Worker center

Worker centers are non-profit community-based mediating organizations that organize and provide support to communities of low wage workers who are not already members of a collective bargaining organization (such as a trade union) or have been legally excluded from coverage by U.S. labor laws. Many worker centers in the United States focus on immigrant and low-wage workers in sectors such as restaurant, construction, day labor and agriculture.

Worker centers are institutions based in and led by the community, which deliver support to low earning workers. In order to best assist in improving working conditions and necessary wages, many centers include services such as English language instruction, help with unpaid wage claims, access to health care, leadership development, educational activities, advocacy and organization. Many centers also take the role as defender of rights for immigrants in their communities.

The first worker centers were founded in North and South Carolina by Black activists, New York City’s Chinatown by immigrant activists, workers in El Paso, Texas and in San Francisco, California. These centers developed during the late 1970s and early 1980s in order to counter the changes in manufacturing that decreased working conditions and led to many factory closings. The inequalities between African and white workers additionally led to the formation of the first wave of worker centers.

The next wave of worker centers took place between the late 1980s and early to mid 1990’s as a flood of Latino immigrants located to the U.S. along with growing numbers of Asians seeking work. These groups were founded by individuals and institutions such as religious organizations, social service agencies, legal aid agencies, and unions.

From the 2000s to present day, a new wave of centers have risen. Many of the workers making up membership include new streams of migrants from Mexico attracted by the relatively plentiful supply of work available in the states. Most of the centers continue to develop in large metropolitan areas, yet increasingly more centers are being organized in suburban and rural communities and in southern states in response to the large concentrations of immigrants working in the service, poultry, meatpacking, and agricultural sectors in such areas. Additionally, increasing amounts of worker centers are arising amongst African and South Asian immigrants.

The total number of worker centers in the United States has exponentially increased. In 1992, there were fewer than five centers nationwide. As of 2007, there are at least 160 worker centers in over 80 cities, towns, and rural areas.

Worker centers support employment of day laborers in three primary ways. First, they provide a minimum wage rate. Second, they supply a distribution process for job opportunities, and third, they maintain wage standards through their support to workers victimized through wage withholding from employers.

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Wikipedia