Southern Maine Workers' Center

Southern Maine Workers' Center We believe that workers must organize together to ensure our human rights, such as the Human Right to Health Care, and the right to Work with Dignity.

Are you feeling stuck & overwhelmed thinking about what will happen on election day and beyond? Maybe you've been organi...
11/07/2024

Are you feeling stuck & overwhelmed thinking about what will happen on election day and beyond? Maybe you've been organizing in your communities & on the streets for years and wondering how your efforts will be affected by a different president. Or maybe you're feeling motivated to participate in local action for the first time, or first time in a long time, because of how much is at stake this year

No matter who is elected, we will continue organizing to protect our human rights here and abroad-- including demanding an end to the occupation in Palestine and an end to all genocides. But/and, the outcomes of this election will affect us all and our organizing work deeply, due to the sheer gravity of the issues at stake around war, work, housing, migration, reproductive & trans rights, and democracy.

Inspired by Octavia Butler's call to "shape change," we will ask: How can we move collectively, strategically, and proactively through this time? We'll be together in whatever range of emotions the moment stirs. We'll offer resources from movement elders & partners (from Grassroots Global Justice, and more!) on scenario planning, mutual aid infrastructure, and organizing strategy. And we'll talk about how it all applies to our local conditions and campaigns.

Register at bit.ly/wheredowego207

Are you a service industry worker impacted by the restaurant closures in Greater Portland? Looking for help applying for...
10/30/2024

Are you a service industry worker impacted by the restaurant closures in Greater Portland? Looking for help applying for unemployment? Join us with Maine's Peer Workforce Navigator Project at 1pm OR 7pm on Nov 4th. RSVP at: https://bit.ly/restaurantUI

Get your questions answered, find community resources, and learn about what other opportunities might be out there for you.

**Snacks & childcare provided** Session will be interpreted in French & Spanish too!

Sign up for the Parable of the Sower Book Collective, a biweekly BIPOC space co-hosted by the Southern Maine Workers' Ce...
09/16/2024

Sign up for the Parable of the Sower Book Collective, a biweekly BIPOC space co-hosted by the Southern Maine Workers' Center & Tender Table! The 1st session is this Sunday, 9/22 from 1-3pm in Portland's East End / via Zoom. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSctCjTjTlC6r0Rkr4FPlpfPCa1sQNso3ebkt5tiU-oE8L1S-w/viewform?usp=sf_link

If you knew your community’s way of life faced impending destruction, what would you do about it? Would you have the courage to leave behind a structure you knew was doomed? And what would you seek to build in its place?

We're excited to offer this deep dive into Parable of the Sower, Octavia Butler's 1993 novel. Gatherings will alternate between ‘read along’ sessions to absorb parts of the story together and ‘read ahead’ sessions to help us get through the entirety of the book. Meetings and discussions will take place in-person in Portland, ME, with an option to join us virtually via Zoom. Copies of the book will be distributed in our first session. Participants will be asked to approve study group agreements during the 1st session that will kick off on the Fall Equinox, September 22, 2024.

Sessions will be every other Sunday from 1-3pm, including Oct 6th, Oct 20th, Nov 3rd, Nov 17th, and Dec 1st.

BUCKLE UP BBS!! KARAOKE SEASON IS BACK!!This year’s annual karaoke fundraiser theme is Intergalactic Solidarity! Taking ...
07/23/2024

BUCKLE UP BBS!! KARAOKE SEASON IS BACK!!

This year’s annual karaoke fundraiser theme is Intergalactic Solidarity! Taking place with love, grief, and joy on our home planet, Earth 🌍🌸. Mark your calendars for Labor Day, Monday, September 2 from 6-10pm at SPACE on Congress St in Portland.

This year, we are raising $20,000 so we can start a campaign by and for care workers- you can help us reach our goal by donating, fundraising and/or performing.

Donate at https://givebutter.com/qPUHAi or sign up to perform/fundraise at https://forms.gle/Jz9LwrhGhoUgSJg27 ! And get ready for a wild ride! 🚀🚀🚀

📸 photos by 📸

🎶🎤🎸🌓🪐💫🌟✨☄️⚡️👽🛸

SMWC members are submitting comments today to rulemakers at the Department of Labor in favor of Paid Leave for all Maine...
07/08/2024

SMWC members are submitting comments today to rulemakers at the Department of Labor in favor of Paid Leave for all Maine workers.

The draft rules for paid leave remain strong, even as the big business lobby does everything in its power to create loopholes that would stop workers from accessing it. We’re standing up today to protect the inclusion of found family relationships, to ensure that all workers are considered eligible when applying for leave, and to remind rule makers that any staffing challenges an employer may face are not more important than a worker’s right to take paid leave.

Use the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave Coalition guide below to submit your own comments today before 12am midnight!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/14Zn4UyzXhzCm2GjyXd6EfnXpxmzW4bSd-8VBbPYNPnY/edit =h.wnixi112sv3r

07/08/2024

If you tried to email us, visit our website, or apply for our open organizer job this weekend, you might have gotten an error message-- our web server was down, but it's back up & running today and we are still accepting job applications until July 15th!

