Building Local Power Before and Beyond the 2026 FIFA World Cup

FIFA’s 2026 Men’s Soccer World Cup games are coming soon to 16 host cities in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Since FIFA selected North America’s bid, local and national groups have fought to highlight the tangible risks associated with the tournament – displacement, police abuse, low-road temporary jobs.

A national coalition of labor movement, economic justice, sports equity and community-based organizations – including PowerSwitch Action, Jobs with Justice, the AFL-CIO, GLJ-ILRF, Human Rights Watch, Centro de los derechos del migrante, and Athlete Ally – have driven a multi-layered, sustained campaign on FIFA. Our coalition, calling itself Dignity 2026, has focused on forcing FIFA and other high-level targets to ensure that the games deliver true economic benefit for those who live and work in host communities throughout years of planning and preparations and beyond. This includes specific guarantees related to living wages, inclusive hiring, worker-led health and safety programs, migrant protections, non-discrimination, and workers’ collective power.

Photo Credit: Dignity 2026 Coalition

Support from OSF and the Ford Foundation, in tandem with extensive in-kind contributions from across coalition partners, have brought the campaign to this crucial juncture. As the focus now shifts to critical state and local efforts, there are new opportunities to support workers and their communities as they negotiate directly with FIFA and their business partners toward binding, enforceable agreements that survive well beyond the 2026 World Cup and build an enduring workers rights legacy.

We invite you to a funder briefing that will feature local coalitions building dynamic, multi-issue campaigns in Miami and Houston – two of five host cities facing increasingly repressive anti-worker, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-democratic state laws-and a discussion on how we build and coordinate local fights across cities and transnationally.

Join us on Wednesday, November 1, 2023 at 11- 12pm PT| 1-2pm CT| 2-3pm ET to hear from speakers including:

• Cathy Feingold, AFL-CIO
• Danne Diamond, Athlete Ally
• Jonathan Alingu, Jobs with Justice Central Florida
• Hany Khalil, New Houston (affiliate of PowerSwitch Action) and Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation
• Mary Beth Maxwell, OSF
• José Garcia, Ford Foundation

Please note that this briefing is intended for staff of foundations, philanthropic advisors and philanthropy serving organizations only.

This event is co-hosted by Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundation and Funders for a Just Economy.