Workers’ Center of CNY
In 2007, the CNY Labor-Religion Coalition was exploring how it might undertake a project that would embody its values in the larger community, especially its concerns for economic justice. Many of us drew inspiration from the work of scholar/activist Janice Fine, author of Workers’ Centers: Organizing Communities at the Edge of the Dream and the practical work of Jose Oliva, the talented Worker Center Coordinator for Interfaith Worker Justice, a national group.
Both visited Syracuse and met with us, and the LRC decided to make the creation of a Workers Center as its major project. It opened its doors on a limited basis, with a focus on the issues of low-wage and immigrant workers, in the summer of 2008, and staffed by a half-time organizer and a small group of student interns.
Early activities included:
• A research/action project that documented the food that comes to Central New Yorkers because of the labor of immigrant farm or dairy workers.
• The development of a Detention Task Force to assist families and children impacted by anti-immigrant activity or hate. This has involved bail facilitation, the accompaniment of former detainees to Immigration Court in Buffalo or Batavia, New York
• Action around wage theft against workers in construction, food service, and janitorial services
• Action and advocacy related to human trafficking, which ultimately led to law enforcement certification of the first victim of human trafficking in Onondaga County.
• Organizing “Know Your Rights” workshops, focused on labor rights, including occupational health and safety (in both English and Spanish)
More recently, the Workers’ Center has organized
• A “hospitality without harm” campaign with hotel housekeepers suffering a wide range of physical and economic distress from the conditions of their work
• A massive response to the discovery of a human trafficking ring by a long-time contractor/vendor at the Great New York State Fair, affecting 19 guest workers who had been cheated, who were malnourished, and who were constantly threatened
• A press conference calling attention to the problem of wage theft in Central New York, with specific examples drawn from workers with whom we have worked
• A Job Fairness event, the first of its kind in the state, whose purpose was to help entry-level workers better understand their workplace rights and how the presence of a union impacts workers’ rights
Building on the great work and example of the Tompkins County Workers Center, we are moving toward building a center that is more financially independent, and driven more directly by low-wage and immigrant workers. Like TCWC, we are moving to a more diverse, membership-based group.
