Join Jobs to Move America from October 7-10th for a transformative trip through Alabama, the center of the civil rights movement and the growing Black-led worker justice movement. This is an opportunity to significantly contribute to the worker organizing and corporate accountability fight in the Deep South, and take a deeper dive into the history, culture and community building of the Southern labor movement. You’ll also get an opportunity to see a fully implemented community benefits agreement in action at New Flyer’s facility in Anniston.
Alabama has a rich and complex civil rights and labor history. It’s important to see it and learn in person in order to truly understand the significance of organizing in the South, and the promise of what is possible when we all join the movement.
This year we’ll be diving into:
- Birmingham, JMA’s Southern base, is steeped in civil rights and worker organizing history. See the vision for a worker organizing center and meet coalition and community partners who are leading the new Southern worker movement from within.
- Montgomery, where we’ll be visiting the Civil Rights Memorial Center, and talking about our CBA with New Flyer, as well as discussing our new Hyundai CBA campaign points. Meet with workers from Hyundai, as well as our coalition members and UAW organizers.
- Red Mountain Park, where we’ll walk through and learn about Birmingham’s mining and labor history.
- Along the way, learn the history of Black worker organizing that has led to the movement of today, spoken through community, civil rights and labor leaders on the ground fighting for a better Alabama.
Full itinerary (subject to change):
- Night 1, Monday, Oct 7th
- Hotel Check-In at the Redmont Hotel in Birmingham
- 6:00pm: Evening Welcome Reception and Cocktail Hour with JMA staff and coalition partners
- Day 1, Tuesday, Oct 8th: Anniston
- 7:00am: Hotel Breakfast
- 9:30am: Participants will embark on a bus to Anniston
- 11:30am: Arrive in Anniston, followed by lunch
- 1:00pm: Tour the New Flyer factory, with a presentation from JMA on Community Benefits Agreements
- 4:00pm: Visit to the Freedom Riders National Monument
- 5:00pm: Dinner with New Flyer Workers
- 7:00pm: Travel back to Birmingham
- Day 2, Wednesday, Oct 9th: Montgomery
- 7:00am: Hotel Breakfast
- 8:30am: Participants will travel to Montgomery, AL
- 10:00am: Walking tour down Dexter Ave with a local guide specializing in hidden history, finishing at Dexter Ave Baptist Church
- 11:00am: Presentation on JMA’s major survey project on impacts of prison labor, followed by field training on survey collection.
- 1-2:00pm: Break for questions, reflections, coffee
- 2:00pm: The group will disperse to three different locations to engage in survey collections in the field
- 3:30pm: Return to Montgomery
- 5:00pm: Dinner with Hyundai workers
- 8:00pm: Arrive back in Birmingham
- Day 3, Thursday, Oct 10th: Birmingham
- 7:00am: Hotel Breakfast
- 9:00am: Tour of Sloss Furnaces, a National Historical Monument, and a crucial site in Birmingham’s labor history
- Driving tour of North Birmingham hosted by JMA Co-Executive Director Erica Iheme, and JMA staff Larry Hodge
- Closing Lunch
- 2:00pm: Trip Ends
View the participant agreement form here. Please print, sign and scan back your completed form to Kris White at Kwhite@jobstomoveamerica.org or please email Kris and he can request your signature via Adobe.
For questions, email Kris White at kwhite@jobstomoveamerica.org.