Building Worker Power through Workforce Development
Workforce development + know your Rights training
Over the last five decades, the U.S. labor market has faced growing challenges, with corporate profit motives overshadowing the needs of workers. Issues such as unfair hiring practices, inadequate healthcare, unstable scheduling, unsafe working conditions, and insufficient wages have become all too common. These conditions not only affect individual workers but also hinder workforce training programs’ ability to connect trainees with high-quality jobs.
In response, Rework the Bay launched a project in October 2021 to improve job quality for Bay Area workers. Rather than focusing on traditional advocacy through workforce providers, this initiative empowered workers themselves to advocate for better pay and protections. Partnering with the UC Berkeley Labor Center, Rework the Bay surveyed workforce development organizations across nine Bay Area counties and funded partnerships to integrate workers’ rights education into existing training programs.
Pilots took place in four Bay Area communities: the North Bay, South Bay, San Francisco, and Oakland. Each pilot involved a frontline service organization and a workforce development program, which collaborated to integrate labor law and organizing instruction into existing job training programs.
In addition to the four pilots, a survey and interviews with over 50 Bay Area workforce providers were conducted to gain a broader understanding of the field’s orientation toward this approach.
The final report highlights the outcomes of the project, where over 200 workers from diverse, marginalized communities received training—including immigrants, Black men, returning citizens, farmworkers and others. Through these efforts, Rework the Bay aims to reshape workforce training for the demands of the 21st-century labor market.
More about this Project
