justice at work - report, summer 2013
TRANSCRIPT
JUSTICE AT WORK
SUMMER 2013 UPDATE
JUSTICE AT WORK
Justice At Work provides legal services to support and encourage immigrant worker organizing.
LEGAL SUPPORT FOR ORGANIZATIONS THAT EDUCATE, ORGANIZE AND ADVOCATE ON BEHALF OF LOW-WAGE WORKERS.
LEGAL IN-TAKE, REFERRALS, AND REPRESENTATION FOR WORKER CENTER MEMBERS.
JUSTICE AT WORK’S CASES• Since 2011, Justice At Work has served
281 workers who have been referred by worker centers.
• We have represented roughly 40% of those workers and provided brief advice to 20%.
• We referred another 40% to government agencies or private attorneys and acted as an on-going liaison.
JUSTICE AT WORK’S CASES CONT’D
• These workers have obtained over $635,000.00 through Justice At Work’s services.
• 68% of workers had wage and hour complaints, 16% had health and safety complaints, 8% had discrimination or sexual harassment complaints, and 8% had other employment issues, such as disability or unemployment, or non-workplace issues such as immigration.
For every $1 given to Justice At Work we have obtained $3.13 on behalf of low-wage workers and their families.
EDUCATION
Wage and hour training with the Fair Labor Division.
Health & Safety Training
SMALL CLAIMS PROJECT
1) Use Small Claims Court as a tool against wage theft.
2) Train workers and organizers to use Small Claims Court.
3) Ensure courts provide access to justice for all workers.
4) Acquire data on the prevalence of wage theft.
SMALL CLAIMS PROJECT J@W SERVICE PROVIDED
Full Representation: 60
Referral/liaison to Private Attorney: 14
Referral/liaison to U.S.
DOL: 12
Referral/liaison to MA AG: 9
SMALL CLAIMS PROJECT
Number of Claims with Monetary Recovery: 61
Number of Pending Claims: 48
Total Money Recovered for Workers: $142,500
Average Recovery for Individual Worker: $2,340
Money donated back to J@W by Workers: $1,100
SMALL CLAIMS PROJECTCLAIMS FILED BY J@W
Claims Filed in Small Claims Court by J@W: 38
Favorable Settlements or Judgments: 28
Claims Still Collecting Money: 13
Pending Claims: 9
SMALL CLAIMS PROJECTLOCATION OF SMALL CLAIMS
COURTS*(*42 Total Claims Filed – Includes Claims Filed by Workers & Worker Centers)
• Boston (1 claim)• Brighton (7 claims)• East Boston (1 claim)• Lynn (1 claim)• Lowell (1 claim)• Malden (9 claims)• Marlborough (4
claims)• New Bedford (3
claims)
• Newton (1 claim)• Peabody (1 claim)• Quincy (3 claims)• Somerville (4 claims)• Taunton (1 claim)• Waltham (3 claims)• Wareham (1 claim)• West Roxbury (1
claim)
Dry Cleaning
Delivery
Gas Station
Cleaning
Landscaping
Construction
Painting
Restaurant
Tent Industry
Truck Driving
Roofing
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
2
2
3
5
6
22
38
12
7
3
2
SMALL CLAIMS PROJECT -- IN-DUSTRIES
(only includes industries with more than one worker)
# of Claims
Somerville
Lynn
New Bedford
East Boston
Chelsea
Everett
Malden
Brighton
Waltham
Allston
0 3 6 9 12 15 18
16
12
10
8
7
7
7
6
5
4
SMALL CLAIM PROJECT -- RES-IDENCE
(Only includes cities with more than 3 workers)
# of Workers
Brazil
Guatemala
El Salvador
Honduras
Mexico
Colombia
Dominican Republic
Egypt
United States
Unknown
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
57
19
11
5
4
2
2
1
1
9
SMALL CLAIMS PROJECT – COUNTRIES
# of Workers
THOMAS SMITH, DIRECTORBefore coming to Justice At Work, Tom supported Boston-area immigrant worker centers through a Skadden Fellowship as an attorney with Greater Boston Legal Services’ (GBLS) Employment Unit.
CYNDI MARK, BOARD MEMBER
Cyndi is the managing attorney of the Asian Outreach Unit at GBLS. She has represented hundreds of immigrant workers over her legal career.
STAFF AND BOARD
OMAR ANGEL PEREZ, BOARD MEMBER
Omar is the program director of La Fuente in New York City. He was the director of the Workplace Project in Long Island, NY and an organizer with the Workers’ Defense Project in Austin, TX.
RACHEL ROSENBLOOM, BOARD MEMBERRachel is a professor of immigration law and policy at Northeastern University School of Law and has practiced union-side labor law at the Boston firm Segal Roitman LLP.
INGRID NAVA, BOARD PRESIDENTIngrid is General Counsel for Service Employers International Union (SEIU) Local 615. Ingrid was named a 2011 “Up and Coming Lawyer” by MA Lawyers Weekly.
REGIONAL WORKERS CENTERS
Brazilian Immigrant Center. Allston, 617-783-8001
Brazilian Women's Group. Allston, 617-787-0557
Centro Comunitario de los Trabajadores. (New Bedford, 774-961-8283)
Centro Presente. (Somerville, 617-629-4731)
REGIONAL WORKERS CENTERS
Chelsea Collaborative. Chelsea, 617-889-6080
Chinese Progressive Association. Chinatown, 617-357-4499
Fuerza Laboral. Central Falls, RI, 401-725-2700
REGIONAL WORKERS CENTERS
MassCOSH. Dorchester, 617-825-7233
MetroWest Worker Center. Framingham, 617-818-2566
MICAH Worker Center. Lawrence, 978-683-3479
Worker Center for Economic Justice. Lynn, 617-905-7128