The Southern Poverty Law Center and an SPLC employees' union have reached a collective bargaining agreement providing pay raises, expanded benefits and a $20 an hour minimum wage to workers at the nonprofit.
The agreement, coming after nearly two years of often tense negotiations, represents a milestone for the nonprofit, which has waged legal battles against racial discrimination and for workers rights for five decades but has long faced allegations of internal discrimination against minority employees, especially for leadership roles.
In a joint statement Monday, SPLC President and CEO Margaret Huang and Cet Parks, the executive director of Washington-Baltimore News Guild Local 32035, TNG-CWA, which represented SPLC employees, said the contract could "be a catalyst for economic and racial justice in the South and beyond."
"It will support all the SPLC employees who work every day to achieve a vision of a world where everyone can thrive and the ideals of equity, justice and liberation are a reality for all," the statement said.
The contract covers about 250 SPLC employees. The nonprofit's 2020 990 form, the most recent one available, said SPLC employed 475 people on Oct. 31, 2020. Huang said in a statement last March that SPLC had "nearly 400" employees. Messages seeking more recent numbers were sent to SPLC on Monday morning.
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