Worker centers: Organizing communities at the edge of the dream

By Janice Fine | December 13, 2005

Useful Quotes & Figure

"One such emergent institution that shows considerable promise is worker centers, which have grown from five centers in 1992 to at least 139 in over 80 U.S. cities, towns, and rural areas across 32 states (Figure A). These centers have emerged as central components of the immigrant community infrastructure and are playing an indispensable role in helping immigrants navigate the world of work in the United States. They are gateway organizations that provide information and training in workers’ rights, employment, labor and immigration law, legal services, the English language, and many other programs. They represent a new generation of mediating institutions that are integrating low-wage workers into American civic life and facilitating collective deliberation, education, and action. Worker centers provide low-wage workers a range of opportunities for expressing their “collective voice” as well as for taking collective action."




http://www.epi.org/publication/bp159/