Join as a WSWA Member
Membership is open to anyone who is, has been, or in the future may be employed in service work or other types of employment unrecognized by the national labor laws – domestic work, temporary work or work done as an independent contractor. WSWA members do childcare and elder care, work in hospitality and food service, hotel and office maintenance, security, construction and landscaping. They are the backbone of the economy, yet often receive wages that don’t cover survival needs for a family.
Build a Self-help Membership Benefit Program
Members are entitled to share in a group of benefits designed by members for members, listed under the Benefit Program page, that respond to the needs of service workers in Shasta County as identified by the workers themselves. The Benefit Program is designed to meet as many of the immediate survival needs of our members as possible so that members can organize to eliminate the cause of their problems – poverty – at the root. The expansion of the program is overseen by the membership leadership body, the Shasta County Workers Benefit Council (WBC). Members are encouraged to invest time in learning organizing and leadership skills and are invited to attend the weekly WBC meetings, to add their voice to deciding on the Benefit Program priorities and needs. Members can apply to be a delegate to the WBC for their neighborhood or workforce.
Lead House Meetings in Your Neighborhood
WSWA canvassers convey the message that we must become a united group to have a voice loud enough to be heard. Canvassers recruit interested members to host membership house meetings in their homes or yard, and invite newly signed members and other neighbors, family and friends to learn more about WSWA and how to join with others to forge long-term solutions to problems we face collectively. New or potential members have an opportunity to ask more detailed questions, raise concerns and get immediate input.
Coordinate Action Through the Shasta County Workers Benefit Council (WBC)
The Shasta County Workers Benefit Council (WBC) is a council of members who take on leadership roles in the organization. Membership decisions are made by consensus by the WBC, where membership delegates who represent fellow members from the same occupation, worksite or neighborhood determine the course of practical and political action WSWA will take, and how the Benefit Program will grow in the interests of economic and political betterment for Shasta County service workers.
WBC Delegates are equipped with membership kits to sign new members and take benefit requests. They agree to promulgate organizational decisions, needs, and actions to fellow members.