The Economic Justice Research Lab’s first project seeks to recover and preserve the activist cultures of two broad categories of essential laborers in the city: 1) tourism and hospitality, including hotel, restaurant, and other services such as musicians, cultural workers, and related construction and day laborers that are integral to the city’s economic base in tourism; and 2) healthcare workers. Both groups are making headlines in recent years as their unions have achieved unprecedented victories.
This project uses oral history and kindred methods to publicly document the history and present of essential workers’ own collective organizing in New Orleans, a city in the crosshairs of climate change and suffering extreme inequities further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our team of academic researchers partners with representatives from local unions, workers’ centers, non-profits, and community-based storytellers and archives to record and preserve new oral history interviews with tourism industry and healthcare workers who have been or are current advocates in the struggle for higher wages, stable employment, fair treatment, and unionization in their industries. Our pool of narrators includes rank and file workers, union staff, and community organizers.
We seek to learn directly from the rank and file leaders who not only advocated for better conditions on the job but also rallied their co-workers or brought neighbors and other activists into the fight with them. We want to understand the cultures of their workplaces, the solidarities they forged, the visions they expounded, and the successes and failures of their various campaigns, strategies, and tactics. We ask broad, open-ended questions about their childhoods and early lives, their transitions into the workforce, and the ways in which they got involved in collective organizing. Their stories shed light on not only their personal experiences but the broader experiences of the many workers they sought to bring together and represented as union and community organizers.
This project links leading academic researchers with community partners, both of whom play a central role in directing and executing the project. Our five-member Advisory Board includes allied researchers and representatives from relevant unions and membership-based working-class organizations. Board members work collaboratively with us to identify and recruit interviewees and are invited to join in conducting interviews and interpreting and presenting our findings.
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Oral History Interview with Felix Allen
Felix Allen and Max Krochmal
Felix Allen is a 29-year-old musician who worked at a Lowe's store in New Orleans from late 2020 to mid-2022. He was born in Raleigh, North Carolina to a white father and Chinese mother, and studied music in college before moving to New Orleans to pursue a career as a drummer. He became involved in labor organizing after witnessing poor working conditions and treatment of employees at the Lowe's store.
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Oral History Interview with Beth Butler
Beth Butler and Max Krochmal
Beth Butler began working with Acorn in the 1970s, first in Little Rock and then taking leadership roles in Acorn offices across the South, including in Dallas, Fort Worth, Memphis, and ultimately New Orleans starting in 1980. She has been a central figure in Acorn and Community Voice's work in New Orleans for over 40 years.
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Oral History Interview with Scott Cooper (Part 1)
Scott Cooper and Max Krochmal
Scott Cooper was born in 1972 in Tennessee, where his father was a Methodist preacher and his mother was a union teacher. He attended Duke University, where he became involved in community organizing through programs like the "Interns and Conscience" initiative. After graduating, he worked with various community organizations and unions, including the Industrial Areas Foundation, AFSCME, and eventually Unite Here.
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Oral History Interview with Scott Cooper (Part 2)
Scott Cooper and Max Krochmal
Scott Cooper was born in 1972 in Tennessee, where his father was a Methodist preacher and his mother was a union teacher. He attended Duke University, where he became involved in community organizing through programs like the "Interns and Conscience" initiative. After graduating, he worked with various community organizations and unions, including the Industrial Areas Foundation, AFSCME, and eventually Unite Here.
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Oral History Interview with Robert Horton (Part 1)
Robert Horton and Max Krochmal
Robert Horton, a native of New Orleans, shared his life journey, highlighting his experiences from the 1980s to the present. He discussed his early education, his father's incarceration, and the impact of Hurricane Katrina on his family. Horton's involvement in grassroots organizing began with Black Men United and the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, focusing on economic justice, fatherhood, and community policing. He later worked with Critical Resistance and Step Up Louisiana, developing new leaders and advocating for the Workers Bill of Rights. Horton emphasized the importance of political education and civic engagement in community organizing. Robert Horton discusses the interconnectedness of racial capitalism and capitalism, emphasizing that capitalism inherently benefits white individuals due to racial biases. He identifies as a revolutionary, advocating for social change and anti-racism. Horton highlights the exploitation of the Latinx community, who perform jobs previously held by African Americans, and the potential for tension between the two groups. Horton stresses the importance of challenging white supremacy systemically to achieve true racial justice.
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Oral History Interview with Robert Horton (Part 2)
Robert Horton and Max Krochmal
Robert Horton, a native of New Orleans, shared his life journey, highlighting his experiences from the 1980s to the present. He discussed his early education, his father's incarceration, and the impact of Hurricane Katrina on his family. Horton's involvement in grassroots organizing began with Black Men United and the People's Institute for Survival and Beyond, focusing on economic justice, fatherhood, and community policing. He later worked with Critical Resistance and Step Up Louisiana, developing new leaders and advocating for the Workers Bill of Rights. Horton emphasized the importance of political education and civic engagement in community organizing. Robert Horton discusses the interconnectedness of racial capitalism and capitalism, emphasizing that capitalism inherently benefits white individuals due to racial biases. He identifies as a revolutionary, advocating for social change and anti-racism. Horton highlights the exploitation of the Latinx community, who perform jobs previously held by African Americans, and the potential for tension between the two groups. Horton stresses the importance of challenging white supremacy systemically to achieve true racial justice.
