Open Call: Organized Labor in the United States
Laila Annmarie Stevens
Magnum Foundation in collaboration with the Economic Hardship Reporting Project (EHRP) are supporting photographic projects on the changing shape of organized labor in the United States, to be co-published by Mother Jones and EHRP. The deadline to apply has been extended to August 15, 2023 at 11:59 PM.
TOPIC OVERVIEW
After decades of rising inequality, unions are more popular than they have been in a half century in the United States. The radicalizing effects of the pandemic and high profile union campaigns at Amazon and Starbucks have combined to elevate the profile of organized labor in recent years.
In reality, though, the picture is decidedly mixed. In the middle of the 20th century, one in three American workers was a union member. Today, that number is only one in ten–despite the fact that tens of millions of working people say they would join a union if they could. The changing face of unions is further complicated by the “gig economy.” It’s also geographic: Though organized labor wields great power in certain places, it is nearly nonexistent in others.
The aim of this partnership is to capture the full range of organized labor’s power in America today–where it is strong, where it is growing, and where workers who fall through the cracks are forced to find creative ways to fend for themselves. This initiative aims to reflect American labor in all its diversity: demographic, economic, and geographic. We hope to highlight lesser known, underappreciated aspects of the workforce–those who may not have gotten much exposure, but are nonetheless embodiments of one aspect of what the labor movement means today. The true story of unions in America is one of hopeful progress mixed with frustrating decline, and we hope to show it in all its nuance.
Program Details
This initiative will support up to eight photographic projects on labor movements in the United States to be featured on the Mother Jones website with the possibility of print publication. Selected photographers will produce their projects during the fall of 2023 and deliver their completed work by December 15, 2023. Each selected project will receive a grant of up to $4,000. This grant includes a $2,000 creative fee, up to $1,000 in expenses, and a $1,000 publication fee. Additional funding is available for selected projects that require extensive travel.
In addition to grant funding, selected participants will receive editorial support from Magnum Foundation and Mother Jones. All final decisions on the publication of grantee projects in Mother Jones Magazine will be made by the Mother Jones editorial team. We do not guarantee that all grantee stories will be published.
Example Topic Areas
Proposed projects should focus on a specific union, organization, or group of workers in a specific place. Below are topic areas intended to inspire proposals. We welcome proposals outside of the examples below.
Strong unions: Unions that have established themselves as powerful forces for the betterment of their members’ lives, and which are fighting or have fought major labor battles on behalf of the working class. For example: The Association of Flight Attendants is organizing 25,000 Delta flight attendants in the nation’s largest union drive, based in Atlanta; The Teamsters are gearing up for a possible strike with UPS, which would shut down a major company and put hundreds of thousands of workers on picket lines this summer.
Grassroots: These are workers who have found ways to organize and build power outside of the traditional union establishment. Whether worker centers that fight for non-union low wage workers, independent unions that were recently organized and run by workers themselves, or some other form of organization, this category shows how the labor movement is in reality broader and more spontaneous than many people assume. For example: Under the banner of Trader Joe's United, employees of the grocery chain have successfully unionized several stores, something that existing grocery unions have never done; Groups like NDLON fight for protections for day laborers, who are often ignored by labor law.
In the struggle: These are workers who are in a fight for their own future, with uncertain prospects. In vast swaths of our economy–from the “gig economy” to industries where technological changes have eroded worker power–people have little access to strong unions, and organized labor groups are still trying to establish themselves against overwhelming corporate power. The situation of these workers is not hopeless, but they will have to overcome major structural disadvantages. For example: Uber drivers, a staple of the “gig economy,” are still prohibited from unionizing, unlike their taxi driver counterparts. But drivers are among the most organized of all gig workers, and state level groups have won minimum wages and other measures to protect them; Dollar stores are one of the biggest sectors of the retail economy, but their workers face notoriously poor safety and understaffing, and are often located in small communities with little union infrastructure. In dollar stores, as in many major chain stores, organizing has only just begun.
HOW TO APPLY
To apply, photographers should submit their story pitches and samples of prior work through Magnum Foundation’s Submittable platform linked below. Applications are due August 15, 2023 at 11:59 PM.
All are welcome to apply. We especially encourage applications from individuals whose authorship has historically been undersupported or underrepresented within the field of documentary photography, including Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian individuals; individuals who are part of racial, ethnic, economic, or religious minority groups; women; gender non-conforming individuals; LGBTQI+ individuals; disabled people; and others.
Applicants will be notified by mid-September
If you have any questions, please email submissions@magnumfoundation.org.