Progressive change will only be realized through building power and exercising that power to determine the policies, priorities, and structures that govern our lives, our values, our economy, and our communities. Progressive power fundamentally relies on masses of people organized around a collective vision. 

The Miami Workers Center believes that truly liberating change will only result from a social justice movement whose power and vision is  rooted in the lives, experiences, and solutions of everyday working class people. In order to eradicate racism, sexism, economic exploitation and poverty, our central work is to build grassroots organization and leadership amongst low-wage workers, women, African-Americans, immigrants, Latinos, and poor people. Our goal is to help them build organizations that fight around the things that are important to them, develop their leadership capacity, and challenge them to adopt a vision of justice not just for their own issue but for all of humanity. 

Low-Income Families Fighting Together (LIFFT)
2000 - Present
LIFFT was originally founded as Minority Families Fighting Against Wages(MFFAW) in 1999. The roots of the organization are in the Liberty Square Housing Projects, affectionately known as the Pork n' Beans. Through MFFAW, the Workers Center helped women to organize against WAGEs, the local agency responsible for the welfare to work program. MFFAW dissolved and LIFFT was born through the fight to save the Pork n' Beans. Since then, housing has become the major issue for LIFFT as it took on other public housing issues, slum lords, and the impacts of gentrification on the African-American Community. LIFFT has become one of the strongest and most influential grasroots organizations in Miami-Dade County.

LIFFT’s mission is the following: "We are an organization of mothers, fathers, workers, residents and people who are trying to survive in Miami. We work low-wage jobs and live on small or fixed incomes.  We struggle against racism everyday. We are fighting for opportunity, equality, respect, and power we need to control our communities. We struggle to keep the politicians honest, the government fair, and stop corporations from putting their greed before our needs. We believe we can do this by organizing and uniting to take leadership ourselves."

  Miami in Action/Miami en Acción2005-Present
Miami in Action/Miami en Acción is based in the neighborhoods of Wynwood, Buena Vista, and Alapatah - all of which are working class Latino neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are at risk of wholesale gentrification. Wynwood is facing massive redevelopment as the city and corporate developers are pushing to make the area into a bohemianenclave. Alapatah is facing wide spread slumlord situations and Buena Vista is getting assaulted with raising rents for working class people as Wynwood is gentrified. MIA is building leadership of renters and homeowners in the area and building alliances to preseve the working class community.

Childcare Providers Organizing Committee
2000 - 2002
The Childcare Providers Organizing Committee was an organization of home-based childcare providers. The CPOC fought for fair wages and conditions and attempted to build a North Dade organization of providers. As part of the process, the Workers Center trained over 30 low-income women to begin their own certified childcare businesses and in the process educated them about their rights and organizing.