Eric Blanc, Assistant Professor, Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers University, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC).
Blanc, who researches new workplace organizing, digital labor activism, strikes and working-class politics, is also an EWOC trainer. He explained that EWOC is a partnership between the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America (UE).
EWOC, he said, was created during the pandemic to help union workers find personal protective equipment and develop workplace safety protocols. When the pandemic ended, EWOC became a grassroots organizing program to support workers who wanted to organize their workplace.
Blanc said many Local Unions do not have the staff to support new organizing campaigns. He noted this is where EWOC can help. Within 72 hours of contacting the organization, an EWOC representative reaches out to that worker and walks them through the organizing steps. He then explained those steps and how they train workers to organize successfully.
Over the past four years, over 1,000 EWOC volunteers have helped more than 5,000 people who reached out to them. In 2023, EWOC was involved in 23 campaigns that led to the unionization of roughly 7,000 workers. Blanc said both Local and International Unions have contacted EWOC to implement their model within their union. He also said anyone who wants to become an EWOC volunteer can reach out through their website.
For more EWOC, please listen to the show above.