And, Aint I A Woman: say female day laborers prepared to stand up to clean up for their rights! with Worker s Justice Project (WJP) Members Yessinia Bucio Letitia Sanchez Isabel Castillio Nubia Hisaman Casandra Spark
A new study by the Brooklyn-based WJP and Cornell s Worker Institute reveals that Latina day laborers wages fall well short of what they require to cover their basic needs. The women are mostly domestic workers, but sometime work in construction, warehouse, and food-processing sectors. They experience long waits, frequently in inclement weather, at well-trafficked informal hiring sites on Brooklyn streets for a job. They may work up to twenty-hours a week, earning on average less than $900 per month and are frequently paid less than the rate they negotiated for, and suffer sexual harassment and threats to expose their immigration status.
In response to these conditions, WJP s Day Laborer Workforce Initiative has piloted a worker-center organizing model based on mutual aid establishing a hiring-hall system that focuses on securing bargaining power, employability and long-term employment, and offering a base wage of about $17.50 an hour, English classes, and labor-rights
produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg
please notify us if you plan to broadcast this program - knsh@igc.org