Restaurant Opportunities Center of Boston
Boston, MassachusettsRestaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) of Boston is a multicultural, grassroots organization founded in 2013 to improve working conditions in Boston’s restaurant industry. ROC-Boston is an affiliate of the national network, ROC-United, which has close to 13,000 low-wage worker members, 100 employer partners, and several thousand consumer members in 32 localities nationwide, including staffed affiliates in New York, New Orleans, Southeast Michigan, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, the Bay Area, Boston, and Seattle. ROC surrounds the restaurant industry to build power for low-wage workers by employing a tri-prong model that includes: 1) organizing workers to confront exploitation, low wages, and poor standards in their workplaces; 2) lifting industry standards through participatory research and policy work; and 3) promoting the ‘high road’ to profitability through partnerships with responsible restaurateurs, cooperative restaurant development, and a workforce- development program that moves low-income workers into livable-wage jobs and introduces them to a college pathway.
Intern tasks include: 1) Increase membership of impacted restaurant workers through extensive outreach and recruitment; 2) Develop leadership and political consciousness amongst restaurant workers through trainings, relationship building, and shared experiences; implement political education curriculum; 3) Mobilize restaurant workers from diverse communities to support ROC-Unite’s One Fair Wage campaign; 4) Provide administrative support to senior organizers in doing outreach and mapping of coalition allies representing community groups, labor unions, business, and legislative officials.
- Specific Skills Needed: Experience in community or social movement organizing with a demonstrated capacity to mobilize a racially diverse group of workers/community members/ and other stake-holders; Passionate commitment to community/multi-racial organizing and social, economic and racial justice; Strong organizational skills, including the ability to work independently and manage own projects; Computer literacy including MS Office, Google applications; Understanding of Massachusetts politics; Goal-orientated in their work and has personal and professional vision for change; Must have a flexible schedule to accommodate some weekend and evening hours; Fluent in another language in addition to English a plus; Restaurant experience a plus; Familiarity with public policy work a plus
- Number of Intern Placements: 2
- Internship Time Frame: Flexible
There is no low-cost or free housing provided with this internship.
Access to a car is a plus, but public transportation is a sufficient way to get around Boston.
Interns are eligible for a stipend of no more than $1,500 from UUCSJ to assist with food, local public transit, and incidentals, depending on a variety of factors. Applicants are encouraged to seek other sources of funding, including grants from colleges and foundations, congregational support, and Faithify, or other crowd sourcing fundraisers.
