Grassroots Internationalism Senior Officer

Position description

Solidarity Center seeks an experienced labor activist to help build international solidarity between U.S. worker organizations and worker organizations abroad, facilitating strategic connections across the globe among workers and unions. The primary focus of this position is on building solidarity between U.S. unions and allied organizations (for women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and immigrant communities) with workers and unions abroad for short-term campaigns and long-term solidarity. The Grassroots Internationalism Sr Officer will identify and drive opportunities for international solidarity and collaboration, ensure buy-in, and develop the knowledge and mechanisms to connect rank-and-file workers, local unions, and worker organizations across borders around the world.

This individual will be responsible for outreach to American unions and worker rights groups, facilitating collaboration between organizations in the U.S. and Solidarity Center’s partners abroad. The Grassroots Internationalism Sr Officer will also serve an educational function in distilling lessons learned from the global fight for worker rights and economic fairness and sharing them with the U.S. labor movement. This individual will help identify worker struggles where international solidarity may be possible in SC field offices abroad as well as in the US, and help to organize solidarity efforts in both directions.

The Grassroots Internationalism Sr Officer will also be responsible for developing and implementing Solidarity Center’s Exchange Program, which connects unionists in the US with unionists abroad via strategic exchange trips. This individual will represent Solidarity Center at meetings and conferences in the U.S. and abroad, and will be required to travel extensively to help identify and support international worker campaigns.

Supervisor: Director of Trade Union Strengthening

Qualifications:

• Ten years of full-time experience in the U.S. labor movement, ideally in a leadership role sufficient to build extensive networks and deep connections with a range of U.S.-based organizations;
• Thorough understanding of U.S. unions and labor in general, including their campaigns and work;
• Deep understanding of organizing, international campaigns, collective bargaining, and the structural needs of unions to meet the challenges for workers in a changing economy;
• Proficiency and experience in public speaking and delivering presentations to large audiences;
• Considerable experience in strategic campaigning and coalition building;
• Clearly demonstrated passion for workers rights struggles in both the US and abroad;
• Ability to work independently and without supervision;
• Ability to manage multiple assignments simultaneously and make substantive decisions that have major effects on costs and completion of projects;
• Ability to work and interact easily with a wide variety of people;
• Budget management skills;
• Good communications and writing skills;
• Computer literacy for word processing and simple spreadsheets.

Candidates who wish to be considered for this position must agree to accept temporary or indefinite assignments as a field representative, based on the needs of Solidarity Center. Fluency in a second language is a plus.

Specific Duties:

• Support field offices by building strategic partnerships with U.S. unions and worker rights organizations for short-term campaigns and long-term solidarity;
• Actively identify worker struggles in the US and abroad to strategically develop international solidarity campaigns;
• Organize workers and unions in the US and abroad to build international solidarity in both directions;
• Creatively develop and implement strategic campaigns and partnerships amongst workers and unions in the US and abroad;
• Research and establish grassroots connections with unions and allied organizations (specifically for women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and immigrant communities) in the U.S.;
• Administer Solidarity Center exchange programs in the U.S. and meet with a wide variety of visitors from the field involved in efforts to promote labor rights and standards and democracy;
• Provide expertise, strategy, and relationships from the U.S. labor and progressive movements to field offices and partners for use in global campaigns;
• Work closely with AFL-CIO affiliates to coordinate their participation in the development and implementation of exchange programs, within approved communications guidelines.

 

Application instructions

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