Discover Top Posts Tagged with #worker centers

... because they're succeeding in areas where organized labor has not.

The Workers Defense Project, a Union in Spirit

"The Workers Defense Project, founded in 2002, has emerged as one of the [America's] most creative organizations for immigrant workers. Its focus is the Texas construction industry, which employs more than 600,000 workers, about half of whom, several studies suggest, are unauthorized immigrants... Each year, the Workers Defense Project, which has 2,000 dues-paying members, receives about 500 complaints from workers who say they were cheated out of overtime or denied a water break in Texas’ scorching summer heat or stuck with huge hospital bills for an on-the-job injury."

"The Workers Defense Project is one of 225 worker centers nationwide aiding many of the country’s 22 million immigrant workers. The centers have sprouted up largely because labor unions have not organized in many fields where immigrants have gravitated, like restaurants, landscaping and driving taxis. And there is another reason: many immigrants feel that unions are hostile to them. Some union members say that immigrants, who are often willing to work for lower wages, are stealing their jobs...."

"Worker centers, which are among the most vigorous champions of overhauling immigration laws, coalesce around issues or industries. For example, there is Domestic Workers United, which persuaded New York and Hawaii to enact a bill of rights for housekeepers and nannies, and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, which has gotten most Florida tomato growers to adopt a workers’ code of conduct and to increase pay by at least 20 percent. Young Workers United played an important role in persuading the San Francisco City Council to enact a paid-sick-days law and a minimum wage of $10.55 an hour. With labor unions losing members and influence, these centers are increasingly seen as an important alternative form of workplace advocacy, although no one expects them to be nearly as effective as unions in winning raises, pensions or paid vacations."

The New York Times, August 10, 2013: "The Workers Defense Project, a Union in Spirit," by Steven Greenhouse

The above article is part of Reworking Labor -- articles in this series examine the changing face of labor as the nation's unions and collective bargaining rights decline. Read previous article in this series »

The New York Times, August 10 2013: "Case by Case in Texas," by Steven Greenhouse

The Worker's Defense Project [website]