Adam Keller, Co-host of The Valley Labor Report, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the annual Alabama Arise meeting and how the Arise staff received voluntary recognition to become Communication Workers of America (CWA) members.
Alabama Arise is a statewide, nonprofit, nonpartisan coalition fighting for a better Alabama for poor and working-class residents. Its mission is to improve state policy for those marginalized by poverty, as the organization believes the causes of poverty are systemic and shaped by the actions and inactions of policymakers. According to Keller, the organization has a membership base of over 1,700 individuals and 150 member groups, which range from churches and congregations to nonprofits and civic groups to Local Unions and Central Labor Councils.
Keller discussed the annual Alabama Arise meeting, which took place on Sept. 28. He said the annual meeting normally gives the membership an opportunity to prioritize issues for the upcoming year. However, this meeting was different because there were no new issues proposed. Instead, Keller explained that the membership discussed different strategies and approaches within their existing priorities. The meeting also allowed them to learn about all Alabama Arise’s activities over the past year and discuss possible legislative battles they anticipate in the 2025 state legislative session.
Two permanent Arise agenda items are tax reforms to build a more just and sustainable system and adequate budgets for all public services, said Keller. He noted that items added to the meeting’s agenda over the past few years include voter rights, criminal justice reform -- especially the parole system and elimination of the death penalty -- investments in maternal and infant healthcare and public transportation.
He also spoke about Alabama Arise voluntarily recognizing its staff’s organizing efforts to join the CWA.
To hear more about Alabama Arise and its annual meeting, listen to the episode above.
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