**This timeline is a companion to PRA’s groundbreaking report: Dark Money, Dirty War: The Corporate Crusade Against Low-Wage Workers**
As traditional unions represent a shrinking share of the U.S. workforce, new worker organizations have emerged to resist exploitation and assert the rights of a largely female and of-color low-wage labor force. Their organizing successes—including millions of dollars in recovered stolen wages and minimum wage increases around the country—have collectively caught the attention of major corporations. The powerful interests that work to bring down unions (and social action groups like ACORN) have now set their sights on the disparate low-wage and immigrant worker organizing efforts that dare to challenge their dominance.
While attacks on new worker organizations are hardly a new phenomenon, recently intensified attacks from the national Chamber of Commerce and other industry organizations signal a strategic shift by organized opposition to worker justice and economic fairness. Though it is difficult to pinpoint the start of this escalated, national assault on low-wage and immigrant worker organizing, for the purposes of this timeline we have chosen the publication of a law review article in November, 2012 calling for greater federal regulation of a broad range of organizations that the authors label “worker centers.” We attempt to capture the main episodes in this still-unfolding assault and invite readers to submit additional examples – however large or small – to be considered for inclusion in this timeline.
PRA welcomes feedback and additions from readers; send emails to workers@politicalresearch.
*Last updated: Nov 12, 2014
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