We can’t believe it’s been a full year since we started Good Soil, our BIPOC garden project inspired by Octavia Butler’s...
06/26/2024

We can’t believe it’s been a full year since we started Good Soil, our BIPOC garden project inspired by Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower! On Good Soil’s first birthday this Sunday 6/30 10am-2pm, we’ll plant this year’s seedlings in our new raised garden beds & hold an Earthseed-inspired discussion about what it means for us to shape & be shaped by Wabanaki land here in so-called Maine. If you want to play in the dirt, hang out at lovely Celebration Tree Farm, nerd out about & honor Octavia Butler, learn basic gardening skills, and/or enjoy lunch with a sweet group of humans, this event is for you! This event is for BIPOC only. Sign up at https://forms.gle/ASgrfujSgn6oNkC57

Accessible accommodations are available and rides will be provided to the location, along with tools, food, and childcare.

Artwork by Jenny Ibsen. This project is a collaboration with Tender Table Maine.

06/17/2024

One of the joys of planning for the 2024 Juneteenth Festival has been collaborating with so many community partners and sponsors. Grateful for all the relationships we’ve built and deepened as we have planned for the festival together. Join all of us next Wednesday, June 19 for “The City That Carries Us: Pain, Streets, and Heartbeats”!

Androscoggin Bank
Androscoggin County Fund of Maine Community Foundation
ArtVan
Atlantic Black Box
ARRT
Berman & Simmons
Bowdoin College
Children's Theater of Maine
Official City of Lewiston, Maine
Community Organizing Alliance
Church of Safe Injection
The Francis Hotel
Gateway Community Services
GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders - GLAD
Harward Center for Community Partnerships at Bates College
Healthy Neighborhoods
Healthy Androscoggin
Ifka Community Services
Jeff's Jamaican Cuisine
KeyBank
Kids Legal
L/A Arts
Little Chair Printing
MAINE Community Integration-MCI
Maine Humanities Council
Maine People's Alliance
Maine Prisoner Advocacy Coalition - MPAC
Maine Prisoner Re-Entry Network
Maine Youth Justice
National Endowment for the Arts
Never Hate ME Campaign
New Beginnings
New England Youth Organizing Network (NEYON)
New Mainers Public Health Initiative
Permanent Commission on Status of Racial, Indigenous & Tribal Populations
Pine Tree Legal Assistance
The Public Theatre
Recovery Connections of Maine, LLC
Recovery Housing of Maine
Safe Voices
Sea Change Yoga
Sexual Assault Prevention & Response Services
Shukie & Segovias
Southern Maine Workers' Center
St. Mary's Nutrition Center
Survivor Speak USA
Maine Center for Youth Policy & Law
Youth-LED Justice
Zachau Construction Inc.

We are excited to announce that we're hiring an organizer to join our staff collective! Could it be you?! 👀We're looking...
06/13/2024

We are excited to announce that we're hiring an organizer to join our staff collective! Could it be you?! 👀

We're looking for organizers, caregivers, storytellers, healers, teachers, artists, and frontline responders; people with experience planning or facilitating community events; people with lived experience navigating oppression; people with experience mobilizing resources; people who speak Spanish, Portuguese, or French; and more! If one or more of these descriptions fits you, we'd love to hear from you! 🎤

This is a full-time (4 days/week), salaried ($54,600 with annual cost of living adjustments) position with benefits.

See all the details at maineworkers.org/hiring, and apply by July 15th.

Our local and global landscapes are constantly changing, but so are we as workers. We’re on the frontlines of adapting t...
04/15/2024

Our local and global landscapes are constantly changing, but so are we as workers. We’re on the frontlines of adapting to change, and we can also be the first to shape it. You are invited to a Celebration of Transformation, SMWC’s 2024 Annual Meeting, on Saturday May 4th 11am-4pm - just a few days after International Workers’ Day! The Annual Meeting historically is SMWC's biggest event of the year, when we honor our past work while looking to the future.

Register at https://forms.gle/kJRw6kwD4Kn2QWiw9

⭐️New Member Orientation. Learn about what it means to be a member of SMWC, what we do, and what we believe in. Members who join at orientation can vote later at the board elections.

⭐️Leadership Elections. Select the rad member organizers who will be guiding SMWC's work into the future, on our first ever Political Leadership Team as well as our Fundraising, Finance, and Personnel committees! If you’re not a member already, you can become a member and vote on the day of.

⭐️A deep dive on our Care Worker Campaign

⭐️A mini Political Education session on the underrated history of International Workers’ Day

⭐️Yes, there will be drumming and an art build!

Language interpretation, childcare, rides, and lunch are all provided.

Spring is really here! Our Equinox celebration was so joyful and we also got a lot done! We gobbled up tamales from Flor...
03/21/2024

Spring is really here! Our Equinox celebration was so joyful and we also got a lot done! We gobbled up tamales from Flores restaurant. We had a final listening session for feedback on the design of our new, organizing-centered and member-led leadership structure that we’ve been developing over the past two years. We had a drum (and triangle and cow bell) lesson and spontaneously took it to Congress Street. We talked about the interwoven issues of decarceration, housing, workers rights, and food sovereignty and started our campaign brainstorm for a future victory that will divest from harm and invest in care. And to wrap it all up, we colored in a brilliant invest / divest banner. Thank you First Parish Portland Unitarian Universalist for sharing your space with us!

03/21/2024

Catch us at the next action and DM if you want in on drum practice! Massive thanks to our excellent drum teacher Lana

Address

56 North Street Suite 100
Portland, ME
04101

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm

Telephone

+12072007692

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Southern Maine Workers' Center posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Southern Maine Workers' Center:

Share