Who we are
Beyond the Bars is a worker center in South Florida building the social and economic power of workers with criminal records and their families to transform the industries that rely on their labor and open new doors to industries they’ve long been excluded from. Through organizing, advocacy, education, research, support, and cross-movement solidarity, we fight for a just and thriving future.
What we do
Worker Organizing
We organize criminalized workers to take collective action in industries that rely on their labor, building strategic campaigns to shift power in those industries.
Worker Education
We host workshops to increase workers' understanding of their rights and develop strategies to vindicate those rights, improving wages and work conditions.
Worker Advocacy
We advocate at federal, state, and local levels to expand labor protections, ensure enforcement of existing laws, and increase workers' access to quality jobs.
Worker Support
We host poetry classes, socials, and wellness circles for our members and work with partner organizations to help criminalized workers get the help they need.
Cross Movement Solidarity
When labor and anti-carceral organizers unite, working conditions improve for all. We bridge movements, expanding labor's role in carceral reform.
Worker Research
We use participatory research to strengthen our corporate campaigns and educate stakeholders on how the carceral-labor continuum impacts our work.
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In the News
Worker advocates kill Florida bill that would have eliminated labor protections for one million temp workers
May 6, 2025
These formerly incarcerated workers took on Florida’s most powerful lobbyist and won.
Building Bridges and Erasing Jail Debt: Katherine Passley
May 1, 2025
The winner of our Labor Organizer of the Year Award co-runs a member-led worker center for people with criminal records — the first of its kind in the country.
From Permanent Precarity to Permanent Power
May 1, 2025
At Beyond the Bars, we see what others refuse to see: the talent, discipline and vision of the criminalized working class.
How Miami-Dade County Led on Fee Elimination
Apr. 23, 2024
Beyond the Bars organizers and local government leaders discuss how they eliminated $10 million in jail fees and $100 million in jail debt.