The Immigrant Rights’ Movement

Students: Kevin Clardy, Jason Damian, Andres Guzman, Laura Harris, Jean Lefor, Nicole Narong, Alex Nielsen, Pam

Oliver, Kristopher Perry, Amy Taber, Daniel Tratz, Sean Walter, and Jovan Woodfox

Mentor: Johanna Brenner

Introduction

• Challenges and What Causes Them– Poor working conditions – Lack of living wages– Government harassment / Fear

• Action and Change– Campaigns and coalitions– Different kinds of organizations and advocacy groups– Avenues for achieving social change– Education and empowerment for workers

• Educating the public/raising awareness

Unions

Alex NielsenPamela OliverDaniel Tratz

History of the Meatpacking Industry

• Industry closes urban unionized plants

• Relocation to South: largely non-unionized and rural

• Jobs considered “last resort”

• Wages steadily declined

Practices at Smithfield Meatpacking Plant

• Poor working conditions:– Low wages– Lack of benefits– Chronic injuries– Employees are fired– Segregated workplace

• Racial divide between Black and Latino workers

Video: Smithfield

• NOW: “A Day at the Plant”– PBS special: Dec 16, 2006– NOW's Senior Correspondent

Maria Hinojosa takes us inside the world's largest pork processing plant, located in Tar Heel, North Carolina. As the first TV journalist ever allowed to film inside…• http://www.youtube.com

/watch?v=PdyCFsS9rwM

Smithfield Tactics

• Raids of the plant by ICE agents

• Firings union organizers and sympathizers

• Economic dependence of community on the Smithfield plant

• Filing legal suits against workers

Union Tactics

• Organizing:– Walkouts– Marches– Rallies– Local stores to

boycott

• Worker Centers

Union Success• After 15 years, Smithfield

unionized• Court ruling of Smithfield

– Committed “egregious and pervasive” labor law violations

– Workers fired unjustly– Reinstated workers and

given back pay – Workers felt better about

speaking up and supporting a union

Resources• Bacon, David: “The Story of the Smithfield Raid”

• Fears, Darryl: “Union Tries to Unite Blacks, Latinos”

• Greenhouse, Steven: “After 15 Years, North Carolina Plant Unionizes”

• Kutalik, Chris: “Immigrant Workers Buck Long Slide in Meatpacking Raids Follow as Backlash”

• Sack, Kevin: “Judge Finds Labor Law Broken at Meat-Packing Plant”

• Slaughter, Jane: “Blood, Cold, Heat, Gore…Organizing Meatpacking Hell,” “Is Fighting for Justice at Smithfield Racketeering?”

Worker Centers

This category can be broken into:Domestic Workers

Day Laborers

Introduction to Worker Centers

• Worker centers are organizations that provide information and training in:– Workers rights– Legal services– The English language

• Typically for people whom it would be difficult to organize• Worker centers are located in specific geographic areas• They are community-based unlike unions• Worker centers are also connected with workers in other

countries to maintain solidarity

Domestic WorkersLaura Harris

Nicole NarongAmy Taber

Sean Walter

Why Are They Organizing?• Social recognition• Improved pay• Respect from employers• Equality• Job terms• Benefits similar to those found in other lines of work• To get domestic labor viewed as real work with the same legal

requirements and protection as other forms of paid labor

How Are They Organizing?

• The U.S. Social Forum was held June 27- July 1, 2007

• June 30, 2007 — The U.S. Social Forum, the National Domestic Workers Alliance was formed.

• This is an alliance of 13 groups. The two major groups are:– DWU — New York– CHIRLA — L.A.– Most of these organizations

fight for the same cause, and all have a main goal in common. They also help the same demographic of people.

What Types of Services Do They Provide?

• The Nanny training program

• English as a second language

• Basic computer literacy• Leadership training

program • Advanced leadership

training program

• DWU also provides resources for workers and potential employers so that there is a clear understanding of what is truly fair and equal

What Gains Have They Made?

• Raising awareness:– Novellas called

“You know What?”

– Super Doméstica

– Getting their message in the media

What Gains Have They Made, Cont.

• Legal work:– Back pay in missing

wages amongst immigrant workers

– The case of Yuni Muliyono

–Working towards a New York State Domestic Workers Bill of Rights

Conclusion

• Why they have been successful in areas with large immigrant populations

– Similar problems and goals– Uniting of individuals creates a stronger group– Groups can push for changes within their state – Groups can unite and work toward national, federal, and

possibly even global changes

Resources

• CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities — Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence– www.caaav.org

• Domestic Workers United– www.domesticworkersunited.org

• “Cleaning up a Dirty Business” Domestica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows of Affluence By Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo

Day Laborers

Kristopher PerryJean Lefor

Jason Damian

Day Laborers

• Who are they?– Low Socio-Economic

Class• Often undocumented

Latino workers

• In Portland:– 200-300 workers line

the streets of 6th Ave / East Burnside Street and MLK / I-84 daily.

Day Labor

• What does day labor consist of?– Difficult and dangerous work, includes:• fixing roofs, digging foundations, dry-walling, debris

moving, construction, painting, etc.

• How do Day Laborers get paid?– Laborers negotiate terms with employers on the

spot and have little/no say in the conditions or pay.

Problems Day Laborers Pose

• Devalue general area– Garbage / trash and

public urination– Increase level of visible

impoverishment / poor public image

• Increase local crime rates– Prostitution and drug

trafficking

Obstacles Day Laborers Face

• Day Laborers get scammed– Receive no or substandard pay for their work

• Vulnerable to Irregular and Strenuous Work– As consequence of their low class day laborers face

unsafe working conditions and illegitimate employers.

• Immigrant Day Laborers Face Strong Opposition – ICE, FAIR & other vigilante groups.

Solutions• Hiring Centers:

– Designated areas for employers and day laborers to connect• Provide public facilities

and management / oversight

– $200K recently approved from city council in 2008 to establish hiring center

– VOZ Workers’ Rights Education Project • Developed to help curb

increasing incidence of discrimination and repression

Problems Hiring Centers Face

• Opposition from Immigration Reform Groups– Hiring centers often do not perform background

checks on laborers • Day laborers are predominantly undocumented

workers.

• Lack Funding (city and private investors)– City council members are reluctant to provide

support because of association with illegal immigrants is implied.

Students as Allies

Andres GuzmanKevin Clardy

Jovan R. Woodfox

United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS)

• Main Goals:– Relationship building to achieve global justice for

working people. – Building of a “grassroots student movement that

challenges corporate power and that fights for economic justice.”

– Actions based on democratic principles to “strive to empower one another as individuals and as a collective through trust, patience, and an open spirit.”

United Students Against Sweatshops, Cont.

• Actions:– Creation and advocacy for minimum standards

through Codes of Conduct (CoCs).• Worker’s Rights Consortium partnership

– Sweat-Free Campus Campaign• Campus Worker Solidarity & Sweat-Free Collegiate

Apparel

Student Farmworker Alliance (SFA) and Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW)

• Main Goals:– Eliminating “sweatshop conditions and

modern-day slavery in the fields”– To work in conjunction with larger movements

dedicate towards economic and social justice.– Awareness-raising through education

Student Farmworker Alliance (SFA) and Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), Cont.

• Actions:– Similar to the USAS,

the SFA advocates for CoCs

–McDonalds, Burger King, and Taco Bell campaigns

– Petitions and delivery thereof

CIW Worker — Video Testimony

Testimony

Resources

• Student Farmworker Alliance– http://www.sfalliance.org

• Coalition of Immokalee Workers– http://www.ciw-online.org

• United Students Against Workshops– http://www.studentsagainstsweatshops.org