Workers are under attack
An Escalation, Not a Surprise
Across the country and here in our own community, workers, immigrants, and everyday people are facing an unprecedented escalation of attacks on our rights, our dignity, and our ability to survive. These attacks may feel sudden, but they are not new. They are the predictable result of decades of attacks against the working class with the goal of denying us the rights and prosperity that our labor should guarantee us.
Labor Is the Backbone of Every Movement
History is clear on one truth: labor is the backbone of every successful justice movement. Whether the fight is for immigrant rights, racial justice, environmental protection, anti-war efforts, democracy, or resistance to authoritarianism, movements only win when the working class is organized and engaged. Not as individuals. Not as isolated activists. But as workers acting collectively.
The one form of power that billionaires, corporations, and corrupt politicians truly fear is the power of workers to withhold their labor and redirect their money. Every major gain for working people has come when labor was strong enough to disrupt business as usual and force change.
What We Lost and What We Must Rebuild
The danger we face today is not only the attacks themselves, it is that our movements no longer have the infrastructure needed to respond with real power. Protests alone cannot stop systems built on economic control. Moral outrage without organized worker power gets absorbed, ignored, or turned against us.
Rebuilding labor-centered movement infrastructure is no longer optional. It is the only path forward if we want to protect our communities, defend democracy, and win lasting change.
ESSN Jobs with Justice exits to help rebuild that power, by reconnecting unions with the broader working class, strengthening solidarity across movements, and building the community infrastructure necessary to support workers when they take collective action.
For more than 35 years our Network has been focused on building and maintaining the infrastructure needed to sustain movements on all fronts ESSN empowers member organizations to:
- Respond quickly and collectively to emerging threats, including union-busting, unfair labor practices, and political attacks on the working class and our community.
- Move beyond reactive organizing and build proactive campaigns that reshape the political, economic, and cultural landscape in favor of workers.
- Provide mutual aid and resource-sharing across the network to strengthen smaller or under-resourced member organizations.
- Create space for strategic dialogue, shared learning, and coordinated planning across movements and constituencies.
- Build deep, lasting solidarity among diverse organizations and individuals committed to collective liberation and class unity
In a time when many alliances are transactional and fleeting, ESSN is committed to cultivating lasting solidarity and building a base that can go on the offensive in the class struggle, not merely defend against it.
But we need You
We need the support of our labor unions, our grassroots organizations, faith groups, and student groups as well as individual activist, organizers, and unionists. Together, we can forge a permanent support structure rooted in the belief that our strength lies in unity, and our future depends on organizing not just for the crisis of today, but for the world we want to win tomorrow.
ESSN Jobs with Justice Mission:
To rebuild and maintain the movement infrastructure needed to bring together organizations and individuals as equal partners to support and defend the economic and political interests of working people and the economically oppressed.
Vision:
“Our vision is of a divers network infrastructure and collective power, to foster solidarity, and empower each member to achieve their goals, helping us to create a unified community that secures the rights of all working people and the economically oppressed.”
Core Values:
Solidarity – A commitment to mutual support and collective action. Solidarity means standing together, advocating for each other’s rights, and recognizing that shared struggles lead to shared victories. It emphasizes unity among workers, communities, and movements to create meaningful change.
Diversity – The recognition, inclusion, and celebration of differences in backgrounds, identities, and perspectives. Diversity strengthens organizations by fostering a range of ideas, experiences, and approaches, ensuring that all voices are heard and valued.
Respect – Treating others with dignity, fairness, and consideration. Respect requires listening, acknowledging different viewpoints, and engaging in dialogue with integrity. It promotes a culture where people feel safe, valued, and empowered.