Centro Obrero/Latino Worker Center will open its doors on May Day (May 1). We will occupy the space formerly known as Casa de Unidad, at 1920 Scotten St. in Southwest Detroit. The Center will initially be run by a couple of staff and lots of volunteers. It is meant to provide a space for workers to come to learn about their rights at work, to learn English if necessary and desired, and to read and discuss issues relevant to the world in which we live. It will be a place for us to hold meetings about things happening in the workplace, understanding health and safety issues, wage and hour issues, as well as the overall rights and responsibilities of employees, employers, and all members of the community.

The need for worker centers has been heightened since NAFTA. For the past 10 years, increased numbers of immigrant workers have located in our community as well as other cities in Michigan. We have heard stories of people who go to work and don’t get paid, or don’t get paid the overtime to which they are entitled. We hear of countless injuries sustained by workers who work for contractors who then disappear or refuse to take responsibility for the workers who make them
rich.

Centers across the country vary in their approaches. Some day laborers have organized themselves into their own employment agency, setting wage scales and working conditions which have greatly improved their own situations. Workers have stopped accepting sub-human treatment and have been able to demand respect through collective action. Some unions support the worker centers and have been giving financial assistance, while others are completely independent.

Detroit’s Centro Obrero is a project of the AFL-CIO and a one year grant from the Department of Labor, Unite HERE and the AFL-CIO. Other Unions may be signing on, too. The Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice supports several worker centers around the country and will likely involve itself with this one, too.

Centro Obrero will open its doors to assist immigrant workers in finding their voice and bearing in the Promised Land. Those wishing to help with this effort by bringing skills in writing and English, etc, will be appreciated. We will work with all the community-based organizations and individuals around us. More details will be forthcoming as we work them out. In the meantime, stay tuned.

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