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By Lulit Shewan

The Southern U.S. has historically had the largest number of Black people in the workforce in the country. This is a region where workplace organizing faces hostile laws and employer power is emboldened. States in the South have some of the lowest rates of union coverage in the country, which means that a sizeable number of Black workers aren’t able to exercise their ability to organize in reprisal of their working conditions.

This issue is both historical and intentional. Low union density in the South is rooted in the ruling class of such states seeking to maintain the longstanding super-exploitation of Black labor following the end of slavery. While chattel slavery bound the enslaved to their masters across all colonies, the South’s agriculture-based economy put a particular premium on free Black labor to build the nation, enforced through extreme violence. This history is inextricably linked to the current state of the South. The same attitudes that harmed both the enslaved and their descendants can be found today in starvation wages, limited economic mobility, poor working conditions, and constrained organizing abilities.

Even as union membership grew in the industrial North, ultimately sparking the Great Migration of Black Southerners in the early- to mid-20th century, Southern powers remained resistant to unionization. Today, only 6 percent of all workers in the region are unionized. That is just one legacy of the region’s resistance; another is legislation that staunchly deters organization and demeans collective bargaining efforts. Such efforts have largely been enforced by the reign of “right-to-work” laws.

All states in the South have right-to-work legislation in effect, meaning that they prohibit union security agreements, which ensure that workers who are not in the union will contribute to the costs of union representation. Proponents of right-to-work laws claim that they protect workers against being forced to join a union, but the largely unspoken and intended effect of such laws are to tilt the balance toward corporations and employers, further rigging the system at the expense of working families.

Arkansas and Florida were the first two states to enact right-to-work laws in the 1940s. Christian Americans, who led the right-to-work campaign in its birthplace of Arkansas, were brazenly racist in their propaganda, warning that if the right to work amendment failed, “white women and white men will be forced into organizations with black African apes… whom they will have to call ‘brother’ or lose their jobs.” It is not coincidental that right-to-work first took root in the Jim Crow South; these laws are just one part of a complex web of calculated efforts to maintain the poverty and exploitation of Black people. The subjugation of the working class and Black communities has always had a place in the region, and those who live at its nexus suffer the most.

While a majority of Americans support unionization, companies continue to push back against organized labor, driving a decline in overall union density and stagnating union growth in the South. The power of these companies is bolstered by anti-worker policymakers aiming to maintain the symbiotic relationship between government and wealth-hoarding corporation entities—a relationship that entirely diminishes the value and self-determination of the Black worker.

Given that the political and legal structures of the South have always been designed to prevent workers from expressing even the most basic forms of power, the collective power built by Black workers within a historically exploited region remains steadfast and inherently undeterred by oppressive administrations and policies. Volkswagen workers in Chattanooga, Tennessee made history in April 2024 when workers voted to unionize with the United Auto Workers (UAW) by a landslide, after tirelessly organizing in one of the states most hostile to unions. Leading up to the vote, anti-worker policymakers such as Governor Bill Lee vehemently spoke out against the UAW’s drive to organize Southern factory workers, in an attempt to dissuade workers from voting. The union won with 73 percent of the vote.

The service sector in the South comprises some of the most challenging workplaces to build labor power, in part due to difficult working conditions and high turnover. This is compounded by employer misinformation about unions and what union organization can offer workers, in support of right-to-work laws.

But the high concentration of Black workers in such industries continues to create a hotbed of collective anger and reprisal, given that this exploitation has history and that racial wage gaps continue to widen as wage inequality grows. In a 2022 study, the Economic Policy Institute found that Black workers have reaped even fewer gains from increased aggregate productivity than white workers. At the forefront of organizing this sector is the newly formed Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW), which found that Black workers make up 41 percent of the employees in South Carolina’s food or beverage, general merchandise, food services, and warehouse and storage jobs, but 27 percent of the state’s workforce. The steadfast organizing drive of the USSW is informed by endless stories of various forms of worker degradation and exploitation.

The Trump Administration wasted no time introducing a slew of anti-union sentiment and legislation. Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) reintroduced The National Right to Work Act and Secretary of Labor nominee Lori Chavez-DeRemer walked back support for the PRO Act, which would have overturned Republican-backed right-to-work laws. For many Black workers in the South, these efforts hardly present new threats.

