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Western Service Workers Association (WSWA) is an organization dedicated to providing cooperative assistance and networking for low-income workers.

They always welcome donations and volunteers.

The group is an entity of The National Labor Federation (NATLFED), and the credibility of the WSWA has been called into question locally. While many volunteers for the organization will describe the help they have given members of the community, citing food donations to individuals and various 'counseling' services offered, critics of the organization question the manner in which the WSWA is funded, and how efficiently their services are carried out. One blog lists the organization as a political cult.

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Related Links

• Community Organizations
• http://politicalcults.blogspot.com/2007/02/bratton-on-line-comes-around-on-western.html A re-post of Bruce Bratton's blog post about the WSWA
• Wikipedia Article: The National Labor Federation

Comments

2010-06-08 22:57:15   Not a non-profit for tax purposes. —70.231.236.177

2011-01-02 19:04:19   The Western Service Workers Association is NOT a non-profit organization! —98.210.236.255

2011-01-10 10:08:56   I would be curious to know what this organizations tax free status is? I would also like to see more information published on this organization and its internal structure, mission, goals, financial statements etc. There is much written about this organization online and all in all it leads to many questions. I would definitely do some investigation about them before I donated any time or money to them. —128.114.10.91

2011-04-19 23:13:23   Well, if you don't know what to believe from what you see on the internet, you could always check out the declassified FBI file on them (search NATLFED FBI file). For the most part, they seem to have done on-and-off undercover work since the 1970's and never really found much. No idea where the wild internet rumors come from. —24.7.168.23

2011-08-09 14:51:54   This organization is, if not a cult, a manipulative and dangerous organization. Please do not donate or volunteer, at least not without doing a sufficient amount of research. Please read the discussion here: http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/11/304593.shtml —69.28.127.2

2011-11-08 15:19:03   This organization is absolutely a cult. I was a volunteer there, who was pressured to commit 40+ hours a week as a translator and as an organizer. I was told many times that finishing my degree was not as important as the work I was doing there. On one occasion, when I told them I wouldn't be able to come in that day, the AA Chris showed up at my house to "check on me". That was when I stopped answering their phone calls. One girl who started volunteering the same time that I did ended up dropping out of college so she could pledge as a Cadre with them (someone who has dedicated their life to volunteering for WSWA). Stay FAR far away from them, and if you have any college student friends who get drawn in, GET THEM OUT. —209.204.131.212

2011-11-19 19:01:31   I help them out on occasion with time and donations and I have seen absolutely nothing which would imply that they are anything but a community self-help organization. I am very surprised by the comments here which imply something cultish about WSWA, because I see nothing but people helping others in the community obtain services which they may not otherwise be able to obtain, or of which they may be unaware. The full-time workers there are personable and generous with their time and energy; always very friendly and accommodating. Honestly, I think every community needs a place like this for disadvantaged people to get help, and anyone who has a negative opinion of the place really needs to get over there, spend an hour or two, and see what its all about, because I've seen nothing but positives. —166.205.138.60