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Oral History Interview with Harold John (Part 1)
Harold John and Max Krochmal
Harold John is a former union steward who worked for the U.S. Postal Service. They have been heavily involved in labor activism, political advocacy, and community organizing over the course of their career.
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Oral History Interview with Harold John (Part2)
Harold John and Max Krochmal
Harold John is a former union steward who worked for the U.S. Postal Service. They have been heavily involved in labor activism, political advocacy, and community organizing over the course of their career.
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Oral History Interview with Shaun Mills
Shaun Mills and Rafael Delgadillo
Sean Mills is a 46-year-old organizer with Unite Here, a labor union. He was born and raised in the Uptown area of New Orleans, attending Alcee Fortier High School. Mills has worked in the service industry, including as a cook at a private golf club and later at the Harris Casino. His experiences with workplace issues like nepotism and lack of advancement opportunities led him to get involved in the unionization effort at Harris Casino, which he helped lead to a successful contract negotiation.
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Oral History Interview with Terry Mogilles
Terry Mogilles and Max Krochmal
Terry Mogilles is a 48-year veteran registered nurse in New Orleans. She grew up in the Lafitte Housing Project, attended St. Joseph High School, and received her nursing education at the Charity Hospital School of Nursing. She has worked in a variety of nursing roles, including community-based hospitals, ICU, dialysis, and mental health. For 25 years, she and her husband operated a community mental health center. In 2023, she joined UMC hospital and became actively involved in organizing the nurses' union there.
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Oral History Interview with Helene O'Brien
Helene O'Brien and Rafael Delgadillo
Helene O'Brien was born in 1963 in the Bronx, New York. She grew up in a progressive, union-oriented environment and was exposed to the Catholic Worker movement and liberation theology from a young age. She began her career as a community organizer with ACORN in New York City in the late 1980s, eventually becoming the national field director for the organization. After Hurricane Katrina, she moved to New Orleans to help lead ACORN's efforts there, and later transitioned to working with SEIU in Louisiana and Florida, where she currently serves as the Vice President for Local 32 BJ of SEIU.
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Oral History Interview with Wade Rathke
Wade Rathke and Max Krochmal
Wade Rathke is a long-time community and labor organizer. He grew up in New Orleans and was involved in civil rights and social justice activism from a young age. He helped found the community organization ACORN in 1970 and later established Local 100, an independent labor union, to organize workers in various industries. Rathke has been a central figure in progressive organizing in the South for over 50 years.
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Oral History Interview with Kenya Slaughter
Kenya Slaughter and Rafael Delgadillo
Ken Slaughter is an organizer with Step Up Louisiana. She was born and raised in Oakland, California in 1982 and later moved to Louisiana in 2011, settling in Alexandria. Prior to her organizing work, she had various jobs, including working at Radio Shack and a hair store, before starting at Dollar General in 2018.
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Oral History Interview with Greg Wilson (Part 1)
Greg Wilson and Rafael Delgadillo
Greg Wilson is a native of New Orleans, born in 1971 and raised in the Algiers neighborhood. He comes from a family with a history of community activism, with his grandfather and father both involved in local politics and organizing. Wilson was active in various student organizations in high school and college, which laid the groundwork for his later career in labor and community organizing.
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Oral History Interview with Greg Wilson (Part 2)
Greg Wilson and Rafael Delgadillo
Greg Wilson is a native of New Orleans, born in 1971 and raised in the Algiers neighborhood. He comes from a family with a history of community activism, with his grandfather and father both involved in local politics and organizing. Wilson was active in various student organizations in high school and college, which laid the groundwork for his later career in labor and community organizing.
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Oral History Interview with Ben Zucker (Part 1)
Ben Zucker and Max Krochmal
Ben Zucker is the co-director of Step Up Louisiana, an economic justice organization based in New Orleans. He grew up in a family of union organizers, with both of his parents involved in labor activism. Zucker was exposed to this work from a young age and continued his involvement in social justice movements as a student at Tulane University, where he supported campus workers' efforts to unionize. After graduating, Zucker worked on the Fight for 15 campaign, organizing fast food workers across the country, before returning to New Orleans to co-found Step Up Louisiana.
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Oral History Interview with Ben Zucker (Part 2)
Ben Zucker and Max Krochmal
Ben Zucker is the co-director of Step Up Louisiana, an economic justice organization based in New Orleans. He grew up in a family of union organizers, with both of his parents involved in labor activism. Zucker was exposed to this work from a young age and continued his involvement in social justice movements as a student at Tulane University, where he supported campus workers' efforts to unionize. After graduating, Zucker worked on the Fight for 15 campaign, organizing fast food workers across the country, before returning to New Orleans to co-found Step Up Louisiana.