Beyond Neutrality

Navigating challenges and leveraging opportunities of staff unionization in social change nonprofits.

Find out more at www.beyondneutrality.org

Union organizing campaigns at Starbucks and Amazon have been making headlines, but there is another, less publicized increase in unionization that has broad implications for social change: Employees of social justice nonprofit organizations have been unionizing in record numbers.

While very few organizations in this sector were unionized ten years ago, it is now considered commonplace for groups like Planned Parenthood, Working Families Party, and Sunrise to have collective bargaining agreements with their staff.

This crucial development has the potential to reshape the relationship between nonprofit workers, leaders, and organizations in a sector seeking new approaches to workplace democracy, organizational equity, and justice. It also has the potential to help seed a resurgent and more progressive labor movement in this country— historically a bedrock for social change movements.

This is a moment of opportunity for organizational leaders to go beyond neutrality and partner with their staff to transform the work environment and fuel mission impact. However, pain points and dissonance have emerged from these efforts, revealing gaps in information, resources, support, and preparation for both employers and unions.

Find out more by reading our report.