JOINT STATEMENT
December 16, 2021
MADRE Staff and Leadership Work Together to
Promote Feminist Values in the Workplace
New York, NY — Today, MADRE employees alongside MADRE’s executive director and board are pleased to announce the formation of a staff union MADRE Staff United. Together, we are wholeheartedly committed to working to strengthen MADRE’s mission to advance human rights and social justice by meeting urgent needs in communities and creating lasting solutions to the crises of our time.
MADRE Staff United notified MADRE’s leadership on November 1 of the union and swiftly received voluntary recognition from the organization’s management team and board. When notifying MADRE leadership of its formation, MADRE Staff United members expressed that they are proud to work for an organization that undertakes innovative, intersectional work, and that its members are grateful to MADRE’s leadership for its dedication to making MADRE a place that inspires and motivates staff, the organization’s partners, and the larger community of the feminist movement. Union members believe that forming a union is the best way forward in continuing that transformative and collaborative change and for living MADRE’s feminist progressive values from within.
MADRE leadership is proud to support our staff in this effort and to join the growing number of nonprofit workplaces with collective bargaining agreements. We look forward to working with our colleagues and the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) in reaching an agreement that reflects our shared commitment to human rights and social justice.
MADRE Staff United members join thousands of non-profit workers across the United States represented by OPEIU’s Nonprofit Employees United initiative. They join OPEIU Local 2, which represents over 7,000 workers, many of whom work in the international affairs and human rights sectors. In the upcoming weeks, employees look forward to sitting down with MADRE management to begin negotiating a first contract.
