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FEATURED COLLECTION

“I took a risk when I decided to strike…”

The sanitation workers of City Waste Union from the American Portrait documentary series and other workers share the role union organizing plays in their lives.

In “I Work”, the second episode of the American Portrait documentary series, fourteen New Orleans sanitation workers go on strike to demand higher wages, PPE, and hazard pay. Hear their story and that of workers of all trades as they share the trials and triumphs of labor organizing.

D'Artanian D.
New orleans, LA
26 Jun 2020
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To me, work means pride. As a union carpenter, we are the first one in and the last ones to leave. Something you can be so...

Traci Ann L.
Clinton Township, MI
01 Sep 2020
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What gets me out of bed in the morning is as a Union organizer I see the value of collective bargaining. When I walk out my door in the morning I see my neighborhood and I believe that every worker should have this same sense of...
Christopher D.
Belleville, WI
08 Dec 2020
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Rocio R.
Oakland, CA
12 Sep 2020
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What does work mean to me? It means the life...

Kurk K.
Paramus, NJ
13 Oct 2020
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I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a part of a cause, for today and for our future.

An M.
Skokie, IL
23 Sep 2020
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My name is Paula Arriaga and I'm with Local 1. I have been employed with Cuyahoga Falls City School District as a senior bus driver and an onboard...

Anonymous
Chicago, IL
23 Sep 2020
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Now is the time for justice for janitors.

Anonymous
Los Angeles, CA
10 Sep 2020
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Jameson W.
Kansas City, MO
15 Sep 2020
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Allyson C.
Seabrook, NH
20 Sep 2020
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My parent(s) wanted me to to support myself, on my own and not depend upon another person, It took me some time, because of lack of education, but I was lucky enough to become a teamster, and with a high school degree,I not only supported myself...
Lorri H.
New Windsor, NY
23 May 2020
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Maritza P.
Laurel, MD
29 Aug 2020
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Annie T.
New York, NY
19 Sep 2020
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Jonathan E.
New Orleans, LA
26 Jun 2020
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Kathy C.
Rohnert Park, CA
25 Sep 2020
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Ivy V.
Dallas, TX
18 Sep 2020
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Dave C.
Greensboro, NC
13 Sep 2020
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Melissa M.
Louisville, CO
28 Sep 2020
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Anonymous
Los Angeles, CA
13 Aug 2020
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Peter K.
Kent, WA
21 Sep 2020
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Olee S.
Las Vegas, NV
15 Sep 2020
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I hope people will do good work.

Al A.
San Francisco, CA
19 Apr 2020
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To me, work means fighting for unions.

Gayle G.
Milwaukee, WI
05 Nov 2020
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Tony C.
Douglasville, GA
26 Sep 2020
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