MISSION

Fuerza Laboral builds the power of workers. Our mission is to strengthen workers’ ability to improve their economic opportunities and workplace conditions through education, training, and organizing. We help workers address wage violations, advocate for stronger worker protections, and develop worker-owned cooperatives that create pathways to living-wage employment and greater economic stability.

We believe workers bring valuable firsthand knowledge to the challenges they face and should have a meaningful role in shaping solutions that strengthen their workplaces, families, and communities.

WHO WE ARE

Member Leaders

First and foremost, Fuerza Laboral is its members.

Our guiding philosophy is that those who experience economic injustice firsthand should lead the struggle for justice. Workers understand labor exploitation and the systems that perpetuate it because they experience them directly. They are therefore best positioned to identify solutions, lead change, and build a more just and equitable economy.

Fuerza's members not only participate but also facilitate meetings, communicate with the media, prepare other workers for actions, make strategic decisions regarding campaigns, and represent our organization to legislators and decision-makers. In short, they take the lead in every aspect of our organization.

Worker-Owned Cooperatives

As a Worker-Owned Cooperative Incubator, Fuerza Laboral trains and supports workers to build their own cooperative business that operates with justice and fairness. We also assist existing businesses in transitioning to worker-owned co-ops. We link co-ops together in a supportive network to shift the way business is done in our communities. We call it the Solidarity Economy.

The following co-ops are part of the Rhode Island network (click on the icons below for website links):