“We are building a union despite the fact that the rules are rigged against us as Southern workers. We are building a union by any means necessary and building it in a way that makes sense for us,” says Eric Winston, service worker and USSW member. Dockworkers, food service employees, and entertainment workers are among the organized groups in the South who have organized strikes in the last year, many reaching tentative agreements. These workers are adapting their organizing to modern workplaces, as with the USSW’s solidarity-centered approach of cross-sector organizing at various locations in different industries.

Organized labor requires investment of time and faces incessant obstacles. Black workers have adopted these undertakings since the Jim Crow South and are at the forefront of the fight against misinformation. For them, it is not a choice, but a necessity. The labor renaissance isn’t over, and the organized U.S. South provides the blueprint for the future.

This statement can be attributed to Cemeré James, interim executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) 

Washington, D.C., February 26, 2025 – The hollowing out of the federal workforce by the Trump Administration through mass layoffs is an underhanded strategy to dismantle countless programs that support children, families, people with low incomes, communities of color, and other underserved populations. These actions will also deepen the immense harm created by the administration’s elimination of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs—and make it more difficult for families to access the supports they need.

The cuts to jobs across federal agencies—from the Administration for Children and Families and the Department of Education to the Department of Justice and Department of Housing and Urban Development—are said to be done in the name of cost savings and efficiency. But these cuts are causing chaos, disruption, and inefficiencies. They are directly and immediately impacting the lives and families of the employees who have been laid off but also harming children and families across the country. We are only seeing the beginning of the layoffs’ consequences. These cuts are ultimately efforts to limit access to important programs like child care and housing that support people on a path to economic security.

CLASP is concerned that these federal layoffs will decimate the many programs that support people with low incomes and communities of color, ultimately causing negative effects on our nation’s overall economy. While we are already seeing some of the damage, it’s clear that the long-term consequences will be even more significant and could affect generations to come. That’s why we urge everyone who cares about the well-being of individuals and their families, as well as the nation’s economic health, to demand that members of Congress use their authority to stop the decimation of the programs they established and funded.

 

By Kaelin Rapport

Last month, California relied on incarcerated firefighters to prevent and put out fires that ravaged vast swaths of Los Angeles County. The practice of using incarcerated individuals as forced labor has existed for decades and is part of an exploitative prison labor economy that balances state budgets at the cost of Black lives.  

Involuntary Servitude and Punishment  

Carceral firefighting practices can be traced to slavery, as the use of Black labor was integral to fire management strategy, setting a violent precedent of placing the “inferior” on the frontlines of danger. California began using prisons as a source of enslaved labor for public works in the late 19th century when, as now, disproportionately warehoused Black people. Today, Black people account for 5 percent of the state population and yet comprise 28 percent of the state’s prison population. 

That this exploitation persists is due in part to a loophole in the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery “except as a punishment for crime” by removing the constitutional provision allowing jails and prisons to punish those who refuse to work. Last November, California voters failed to pass Proposition 6, which would have closed that loophole. The proposition’s failure was partially due to persistent claims that contemporary work programs like the Conservation (Fire) Camp are voluntary.  

Today, approximately 70 percent of incarcerated individuals are assigned to work, and the overwhelming majority reported feeling forced into jobs like fighting fires. Incarcerated Black laborers are more likely to either receive no pay for their labor or work in positions with lower pay than their white counterparts. This placement can be arbitrary or used as a form of punishment. Incarcerated individuals who refuse face the threat of accruing sanctions, being deprived of the few opportunities available to see family and/or reducing their sentences.  

Roughly 30 percent of the crews that combat California’s wildfires consist of incarcerated laborers, which amounts to over 1,000 incarcerated firefighters. Some are as young as 18 – the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) launched youth programs at the Growlersburg and Pinegrove Conservation Camps in 2023 and 2024.  

The Costs of Cost-Saving   

Programs like the Conservation Camps have received praise for allowing states to save hundreds of millions of dollars by using prison labor to fight fires and provide training for post-incarceration employment. Incarcerated laborers produce over $2 billion in goods and $9 billion in services in the upkeep of carceral facilities. However, this arrangement obfuscates the social costs of mass incarceration while perpetuating racial inequities and damaging local economies.  

