Workers Defense Project/Proyecto Defensa Laboral (PDL) is a Texas-based workers rights organization that understands workplace injustice as a product of racial and economic inequality, and seeks to alter power structures that work against society’s marginalized workers.
PDL, formerly known as CTIWoRC (under the auspices of the Equal Justice Center), was founded in August 2002 by employees and volunteers of Casa Marianella, a local immigrant shelter, to address the problem of unpaid wages for many Austin immigrants.
Victories
Educated over 1500 individuals in weekly workers’ rights clinics
Recovered over $400,000 in unpaid wages for 380 men and women
Established more favorable day labor policies in Austin by successfully opposing an ordinance that would have criminalized job seeking
Graduated nearly 50 immigrant workers from our leadership development courses
Served as a resource for organizations working with day laborers in the Gulf Coast reconstruction by sharing skills, resources, and organizing strategies
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About us
Workplace Justice
Day Labor
Katrina Project
Worker Empowerment
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STAFF
Cristina Tzintzún, Project Coordinator
Emily Timm, Day Labor Organizer
Tomás Aguilar, Katrina Project Coordinator
In the News....
Report Released
The report Risk Amid Recovery: Occupational Health and Safety of Latino Workers in the Aftermath of Gulf Coast Hurricanes is the result of the interviews and experience of Workers Defense Project’s Katrina Project organizer Tomas Aguilar. This in depth examination of the experiences of laborers in post-Katrina New Orleans is a joint project between UCLA-LOSH and the National Day Laborers Organizing Network and was made possible with funding from NIEHS.