Ford Foundation Highlights the Work of GWA

We are excited to present the Ford Foundation's article highlighting the efforts of GWA to enhance conditions in the renewable energy sector. The article features solar worker and GWA activist DaShawn Beaulieu, along with other inspiring leaders from four grantees, who are employing innovative strategies to organize workers in temporary and similarly precarious jobs.

DaShawn spoke about the problems of the employment model in his field. “There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity within solar, but it’s very rough work, and there’s always a threat of imminent danger. It’s a free-for-all with no protection; if someone gets injured at work, there’s nobody to call... To eliminate a bunch of that liability, the companies always go through a temp agency.” I was also quoted in the piece, laying out the stark choice facing this industry: “There are two paths forward. There’s continuing on this race-to-the-bottom path, where work in this industry and others is being done by folks who are taken advantage of as long as the companies can get away with it. And the other path is to come up with a high-road model: helping people with issues on the job, building worker power. That’s the start to transforming this industry.” And that is precisely what GWA is doing!

We are grateful for the Ford Foundation's support and leadership on these issues and excited to learn from the efforts of the Model Alliance, Grassroots Law & Organizing for Workers (GLOW), Worker’s Justice Project, and For the Many, all of which were featured in the article.