Naomi Harris, 21, and Brandon Beachum, 35, are founding members of the newly established Union of Southern Service Workers (USSW), who gathered in Columbia, South Carolina, on Nov. 17 for a three-day summit to launch their effort. They were joined by hundreds of service workers from throughout the South who work in home care, retail, restaurants, fast food and warehouses. They promised to use “any means necessary” to obtain fair pay, health and safety protections, equal treatment and fair and consistent work scheduling for the hundreds of thousands of workers in the Southern service industry.
Inspired by the Fight for $15 movement to raise minimum wage laws and improve working conditions, they will forgo using the cumbersome and deeply flawed National Labor Relations Board union election process to obtain their goals. Direct action and collective power are key to their approach.
