Media Contact: MetroCaringWorkersUnited@gmail.com
A supermajority of eligible staff at Metro Caring, a Denver-based anti-hunger nonprofit, formed a union and sought voluntary recognition last week. Workers are organizing with the Denver Newspaper Guild, TNG-CWA Local 37074.
A supermajority of workers signed union authorization cards, forming Metro Caring Workers United, and asked nonprofit management for voluntary recognition by December 12.
In a joint statement, the staff that formed Metro Caring Workers United said, “We greatly appreciate the opportunity to work in our collaborative, industry-leading organization. Metro Caring has a history of investing in employee well-being, with innovative and robust benefits. We hope to enshrine those benefits and more for generations of employees to come.”
Members see the union as a reflection of Metro Caring’s organizational value of rising together to grow as a sector thought leader.
“I’m excited about the formation of Metro Caring Workers United and the possibility it brings for all staff to engage in collective decision making,” says Katie Toland, who works as Metro Caring’s data coordinator. “We are organizing out of a passion for our work and our commitment to Metro Caring’s future rooted in solidarity.”
Joy Concepcion, Metro Caring’s head of training and acceleration, is a third generation union member, following in the footsteps of her grandfather, uncle and father.
“Because of being in a union previously, my husband and I were able to start our family and welcome our daughter into this world without going into medical debt,” Concepcion says. “I am now in a position to be a part of the movement to preserve the rights I have benefited from. As we face existential crises around every bend, it will take all of our collective creativity at the table to co-create the solutions our world needs. By preserving collective power through unions, we ensure that everyone has a place at the table.”
The union members expressed gratitude to the organization’s leadership and Board of Directors for their dedication to supporting staff and are hopeful for continued support in making the workplace positive and collaborative to sustain their movement to end hunger.
As Metro Caring celebrates its 50th anniversary, the organization is turning more of its attention to addressing the root causes of hunger. Worker unions are seen as an effective way to address root causes of hunger like inequitable pay and the racial wealth gap. Metro Caring Workers United hopes their unionization reflects their dedication to the mission and is a show of solidarity with the wave of unionization at companies across the country and nonprofits in Denver, including Denver Urban Gardens, the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and Urban Peak.
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About Metro Caring Workers United
The mission of Metro Caring is to build a movement to end hunger together. Metro Caring Workers United is organizing out of a passion for this mission: to preserve the things we love about our jobs, to cement our collaborative decision making structure and to create the conditions in which our staff can sustain this movement.
About the Denver Newspaper Guild
The Denver Newspaper Guild is a local of The NewsGuild-Communications Workers of America and represents workers at newspapers, other unions and nonprofits across Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and Montana. To learn more, visit denvernewspaperguild.org.