Shift Change is a digital platform for and by Chicago hospitality workers. We’re facing a crisis within this industry – wage theft, pervasive sexual harassment, and toxicity. These challenges are baked into the culture of this industry and go way beyond one bad employer. We’re advancing structural workplace changes, so we all will thrive.
Shift Change is a bilingual, mobile-responsive app-based reporting system where hospitality workers can report instances of abuse, wage theft, or harassment and can anonymously publish them, if they so choose. Published reports are added to our map, gathering all reports for a single restaurant in one location. This interactive tool provides solidarity and support amongst current workers. We also offer a tangible solidarity network to connect them to lawyers, mental health professionals, and action items for preventing future instances.
Shift Change provides a platform for workers to report instances of abuse or maltreatment, share their stories, and connect with a robust solidarity network of trauma-informed organizers, legal support, and mental health professionals. The initiative comes as a response to the hospitality industry’s high turnover rate and pervasive issues of abuse, discrimination, and wage theft.
Key Features of Shift Change include:
- Documentation of labor violations: Workers can self-report their experiences and be connected to a trauma-informed organizer who can provide further resources.
- Public Health Tool: Shift Change helps identify patterns of bad actors, address systemic issues, and promote overall well-being within the hospitality industry.
- Story Sharing: The platform provides a safe space for workers to share their experiences and organize with others with similar experiences.
- Solidarity Network: Workers will access a broad community of fellow workers, lawyers, mental health professionals, and individuals who support workers’ rights.
Shift Change aims to unite workers, expose systemic issues, and promote sustainable change within the hospitality industry.
We hope Shift Change will:
- Advance corporate responsibility through exposing bad actors and enacting workplace changes
- Foster our community’s empowerment through facilitating worker resiliency, coalition building, and mutual aid
- Surface the whisper networks and underground safety networks
Have a story to tell? Submit a report NOW and become a part of
Maintaining the integrity of Shift Change is incredibly important to us. We want to make sure that when workers come here, they can trust that we are not being controlled by the very corporations they are reporting. Because of this, we have made the decision to not use ad space to support Shift Change. Instead, we want to offer YOU the opportunity to become part of sustaining this work. Running on community support allows us to guarantee that the direction of Shift Change is determined by the wants and needs of WORKERS. Please consider donating here.
