Workers' rights

Toiling under dangerous conditions, workers in our nation's meat-processing plants and on our farms are among the lowest paid and most vulnerable laborers in the country. An increasingly competitive global market is pushing wages lower and eroding worker rights.

In all its US work, Oxfam partners with local groups to tackle the fundamental causes of poverty and foster social change to alleviate it.

Support effective, efficient aid programs – they save lives.
Right now, forty percent of the world’s population – more than 2.5 billion people – live in poverty, struggling to survive on less than $2 per day. The persistence of global poverty poses a challenge to the security, prosperity and values of the United States. Cuts to the world's most vulnerable communities have real impacts. Tell Congress we won't stand by while they make cuts that will cost lives.
More actions
US Gulf Coast Recovery Program Fact Sheet
An overview of Oxfam America's continuing effort to rebuild the Gulf Coast
More publications
A state of fear: Human rights abuses in North Carolina’s tobacco industry
Inventory of Farmworker Issues and Protections in the United States
Weeding out abuses
Recommendations for a law-abiding farm labor system
Resilience and determination
Gulf Coast organizations defending worker and immigrant rights in the aftermath of Katrina
A Portrait of Louisiana
Louisiana Human Development Report 2009
Building Common Ground
How shared attitudes and concerns can create alliances between African-Americans and Latinos in a post-Katrina New Orleans
A Portrait of Mississippi
Mississippi Human Development Report 2009
Mirror on America
How the state of Gulf Coast recovery reflects on us all—Oxfam's report on the status of Gulf Coast recovery three years later.
Oxfam Impact April 2007
MIRA makes a difference
Oxfam Impact September/October 2006
Rebuilding the Gulf Coast: A Year Later
More research
Fund-raising for Oxfam: Frequently asked questions
Your community-led efforts can provide essential support as Oxfam fights poverty and responds to disasters.
Menu of event ideas
Want to raise awareness about poverty and hunger? Find ideas for events you can host at your school, on campus, in your community, or or in the workplace.
Oxfam America organizing guide
From reaching out to your legislator to making your voice heard in the media, follow these tips to take action on the issues that move you.
Oxfam America House Party guide
Tools for hosting a high-impact event
Gulf Coast government guide
A Directory of the National, State, and Local Officials Representing Coastal Mississippi
US Gulf Coast Recovery Program Fact Sheet
An overview of Oxfam America's continuing effort to rebuild the Gulf Coast
More tools for activists
The New Pornographers for Oxfam's Gulf Coast Program
The New Pornographers and Oxfam collaborate to bring you their new video for the song "Sweet Talk, Sweet Talk," featuring local residents still reeling from the BP oil spill.
More multimedia

Features Subscribe | View All

Historic breakthrough in Florida’s tomato fields

Historic breakthrough in Florida’s tomato fields

Longtime Oxfam partner brings about wide-ranging transformation in farm labor conditions

Read more

Oxfam, partner delivers new report to Secretary of Labor

Oxfam, partner delivers new report to Secretary of Labor

Secretary Solis responds to findings of "Weeding out abuses: Recommendations for a law-abiding farm labor system."

Read more

Rallying for rights

Rallying for rights

Farmworkers in North Carolina take their case to RJ Reynolds.

Read more

New tool helps communities focus on human rights

New tool helps communities focus on human rights

A new system will help community members do their own analysis of the effects of foreign investment on human rights.

Read more

Top 10 things you need to know about Oxfam

Top 10 things you need to know about Oxfam

Here are the most important facts about Oxfam America: what we do, how we do it, and how you can get involved in our mission.

Read more

¡Miembro!

¡Miembro!

A historic contract for members of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee provides a host of protections for immigrant workers.

Read more

Taking on the 'green monster'

Taking on the 'green monster'

In the tobacco fields of North Carolina, workers put in long days under grueling conditions. Baldemar Velasquez finds out just how hard the job is.

Read more

New report documents the fading of the American dream

New report documents the fading of the American dream

New index is a single measure of well-being for all Americans based on indicators in three key areas: health, education and income.

Read more

Oxfam, CIW celebrate Burger King's promise of a wage hike

Oxfam, CIW celebrate Burger King's promise of a wage hike

A penny a pound more for the tomatoes they pick could mean a near doubling of wages for Florida field laborers.

Read more

Yum! Brands agree to hike pay for Florida tomato pickers

Yum! Brands agree to hike pay for Florida tomato pickers

Florida tomato pickers, among some of the poorest paid workers in the United States, have won another victory in their fight to earn a decent living wage.

Read more

US farmworkers reach historic agreement with McDonald's

US farmworkers reach historic agreement with McDonald's

Some tomato pickers in southwestern Florida could see their wages nearly double now that McDonald's has agreed to pay them a penny a pound more for the produce they gather.

Read more

Oxfam builds support for human rights at meat processing plant

Oxfam builds support for human rights at meat processing plant

Oxfam America is concerned about the human rights of the thousands of employees who work at a blinding pace at the facility without any of the protections a union could offer them.

Read more

» More stories «