WORKERS' CENTERS - Help Wanted
Legal leads wanted.
Have you done legal work to support organizing for low-wage immigrant
worker rights? We are looking for leads to attorneys who have addressed
issues such as wage theft, occupational safety and health, workers
compensation, sexual harassment, discrimination, employment
authorization for immigrants, retaliation, misclassification of
employees as independent contractors, or unemployment.
Have you
helped workers' organizations or community groups defend legal attacks
using claims under tortious interference, defamation, libel, trademark,
anti-SLAPP, or First Amendment law in the course of organizing
campaigns?
Campaign leads sought.
Do you know of innovative approaches being implemented to fight the
widespread abuse of vulnerable low-wage immigrant workers, such as
integrating organizing campaigns and legal services, leadership
development and membership building, administrative advocacy and
coalition building, or strategic litigation and enforceable settlement
agreements?
Our project needs you.
Help us document and bring attention to creative lawyering and
organizing strategies and build upon existing forums for sharing such
information among the many organizations defending the rights of
low-wage and immigrant workers.
Please contact Jessie Hahn & Charlie Noss,
law students at Northeastern University working on a national survey of
innovative strategies combining worker organizing and legal advocacy to
defend the rights of low-wage and immigrant workers. Email jessie.hahn@gmail.com or charlotte.noss@ gmail.com or call (617) 373-8288.
Editor's note: We will post the results of Jessie & Charlie's research on our website.
What Are Workers' Centers?
Workers' centers are:
- Community-based, generally localized organizations addressing the needs of immigrant and low-wage workers. These
workers are routinely exploited and abused on the job, and the growing
network of workers' centers is fighting to correct these injustices to
achieve economic and political rights.
- Common
goals for workers' centers include educating workers about their rights
on the job and about how to better advocate for those rights,
developing leadership skills inlcuding by engaging in self-governance,
and providing literacy and skills classes.
- Currently, there are hundreds of these organizations around the country.
In
addition to the workers' centers, there are foundations supporting
workers' rights activities. Links to several of these networks are
found at the bottom of this page along with links to a reasonably
comprehensive list of workers' centers and additional information.
How do workers' centers operate?
Workers'
centers generally provide direct services to workers and also act as
advocates for the workers. Direct services may include programs
regarding workers rights, English language, literacy, job skills, etc.
The centers also advocate for their clients and may involve them in
that advocacy, raising their consciousness, developing leadership
skills, involving them in democratic governance, etc.
Where are these workers' centers?
List of Workers' Centers
How are workers' centers funded?
According to a recent publication of the Neighborhood Funders Group [NFG],
over 60% of the funding for workers' centers comes directly from
foundations, about 15% are government funded, and the remaining are
funded through other from fundraising activities and dues. This is
hardly sufficient. The NFG estimates that half of all centers have
annual incomes less than $250,000, and only about 10% have incomes
exceeding $500,000.
How can I become involved in workers' centers? What can attorneys do?
There are many ways to become involved in workers' centers:
- The centers need a full range of legal advice.
They need to set up their organization, achieve non-profit status,
etc. They need legal advice regarding non-solicitations laws that may
exist in the community or state. And the workers need individual
advice regarding wage and hour, occupational safety and health,
workers' compensation, immigration law, etc.
- As well, the centers need a lawyer referral list
of attorneys who will take referrals of individual cases (either pro
bono or perhaps for a fee that can be derived out of a successful
prosecution).
- Lawyers and workers' centers can brainstorm about what laws or ordinances can facilitate workers' centers programs, facilitate unions and workers' centers working together, etc., and develop strategies for legislation, regulation and litigation.
The NLG L&EC posts information about existing laws and ordinances
that others share with us in our RESOURCE database. You can also find information on these laws and ordinances at the NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURES 50-STATE LEGISLATIVE TRACKING WEB - The NCSL has developed a web resource of 50-state compilations
covering various issues that concern state legislators and legislative
staff, including labor and employment issues. The coverage includes an
alphabetical listing of legislative and statutory databases,
compilations and state charts/maps. By going to the right hand side
and clicking on labor and employment you can find information on a
variety of issues, including information regarding Day Laborer Laws (statutes)
- And lawyers can collaborate on how to challenge laws and ordinances that impede these programs or how to defend workers' centers when they are challenged.
- As well workers' centers can use training about legal rights.
Attorneys can directly train workers or train staff at workers' centers
in order for them to train workers (train the trainer) about employment
law rights (wage and hour, occupational safety and health, workers'
compensation, immigration issues, etc.) We will post upcoming training programs on our home page.
- Lawyers can assist in providing contacts with other LOCAL workers' rights organizations such as legal services programs, COSH groups (committees on occupational safety and helath), unions
that are organizing workers in a particular industry, etc.
Short Guide for Workers' Centers
Eli Naduris-Weissman has compiled a short guide for workers centers' on what they need to know about labor law. He also has written a larger article on the subject which is sited as:
Eli Naduris-Weissman, The Worker Center Movement and Traditional Labor Law: A Contextual Analysis, 30 Berkeley J. Emp. & Lab. L. 232 (2009).
Here are some helpful NATIONAL organizations:
Links to workers' centers networks:
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Labor & Employment Committee
