What is a Worker Center?

A worker center is a non-profit organization designed to support workers without being an official worker union. While it does not enjoy the benefits of being an official union, it also does not suffer from the restrictions placed on these organizations. Like WC@SU, most worker centers work hand-in-hand with unions so that they may support one another.

Why chose a Worker Center for Stout?

The formation of a worker center was motivated by many different factors:

• The existing unions at Stout create artificial barriers between different classes of workers. We want to support all workers, regardless of their union status.
• In the state of Wisconsin, government worker unions do not have the right to collectively bargain so that benefit of being a union is non-existent here.
• Without the benefit of collective bargaining, the dues collected by unions are seen as a barrier to membership even when they provide other benefits.
• Dues paid to state unions are spent mostly at the state or national level, not at our local level.

As a worker center, we can focus our efforts, support everyone without creating conflict among the various local unions, charge significantly lower dues, and spend our money locally. We hope that this will increase engagement and participation among all workers at Stout!

Return to Home