong writing, research and communication skills.
  • Strong listening, persuasion and facilitation skills.
  • Ability to relate to and work with diverse groups of people as well as an understanding of the daily challenges faced by low-income communities of color.
  • Ability to work independently, navigate obstacles, discern priorities, meet competing deadlines and handle multiple projects.
  • Strong database management skills that inform analysis of the base and strategy.
  • Familiarity with digital strategies and online to offline organizing is a plus.
  • Ability to work varied hours including nights, weekends and holidays.
  • Spanish fluency is a plus.

Salary Range: $46,000 to $65,000 annually depending on experience and location.

Position includes 100% employer-paid health plan (family coverage & you pay no premiums); generous vacation, holiday, and parental leave; and a retirement plan with a matching contribution. We are a dynamic and friendly team dedicated to making the world a better place. ILSR takes professional growth seriously.

ILSR is deeply committed to equity and inclusion. We’re an equal opportunity employer, and we strongly encourage people of color, people with disabilities, women, non-binary candidates, and LGBTQIA+ candidates to apply.

APPLY HERE

Event: Police Unionism in the Times of #BlackLivesMatter (8/5)

Join us for a special *live* recording of City Works on the pressing issues of police unionism, policing reform, and the Movement for Black Lives. Following the program, panelists will take audience questions.

Host:

Laura Flanders – Host & Executive Producer, The Laura Flanders Show

Guest Speakers:

Evelyn DeJesus – Executive Vice President, American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO

Terry Melvin – President, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists

David Unger – Author, “Which Side Are We On: Can Labor Support #BlackLivesMatter & Police Unions?” (New Labor Forum – July 2020); Coordinator, Labor Studies & Labor Relations Programs at CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies

* The Zoom link to the live event will be shared in the registration confirmation email and subsequent reminder emails. *

Lead Organizer, Green Workers Alliance

The Green Workers Alliance is a project of the Partnership for Working Families that will organize current and potential workers in green jobs. Together, we win a green stimulus big enough to take on the twin crises of environmental injustice and economic inequality that have been particularly devastating in Black and brown communities.  We are a strong worker-led voice supporting the Green New Deal, a Just Transition and the fight against structural racism in the workforce.  We will be organizing initially online and on the ground in Virginia in the near future.

We are seeking a Lead Organizer to engage in experimental organizing during this time and eventually build out our field staff.

In this moment of history we see our work as being vital to organize not just those currently employed in the green sector but also some of the millions of newly jobless and underemployed workers to demand a massive green stimulus. This must include access to green jobs and paid training for everyone, with an emphasis on reducing the huge income disparities between white workers and workers of color, especially African American workers.

Responsibilities

The Lead Organizer will head up our organizing efforts to build a membership base, develop leadership, and ensure that member voices are leading on our decision making and campaign work.  The Lead Organizer is the one who ensures that we are building a mass-based organization.  The ideal Lead Organizer will have a mix of both worker organizing and digital experience.  The Lead Organizer is responsible for engaging in outreach experiments to green workers and those who aspire to work in the field.  Responsibilities include:

  • Solicit membership through a combination of on-line and eventually workplace and home visits.
  • Develop organizing skills of members.
  • Identify, recruit, train and develop leaders.
  • Develop various communication systems to effectively reach members and providers.
  • Work to build coalitions with environmental, labor and community organizations.
  • Mobilize, turn out and engage membership
  • Train and supervise new organizers
  • Help co-create the internal participatory membership engagement processes
  • Co-create and scale up the digital organizing strategy.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

  • At least five years of experience in organizing and management
  • Spanish fluency strongly preferred
  • Campaign planning experience, both labor and community side
  • Ability to lead a diverse team
  • Experience working through a racial equity lens
  • Ability to both think creatively and implement effectively.
  • Work effectively in team settings, as well as independently.
  • Effectively prioritize and multi-task assignments and responsibilities.
  • Willingness to work long and irregular hours, often including nights and weekends.
  • Willingness to travel, as soon as it is safe to do so.
  • Must possess a valid driver’s license, auto insurance that covers business driving, and an automobile for business use.

Compensation and Location

This is a full-time position. We offer a competitive starting salary at $55,000 to $72,000 (depending on experience) and generous benefits, including covering full health benefit premiums (health, dental and vision) and a 401k plan with an employer contribution

The position will ideally be located in Northern Virginia, but we will consider exceptional candidates who are located elsewhere.

To Apply

Please send a letter of interest, resume, and a list of 3-4 professional references including at least one supervisor. Send all application materials to  and include “Lead Organizer Position” in the subject line. No phone calls, please. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

The Partnership for Working Families is an equal opportunity employer and committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. We strongly encourage and seek applications from women and gender non-binary people, people of color including bilingual and bicultural individuals, as well as members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities. We do not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender/gender identity, marital status, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status.

SLU Student Spotlight: Sima Petilli, LEAP to Teacher

Sima Petilli, a special-needs educator and participant in SLU’s LEAP-to-Teacher program who recently earned her master’s degree at Lehman College, was not going to let anything stand in her way of becoming a certified teacher – not even the sudden, mid-semester transition to working, studying, and full-time parenting from home in response to COVID-19, all while also preparing for the edTPA, a challenging certification exam requiring prospective teachers to submit a portfolio of lesson plans, videos, and written responses.

“It’s very easy to get confused and overwhelmed, but in reality, the edTPA is like a wave. You ride from one wave to another,” Sima said of her experience tackling the different portions of the test.

Originally from Russia, Sima first came to the U.S. when she was 13 years old and then moved to Israel to complete her undergraduate studies. She returned to the States afterward to pursue a career in public relations as a Conference Director. But when the company went bankrupt, she realized she wanted a completely different lifestyle. For the past three years, Sima has worked as a special needs preschool teacher in Manhattan, and loves it.

“You never know what could happen during a lesson!” she exclaimed gleefully. “This was a big shift in my career and I’m very happy with my decision.” Read more about Sima.