State law allows the CDCR to pay half California’s minimum wage of $16/hour. For the highly dangerous and arduous work of clearing areas around wildfires to prevent their spread, incarcerated firefighters receive anywhere between $5.80 and $10.24 a day; an additional $1/hour when responding to emergencies; and two days off their sentence for each day spent fighting fires. These meager wages frequently go toward meeting basic hygienic needs, making phone calls, and buying additional food from the prison commissary. 

Because of their criminalized status, incarcerated laborers are excluded from federal protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the National Labor Relations, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. They are also unable to unionize. It is also essential to keep in mind that, in addition to lacking adequate compensation, incarcerated laborers are often fighting wildfires without appropriate medical care or protective equipment.  

As a result, the harm these laborers face from abysmal conditions inside prisons is mirrored in their life-saving work on the outside. Incarcerated firefighters are four times more likely to be physically injured on the job, eight times more likely to sustain an injury from smoke inhalation than professional firefighters, and largely unable to continue this work  after being released. California law bars many with criminal convictions from receiving certification as emergency medical technicians (EMTs), a requirement to become a firefighter in the state.  

Looking Forward  

California is among the 14 states maintaining fire camps that sacrifice incarcerated Black laborers for a public that has historically required their exclusion and exploitation. Being overpoliced, disparately incarcerated, and forced to work for minimal or no pay makes neither Black communities nor anyone else safer.  

The following measures would make necessary strides in de-escalating the systemic violence of coercion Black incarcerated laborers suffer via California’s carceral system and serve as a model for other states to follow:  

By Teon Hayes

Budget numbers can feel distant, as if they’re just abstract figures debated by those with privilege in the halls of power. But behind those numbers are people, families, and entire communities that will bear the brunt of decisions made in Washington. The House Budget Resolution proposes sweeping cuts that would affect the amount of groceries people can buy, the education of our children, and access to life-saving health care. The real-world consequences of these reductions will be devastating for millions of Americans.

Food on the Table: The Impact of Agriculture Cuts

For many families, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the difference between having food on the table and going hungry. The proposed $230 billion in cuts to agriculture would likely mean deep reductions to SNAP, hitting families with low incomes, seniors, and children the hardest. These cuts could lead to stricter eligibility requirements, reduced benefits, and rising rates of food insecurity.

For example, a single mother in North Carolina has a full-time job but still struggles to afford groceries for her children. SNAP helps her bridge the gap, ensuring that her family has nutritious meals. If these proposed cuts go through, her family could see their food assistance slashed or eliminated, forcing this mother to make impossible choices between paying rent and feeding her kids.

The Cost of Cutting Education: A Blow to Future Generations

Education is often hailed as the great equalizer but slashing at least $330 billion from education funding threatens to widen disparities and limit opportunities for the next generation of leaders. This isn’t just about numbers; it’s about lost opportunities for millions of students.

Imagine a high school senior in rural Pennsylvania who dreams of becoming a nurse. He plans to attend a public college, relying on federal grants and affordable tuition to make his education possible. However, if these cuts become reality, the public college he wants to attend may be forced to raise tuition, reduce financial aid, and cut essential student support services. A reduction in education funding could mean fewer grants and higher student loan burdens, discouraging this student from pursuing the education he needs to thrive in the workforce. As a result, the cycle of poverty continues.

Decrease in Public Higher Education Appropriations per Full-Time Equivalent Student by State, FYI 2001-2023

Source: “Threats to the Department of Education: Private Equity Replacing Public Funding”

The Human Cost of Health Care Cuts

The proposed draft directs the committee that handles Medicaid to cut at least $880 billion, which will likely affect Medicaid most directly. This would have catastrophic consequences for millions of individuals who rely on the program for health care. These cuts could result in reducing coverage for essential services, increasing the number of uninsured Americans, and possibly closing hospitals and nursing homes.

Picture a diabetic patient unable to afford insulin, a child missing critical treatments, or a senior losing access to home health care. Stripping away Medicaid funding doesn’t just take away health care. It endangers lives.

