Workers

In this short activity, pegged to a planned nationwide strike by low-wage workers on April 15, students discuss the growing movement to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour.    

The nation's largest private employer just raised its wages. This short activity has students consider the significance of Walmart's move and what motivated it.  

Two student readings give an overview of conditions facing U.S. farmworkers, past efforts at farmworker organizing, and the current successes of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Questions for discussion follow each reading.

This lesson focuses on a less well-known part of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, but one that is extremely relevant today: the Poor People’s Campaign that Dr. King led over 40 years ago. The lesson links this campaign to current struggles to combat poverty in the US, including efforts by workers at...

Students learn about the demographics and experiences of fast food workers and their efforts to raise wages through strikes over the past year, and consider what consequences major wage increases might have on consumers and economy. 

A wave of protests by Walmart workers highlights the low wages and anti-union climate facing workers at Walmart - and many other companies. In two readings, students explore the debate over Walmart’s business model and labor practices and find out about recent protests at Walmart stores across the...

See our three recent classroom lessons aimed at helping students grapple with both the personal and political sides of high-stakes testing: