SPARTANBURG, S.C.—Over 300 labor activists from across 13 States and 15 industries converged on the South Carolina city of Spartanburg June 13-15 for the Southern Worker Action Summit, organized by the Southern Workers Assembly.
The SWA is a network of union representatives, workplace organizing committees, and local Worker Assemblies dedicated to building labor power and workplace democracy throughout the southeastern U.S. The mission of the summit was clear: Mapping out strategies that will foster unity within the Southern working class to fight for democracy in our workplaces and our streets.
The situation of organized labor in the South is dire. Of the ten states with the lowest percentage of unionized workers in the U.S., seven are in the Southeast. Every state in the SWA’s region, from Texas to Florida to Virginia, has a percentage of union membership lower than the national average.
The South has long been a site of division within the working class, from slavery to Jim Crow to modern so-called “right to work” laws and reactionary politicians like Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin inviting ICE into Southern communities.
Capitalists have traditionally used the workers of the U.S. South, where worker protections are weak and racial divisions run deep, as a cheaper source of labor compared to the frequently-unionized workers of Northern states.
As Angaza Laughinghouse of Black Workers for Justice put it: “The South has historically been the Achilles heel of the labor movement.” The Spartanburg summit speaks to the working-class desire to change this situation. To organize the South is to weaken the ruling class and the forces of reaction.
The focus of the Southern Worker Action Summit was on unity, with a keen eye toward the racial and language barriers that have been used to split the working class. In breakout sessions and on the main stage, in English and in Spanish, workers recounted their stories of struggles and successes.
Federal workers on the front lines of union disenfranchisement spoke of the assault by Trump’s “Department of Governmental Efficiency.” Black workers talked about their unionization efforts, successful and unsuccessful, in production, transportation, and the service sector. Agricultural laborers described the fear of ICE raids in their workplaces, compounded on top of deadly working conditions and slave-like underpayment. Workers in the service sector discussed the difficulties of organizing when high turnover and precarious conditions make NLRB elections impractical.
Despite the numerous obstacles standing before the workers of the South, organizers have identified ways to change the landscape of struggle. The SWA has formulated a ten-point list of demands, from the right to collectively bargain and a $25/hour minimum wage to free housing and education for all. The demands center the needs of workers at the forefront, but winning them requires the working class to wrest control of the narrative from the capitalist-controlled media. Organizers were encouraged to share and amplify this program.
“The power we put behind our ten-point program will pressure politicians,” said Abdul Alkalimat. of the SWA Political Education Committee. “Armed with a South-wide worker’s program, we will leverage workers’ power” in the 2026 and 2028 elections, Alkalimat said.
From Virginia, 30 organizers from three worker assemblies across the Commonwealth developed a plan for how workers will play an essential part in this movement. Organizers recognized the importance of Virginia within the U.S. military-industrial complex, with railway and trucking hubs in Roanoke and Richmond, weapons contractors in Northern Virginia and Tidewater, and the naval production facilities of the Norfolk shipyards.
“Virginia is the key to chokeholding American imperialism,” remarked Brian King of the Roanoke Workers Assembly. The Virginia Workers Assemblies committed to increasing collaboration with one another to help grow their capacity.
The Southern Workers Assembly has a broad and ambitious plan of action. Rank-and-file worker-organizers in key industries aim to force “sweep elections,” calling union votes across an entire industry or employer at once. In line with United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain’s call for union contracts to jointly expire in May 2028, local worker assemblies were also tasked with building power and capacity to support this movement. The Southern Workers Assembly aims for a true Southern labor convention by 2028.
Laughinghouse of Black Workers for Justice captured the essence of the summit and the importance of organizing in this region of the country, saying, “As the South goes, so goes the nation.”
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