El Centro Hispano and the Fair Jobs and Wages team of Orange County Justice United continue work to improve the work conditions for those in the informal job market in Orange County through a collaboration with the National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON).The NDLON has facilitated the opening of at least 30 worker centers nationwide.
During this coming week (June 20-26th) the NDLON Legal Programs Director and the East Cast Field Coordinator will be in Orange County. They will be meeting with workers and officials and getting to know the community. They will be holding a large meeting with workers to provide information on how worker centers operate on Thursday.
A meeting of the Day Laborer Taskforce will be held on Saturday June 25th from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at El Centro Hispano. During the meeting, a documentary on worker centers will be screened and those in attendance will have a chance to meet the NDLON staff and ask any questions.
Those invited include representatives of the Mayors' Offices of Carrboro and Chapel Hill, Carrboro Alderpersons, the Carrboro and Chapel Hill Police Departments, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, Durham Tech-Orange County Campus, the UNC-CH Law Clinic, The Southern Coalition for Social Justice, the NAACP, and the Human Rights Center at Abbey Court.
[This entry is a continuation from a previous post that can be accessed here.]
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Summary of Daylaborer taskforce meeting
A meeting of the Day Laborer Taskforce with held on Saturday, June 25th at El Centro Hispano.Those in attendance including day laborers, three members of the Carrboro Board of Alderman (Randee Haven-O'Donnell, Dan Coleman, and Sammy Slade), Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt, representatives from Justice United, El Centro Hispano, the North Carolina Immigrant Rights Project, the Human Rights Center, The Southern Coalition for Social Justice, The UNC School of Law, staff from the Chapel Hill News/News & Observer and the Daily Tar Heel, a candidate for Carrboro Board of Aldermen (Michelle Johnson) and invited guests: two staff of the National Day Laborers Organizing Network.Two representatives of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network presented information on how worker centers operate (including screening a documentary 'Labor of Hope'), the benefits of such centers for workers, employers, and the community, and fielded questions.The NDLON explained that there are over 30 worker centers across the nation. None has gotten into trouble due to Federal Immigration Laws. We talked about steps to take to move towards a worker center. The most important step being to engage the day laborers in discerning what will work best for them. Other steps include looking at potential funding options, organizations that will be involved, and how to staff the center.The NDLON will continue to be engaged to consult as the process moves forward.A follow-up taskforce meeting will be planned to update those who could not attend and to process the information given to decide on next steps.
Process
Thank you for holding the task force meeting. It was very informative. I look forward to engaging with the Day Laborers to come up with a plan that fits their needs and wishes. The day laborers experience is vital to any plan or solution we come up with. I look forward to having them organize this effort with the support of organizations, funders, and NDLON.