Beyond the Numbers: Why This Matters

These proposed cuts represent real consequences for real people. While policymakers may see this as a fiscal decision, for millions of Americans, it’s a question of survival.

As these discussions unfold, we must ask: who benefits from these cuts, and who suffers? A budget is a moral document that reflects our priorities as a nation. What kind of country do we want to be: one that invests in its people, or one that turns its back on them?

This budget doesn’t just reduce spending; it threatens the stability of millions of families. Single mothers, high school seniors, people with chronic illnesses – they are just some of the real people who will feel the impact of these choices. The United States should be investing in policies that lift people up—ensuring that children have enough to eat, that schools have the resources to educate, and that communities have the support they need to be healthy and thrive.

By Lulit Shewan

In the United States, the legacy of alternative and temporary work has served to create increasingly unstable jobs that make up a highly visible but often overlooked share of the American workforce. Temporary and staffing agencies are a high-traffic, high-profit industry meant to serve individuals seeking job training for further employment opportunities. These programs largely serve communities of color, low-income Black communities, individuals without postsecondary education, and those who face barriers to “traditional” work. But the temporary staffing industry reveals yet another blatant system of discrimination reminiscent of pre-Civil Rights policies. Temporary staffing agencies create a system of precarious employment that fails to support the work needs of vulnerable groups, while systematically creating vulnerability through poor job conditions, subpar wages, labor exploitation, and racist practices. These agencies are yet another example of how employers and corporations operate at the intersection of profit accumulation and discrimination.

Temp workers are more than twice as likely to be paid poverty wages compared to workers in all industries. These workers are often paid less than their direct-hire counterparts doing the same work. Staffing and temp agencies receive a cut of the hourly fee they charge host employers, which can range from 30 percent to more than 150 percent of the wages the worker receives. Namely, Black women are also overrepresented in occupations that have a disproportionate share of temporary agency workers and are less likely to work in occupations that have a high share of independent contractors or contract workers, as compared to their white counterparts.

An estimated 13 million to 16 million U.S. workers are hired through staffing agencies annually, according to industry estimates. Despite the volume of this industry, U.S. policy poorly enforces the regulation of temp work, and this lack of regulation leaves a wide gap for the largest employers in sectors like warehousing, manufacturing, and increasingly in retail, to use temporary agencies to squeeze more labor from workers. Such poorly regulated programs create new systems of discrimination in poor Black and brown communities, where efficacy and accessibility are deficient.

Among communities of need, employment agencies are also often known to exacerbate the precarity of job programs through misleading information, manipulation, and outright discrimination. The industry is rife with stories of agencies deceiving and often lying about the terms of employment surrounding hours, pay, safety, and the process of temp-to-permanent job trajectory. Many of these agencies operate without a license, send people to jobs that don’t exist, or place them in jobs that don’t pay minimum wage. Oftentimes, these agencies charge a fee to connect individuals to companies with little or poor return. A 2022 NELP study underscoring the systematic manipulation of agencies found that 24 percent of workers reported experiencing wage theft through a staffing agency, in which they were paid less than minimum wage, not paid overtime, or not paid the proper amount for hours they worked. Exaggerating the benefits, salary, or job security of a position is also commonplace across various agencies in several states. Such agencies have also normalized the farcical presentation of temp-to-perm positions, convincing people to work under substandard conditions under the pretense that something better is on the horizon. As of 2022, NELP found that 72 percent of surveyed workers have never been hired into a permanent position from a temp job.

The underbelly of this issue, as is true for all forms of systematic oppression, is racist discrimination. Across various localities and states, a rampant trend of bigotry in hiring serves to further disparage employment opportunities for Black people in need. Many agencies often rely on this discrimination at several points in the recruiting and enlistment process. Stories of this anti-Black discrimination have seen spikes since the inception of the pandemic staffing-agency boom; employers using coded language to request non-Black people for hire, eligibility requirements being illegally skewed, assigning Black applicants to ‘less desirable’ work, or the unmitigated presence of interpersonal racism on the job.

