We are workers with records in Florida building power together to fight for the rights and dignity we deserve.
Across the country, more than 114 million people live with criminal records, locked out of stable jobs and pushed into temp work with low wages, unsafe conditions, and constant surveillance. We organize to change that.
WHAT WE DO
Worker Organizing
We build worker committees to organize workers with records to take collective action so we can win better pay, safer jobs, and dignity on the job.
Worker Education
We train workers on their rights on the job and in the community so we can protect ourselves, bring others in, and lead campaigns that change conditions for everyone.
Worker Advocacy
We fight for labor protections, strong enforcement, and fair hiring policies so employers can’t use a record to keep wages low and workers disposable.
Worker Research
We use participatory research to strengthen our strategic campaigns and educate stakeholders on how the carceral-labor continuum impacts our people.
Worker Support
We offer healing spaces, mutual support, and community resources so workers can stabilize their lives while building long-term collective power.
Cross Movement Solidarity
When labor and criminal justice organizations unite, working conditions improve for all. We bridge movements to expand worker power and challenge exploitation.
“freedom is never granted, its won. justice is never given, its exacted”
A. Philip Randolph, labor organizer and civil rights leader
Worker advocates manage to kill Florida bill that would have eliminated labor protections for temp workers.
These formerly incarcerated temp workers took on the most powerful lobbyist in the state and won.
From Permanent Precarity to Permanent Power
At Beyond the Bars, we see what others refuse to see: the talent, discipline and vision of the criminalized working class.
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