Wade Rathke Chief Organizer Report

Wade Rathke
Chief Organizer
Action Camp 2014
Staffordshire, England
Based on ACORN Model
Community and Labor with Low Wage Workers
Federated
• Close to 100,000 members globally now
• 70,000 in Canada over the last decade
more than 10,000 union of street vendors, security guards
and dockworkers in Bengaluru and Chennai,
with another 2000 in Delhi and 1000 in Mumbai
ACORN International
Organizations and partnerships in a total of 17 countries
With ACORN affiliates not only in India and Canada, but also in
the United States, Italy, Czech Republic, Kenya, and across
Latin America in Mexico, Honduras, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina,
and the Dominican Republic.
Partnerships in Indonesia, Korea, and the Philippines.
Emerging chapters now being organized in South Africa,
England, and Scotland,
but we’ll talk much more about that.
Campaigns
• Remittance Justice
• Digital Divide
• Landlord/Tenant Licensing
(examples from Toronto & Rome)
Remittance Justice
Digital Divide
Landlord/Tenant Licensing
Example: From Landlord Licensing to Healthy Homes.
Demand: Municipal by law in Surrey BC focused on standards of
maintenance
Doorknocking, Home Visits, and
Personal Contact
ACORN India & FDI Watch Beating Walmart
Ecuador ACORN
Port a Potty Action
Demand: Install a washroom at the Tenant Board
Ottawa City Hall Work Order Close Line
Demand: City to force landlord to do repairs
Ottawa – Mattress Action
Demand: More long term addictions recovery centres
ACORN Model 1970-2008
Constituency Focused: Low-and-Moderate Income, Multi-racial
Membership-and-mass based
Direct Action
Multi-Issue and Campaign Triggered
Democratic
Political
Coordinated Autonomy
One central, unified organization - - a union in the community
NWRO at 20 in Massachusetts
in the United States
ACORN Founded 1970 in Little Rock, Arkansas
Expanding 1975-1980
20/80 Plan
ACORN at 20 States in 1980
ACORN Family of Organizations
600 Community Organizations
Labor Unions in Illinois, Indiana,
Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas
ACORN & Unions at Convention
Community Radio Stations
Little Rock, Dallas, and Tampa
35 Offices
ACORN Service Centers
Taxes for 50,000 per year, Saving $20 Million
Campaign Results
Living Wage Campaigns
• 150 Campaigns
• Ballot propositions in
2006 on Minimum Wage
• $3 Billion in benefits for
1.3 million in Ohio, Arizona,
Missouri, and Colorado
alone.
Housing: via ACORN agreements negotiated with banks directly
over 30 years, 6 million houses (even at $100,000 value per house =
roughly $600 billion worth of ownership).
HSBC Example on Predatory Lending – Agreement in
Campaign $2 million to ACORN per year for 3 Years
Tax Preparers: Agreements with
• H& R Block
• Jackson-Hewitt
• Liberty Tax Services
Curtailed Refund Anticipation Loans (eventually barred) where previously 10.5 million
people were paying $1.2 Billion in predator fees
Community Development Benefits
Victories 1995-2004
Local ACORN Chapters Over the Same 10-Year Period
Voter Registration
1.5 Million New Voters in 2008
What it All Means?
Katrina 2005
New Orleans Residents from Across the Diaspora Protest in DC
ACORN Model - Canada Video
Citizen Wealth – the Movie
Wade Rathke Chief Organizer ACORN International
chieforganizer@acorninternational.org
acorninternational.org
ACORN International/Community Organization International ~ Facebook
ACORN International on Twitter @worldorganizers
Follow Wade’s blog at
chieforganizer.org
Order Books on Organizing and Subscribe to Social Policy Magazine
socialpolicy.org
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Global Grassroots
Citizen Wealth
Battle of the Ninth Ward
Lessons from the Field