The significant rise of discrimination is a grave concern to the growing temporary workforce that often operates as a lifeline to a very vulnerable workforce, whose threshold for workplace conditions and self-advocacy are greatly skewed due to the precarious nature of this work. Oftentimes, Black workers who attempt to fight back against these discriminatory practices not only fail to see retribution but lose accessibility to this vital work as a whole. It is also important to note that formerly incarcerated individuals are overrepresented in this labor market. These agencies, operating in tandem with employer tax credits, impel workers with criminal records to accept such jobs with low wages and poor working conditions, creating a class of disproportionately Black workers whose desperation employers can exploit.

The poor management and regulation of temporary staffing agencies is yet another facet of a racist workforce system, one that often serves to replicate the poor material conditions that Black laborers, the backbone of this country, have faced since its inception. The truth is clear: these agencies work to serve companies, not workers.

While eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring and combatting illegal job discrimination are two of six national priorities identified by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, it is glaringly evident that these values are seldom upheld and enforced in the temporary staffing industry.

By Nat Baldino, Carmen McCoy, Kathy Tran, and Madison Trice

This first-of-its-kind report provides an in-depth case study analysis of young people from across the country and their paid leave needs. Conducted over 18 months, the report uses eleven detailed examples of youth ages 18 to 30 in seven states and Washington, D.C., including both localities that have access to paid leave laws and those that do not.

This report finds that youth in America, especially in regions like the South that have high populations of young Black and Brown people, desperately need policies that provide adequate and accessible paid leave from employment.

Our youth cannot thrive without robust paid leave policies that work for them whether that means taking time off to care for a sick younger sibling or a parent with a disability, dealing with a mental health issue without risking their economic security, or feeling confident applying to a job while pregnant knowing they will have leave to take care of a new infant.

>> Read the full report here

Content Note: This page contains references to themes that some individuals may find distressing, including suicide and harassment. 

“The slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery.” – W. E. B. Du Bois

By Christian Collins

Black History Month’s national theme for 2025, “African Americans and Labor,” honors the symmetry between the history of Black Americans and the history of American labor. Whether paid or unpaid, voluntary or compulsory, essential or nonessential, Black labor has always been the cornerstone of the United States. The indispensable nature of Black labor has always been requisite to the development and wealth of the United States, to the point that it is valued more than the lives of the Black people performing the work. Chattel slavery of Black people was used to construct the racial capitalism that took the U.S. from British colony to global economic superpower and built the very halls that host our government. Yet within those walls resides a democracy that still views the lost lives of Black laborers as an insignificant inconvenience instead of the echoes of our founding genocidal tragedy.

Much like the current societal inequities that originate from Black people never being equally viewed as “people” by our government and society at large, the current socioeconomic inequities faced by Black workers originate in the fact that Black labor has never been viewed as “labor” but as an entitlement for American society.

Throughout American history, the word “labor” has had multiple definitions depending on the type of work performed and who is doing it. Nowhere is that more evident than in the history of labor performed by Black Americans. The slave trading network was a means in which enslaved Black people were developed into a profitable commodity. Even after chattel slavery was limited by Constitutional amendment from being applicable to all Black people to only those incarcerated by the government, Black lives were never valued as much as their labor. Black labor fueled child care, infrastructure construction, agricultural labor, artistry, and ironwork, among other essential forms of economic gain. The occupational segregation of Black workers to certain professions indicated what professions were undeserving of “fair” compensation or access to benefits, even as their work became more critical to the continued survival and growth of the United States. 

Misalignment between the value placed on Black labor versus on Black workers themselves, and the associated consequences, are still evident in the contemporary U.S.. Roughly half of all Black workers in the Southeast were agricultural wage laborers or domestic workers in the 1930s, leading to their specific exclusion from the labor rights protections administered through President Roosevelt and continued economic discrimination they experience. Black women in the United States were forced into careers as child care providers during slavery and into reconstruction. The occupational segregation of Black women continues to suppress wages of care providers even as the nation experiences a critical shortage of sector workers. Black men are overrepresented in the occupations most likely to be replaced via artificial intelligence (A.I.), such as factory labor and retail, while underrepresented in the occupations least likely to be replaced by A.I., like health and legal professionals. This trend continues a tradition of pursuing economic innovation from technological automation without regard to the human destruction it often causes. 

