The Awood Center (Norman grantee 2019–present) — “Awood” means “power” in Somali — was founded in 2017 in Minneapolis to build power and leadership in the East African community in response to labor abuses experienced by immigrants and refugees in low-wage jobs, particularly in Amazon warehouses in the Twin Cities. Workers were paid below the average wage for warehouse workers across the state, and one in every nine Amazon warehouse workers in Minnesota was injured on the job between 2018 and 2020, more than double the injury rate at non-Amazon warehouses.

Awood has built a track record of victories through a winning combination of worker education, direct action, and legislative advocacy. Members successfully negotiated with Amazon in 2018 for Somali-speaking management, time off for Eid, and an on-site prayer room; in 2021, they successfully advocated to transition seasonal workers into permanent positions with healthcare benefits and paid time off, with an increase to 700 workers achieving permanent status from just 200 workers from the year prior. In 2023, Awood helped to pass the Warehouse Worker Protection Act — the strongest warehouse worker protection law in the nation at the time — that requires employers to provide workers with written information about quotas and performance standards in their primary language and prohibits firing workers for failing to meet quotas that were never disclosed. In recognition of Awood’s impact, executive director Abdi Muse was selected for the Obama Foundation’s inaugural Leaders USA cohort in 2023 and was appointed by President Biden as a Senior Advisor to the US Department of Labor in 2024.

More info: 

• The Nation, May 17, 2023 article: Minnesota Enacts Landmark Protections for Amazon Warehouse Workers
• National Employment Law Project report: Injuries, Dead-End Jobs, and Racial Inequity in Amazon’s Minnesota Operations: A Case Study on the Human Costs of Amazon’s Growth