President Obama has drawn the nation’s
attention to community organizing. The power of organizing is
exemplified by the Latin American Workers Project (LAWP) in New York
City.
LAWP was founded in 1997 by and for low income migrant workers. It
empowers immigrant workers to become leaders in their communities,
achieve better working conditions and create economic opportunities. It
has more than 6,000 members, 60% of whom are day laborers.
Since 2001, CTAC has supported LAWP efforts with technical assistance
and small grants to strengthen the group’s capacities and community
organizing efforts. This support has focused on organizational
planning, leadership development, fundraising and strategy development.
It has been made possible by the Intermediary Support for Organizing
Communities program of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
Through community organizing, LAWP's many victories include:
- Establishing
a landmark strategic alliance with Local 10 of the Labor International
Union of North America to unionize day laborers and provide access to
health
care, workers compensation and job training.
- Leading the movement to open three day laborer
Community Jobs Centers in New
York City, where LAWP negotiates the scope of work and fair wages with
contractors
and provides training, information and job referral assistance.
- Helping launch the three year campaign, in
collaboration with several
organizations and the office of the New York Attorney General, that
resulted in a settlement which paid $1,075,000
in restitution and damages to workers victimized by below minimum
wages, work weeks
exceeding 70 hours, and hazardous working conditions.
- Supporting day laborers through a campaign to recover
unpaid wages. In the last
two years, LAWP has successfully reclaimed back pay for 118 day
laborers.
- Addressing the needs of more than 3,000 workers whose
health was affected after
they were engaged without adequate protections in recovery and cleanup
efforts related to
the September 11th tragedy. Of those taken ill, 80% of the workers are
fully disabled and 20% are partially disabled.
- Supporting the enactment of a city ordinance allowing
more than 6,000 street
vendors to apply for and secure vendor licenses.
- Advocating successfully for systematic enforcement of
laws mandating safe and
hazard-free workplaces for employees in the private sector, including
undocumented workers.
We celebrate the leaders and
members of the Latin American Workers
Project for
their extraordinary achievements and commitment to community
organizing. Learn
more about LAWP at www.elptla.org
and about CTAC at www.ctacusa.com.
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