Workers center: From activism to survival

Immigrants are many times at greater risk of being injured and exploited (Chang 2000; Cranford 2005) on the job than native-born workers. Some immigrants also face language barriers and suffer discrimination (Hondagneu-Hondagneu-Sotelo 2001; Salazar Parreñas 2001). Such is the case of day laborers in the United States who, in addition, often don’t have legal documents that allow them to work. Thus, in order to find their way in the world of work in the US many immigrant day laborers seek the assistance of community organizations. A specific type of community organization is the workers’ center that provides opportunities for organizing collective actions as well as training, legal assistance, and English tutoring among other services.

Based on ethnographic research on day laborer organizing, in this paper I look at the methods that a worker center uses to mobilize day laborers to fight for better work conditions, wages and rights while at the same time subsist as an organization.