Black history is defined not just by the leaders who relentlessly pursued racial justice on behalf of Black communities but also by the collective loss of lives in that pursuit, and that is especially prevalent regarding Black labor. The following graphic honors the stories of Black workers who have lost their lives because of how their labor was undervalued. Their lives will live on not just in their families and communities, but also within CLASP as we continue to work toward the elimination of anti-Blackness within the labor force and broader American society.

Click the names below to interact and learn more:

Grant Conrad (1868-1887)

Echol Cole (1938-1968) and Robert Walker (1932-1968)

Adewale Ezekiel Ogunyemi (1979-2021)

Dr. Antoinette “Bonnie” Candia-Bailey (1974-2024)

The W. E. B. Du Bois quote that opened this blog came from his 1935 book Black Reconstruction in America. In this work, Du Bois argued that the Reconstruction period showcased how the autonomy and contributions of freed Black slaves were essential proof that a multiracial and working class-led democracy was possible in the United States after existing so long as a nation governed by racial hierarchies enforced through the economy and the law. The end of Reconstruction and subsequent violent terror of Jim Crow were in Du Bois’ eyes not a sign that widespread racial justice was impossible, but of the desperation of white supremacy to disrupt “the finest effort to achieve democracy for the working millions which this world had ever seen.”

The most effective weapon against racism, and therefore a governing system that embraces racial capitalism, is solidarity and collective action. Though the individuals highlighted above lost their lives due to the continued undervaluing of Black labor and the lives of Black workers, there are millions of people and communities across the country who hold similar stories of workers lost because society felt entitled only to their “labor,” not a recognition of their humanity. Black History Month is a time to celebrate the historical and current contributions of Black leaders in every aspect of American history, and to use the lessons of our past and present to build solidarity toward a true racially just democracy and economy.

“So often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of those who are not in the so-called big jobs. But let me say to you tonight that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth.” – Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

If you or someone you know is struggling or in a crisis, help is available. You can call, text, or chat the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to reach a trained crisis counselor who can provide support in a mental health, substance use, or suicide crisis

By James Wright Jr.

(EXCERPT)

In the North, African Americans faced legalized discrimination in employment and were restricted from joining many unions, according to an article “African American Workers Built America” by Asha Banerjee and Cameron Johnson, published by The Center for Law and Social Policy.

“Companies used Black workers as strike breakers to misdirect white workers’ anger and frustration,” Banerjee and Johnson wrote. “New Deal programs excluded Black agricultural and domestic workers. And 1930s ‘progressive’ public benefits legislation such as the Social Security Act was pro-white legislation that neglects Black workers, especially women.”

>> Read the full article here

By Christian Collins

Throughout the 2024 campaign cycle, post-election messaging, and proposed administrative appointments, the incoming Trump Administration has sent a clear message that undermining educational access for marginalized populations will be a priority. These pledges include loosening protections placed by the outgoing Biden Administration against sex and gender identity discrimination at federally funded schools, weakening educational accessibility for immigrant students, and decreasing the racial diversity of the postsecondary system. The most direct threat has been the repeated promise of closing the federal Department of Education (ED) in its entirety, a move that has been attempted multiple times since the department was founded in 1979 but that has failed in every instance.

This brief details the threat that the new administration poses to ED and its impact on post-secondary institutions. It analyzes how there is little political will to close ED, but significant federal education funding cuts are a possibility. Next, the brief outlines how postsecondary institutions are looking to private equity firms to cover potential financial shortfalls and provides policy recommendations for institutions, policymakers, and advocates on pathways to fiscally protect the postsecondary system.

>> Read the brief here

The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) strongly supports the Department of Labor’s proposed rule to phase out Section 14(c) certificates under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which currently allow employers to pay disabled workers subminimum wages. This practice perpetuates occupational segregation, economic inequality, and systemic barriers for disabled individuals. Nearly half of workers under these certificates earn $3.50 an hour or less, often in sheltered workshops that isolate them from the broader workforce. Ending subminimum wages will create a more inclusive and equitable workforce, empowering workers of all abilities to thrive.

>>Download