Worker Justice Center of New York

The Worker Justice Center of New York (WJCNY) pursues justice for those denied human rights with a focus on agricultural and other low wage workers, through legal representation, community empowerment and advocacy for institutional change. Founded in 1981, WJCNY serves between 5,000 and 7,000 human trafficking survivors, farm laborers, and other low wage workers per year. Our advocacy work positively impacts the lives of over 80,000 New Yorkers who work on farms across the state and over 750,000 immigrants who live here. We believe everyone has the right to dignity, respect, and safety at work.

WJCNY is the only statewide, multi-strategy, multi-issue non-profit law organization that provides direct services to all farm workers in New York, regardless of their immigration status. Our programs include: workplace education and outreach, advocacy, legal services, survivor services, and human trafficking prevention. These programs work in tandem to serve the various needs of our clients to achieve self-realization.

With the passage of the Farmworker Fair Labor Practices Act in 2019, WJCNY is prioritizing serving farmworkers in the new legislative
landscape in which we find ourselves. This includes providing them information and support on the right to organize, and ensuring that
the hard fought protections in the legislation are realized, including the right to a day of rest, and the right to overtime at 60 hrs in one
week. Our outreach team and legal team are partnering to ensure this goal is met.

Our programs include:

Workplace Education and Outreach: Our dedicated team of worker rights advocates travel to farmworker housing on farms, community locations in rural areas, and urban worksites for low wage industries to engage workers. They conduct onsite multi-lingual trainings in labor rights and workplace safety, and connect workers with services and support.

Human Trafficking Prevention: We identify and investigate labor trafficking across New York State, supporting victims through identification, investigation, extraction, and reintegration after a trafficking experience, in collaboration with law enforcement.

Legal: WJCNY has a robust legal practice, representing workers on wage theft, workplace harassment, discrimination, and others.

Survivor Services: Our bilingual staff stand shoulder to shoulder with survivors as they navigate intimate partner or workplace violence, and provide connection to legal services, resources, and support through a trauma informed lens.

Advocacy: Our advocacy team engages workers, community members, and legislators to improve policies, and build community power. Goals and objectives in this program area cannot be measured in the number of individuals, as these victories improve the lives of countless families and communities in New York State.

WJCNY has 24 full-time staff with three offices across the state. We have recently rearranged our management structure to provide more capacity to our programs and provide additional administrative support including grant compliance, donor services, legal administration, etc. We've been doing this for almost 40 years and have built a strong network of partners and allies in all our programs.

This past year, WJCNY has:
• Educated thousands of farmworkers on health hazards, pesticide exposure prevention, and how to keep themselves safe in extreme heat.
• Distributed over $40,000 in direct assistance to low-wage workers impacted by COVID-19.
• Educated 12,000 workers online on "know your rights" information.
• Recovered millions in wages and damages for hard working people.

And as this administration continues its attack on immigrants, our supporters are helping keep families together. Because of our supporters, we have trained immigrants on their rights and how to ensure their children are not thrown into the foster system. Children of detained parent(s) will have a safe place to go with a designated guardian or can fly to be with family if their parents are detained.

The COVID-19 pandemic has only highlighted the stark contrast between the rights of workers at different income levels. WJCNY has advocated for protections for low-wage workers during this economic downturn, especially those with immigration vulnerabilities.