Fifty years ago, almost one in three American workers were union members; today only one in ten are, with the South representing some of the largest declines. Southern working conditions, rooted in racial capitalism, have a dampening effect on the entire wage structure and union power throughout the country. The anti-union stranglehold on the South has long been a major obstacle to expanding working class power in the United States broadly, from right-to-work laws, political interventions by elected officials, racialized strike breaking, and more. The recent United Auto Workers push to organize the Southern auto industry could be a breakthrough for the entire labor movement — but it isn’t the only organizing front currently burgeoning in the South. A new generation of union and social justice activists are contesting corporate power with new and exciting efforts, focused on uniting the multi-racial working class into a potent force not seen in decades. With Trump returning to office and a shifting political terrain underway, what do these organizing fronts and campaigns offer for working class solidarity and how can they continue to grow with the momentum they've gained?

Join DSA's National Political Education Committee on Thursday, December 12th at 4 pm PT / 7 pm ET for a panel discussion with Ben Carroll, Sherman Henry, Ashaki Binta, and Amanda Rivera to report on campaigns, challenges, and prospects for breakthroughs ahead, including a QnA session at the end of the call.

Ben Carroll lives in Durham, NC and is the Organizing Coordinator for the Southern Workers Assembly. The purpose of the Southern Workers Assembly is to organize rank-and-file workers to achieve a level of worker power through building organization in all kinds of workplaces, uniting them in assemblies, and exercising sufficient power through collectively bargaining contracts with employers, workplace mobilizations, labor and community solidarity, and independent political action.

Sherman Henry is the Director of Jobs With Justice's Labor Center for Advancing Black Strategists Initiative in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and advisory committee member to the Advancing Black Strategists Initiative. ABSI has a vision to create a cohort of Black economic justice and labor-focused strategists committed to leading, developing, and advancing policies and campaigns that support the collective power-building of working people, particularly in the South.

Ashaki Binta is a veteran organizer and freedom fighter in the Black Freedom Movement. She is a member of the Black Workers for Justice, having served in various areas of responsibility over the years including: Editor of Justice Speaks; founding organizer of the BWFJ Women’s Commission; Director of Organization; and International Director. She currently serves as National Organizer of the National Black Liberation Movement (NBLM) National Unity Initiative.

Amanda Rivera is a rank-and-file Starbucks Workers United organizer and DSA member based in Atlanta Georgia.