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Labor Justice Groups Release Report on Low Wage Workers in Santa Cruz County
A new report titled "Working for Dignity: The Santa Cruz County Low-Wage Worker Study" (see PDF) addresses the conditions low-wage workers face locally. The report is the result of a collaboration between the UCSC Center for Labor Studies (CLS), California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA), and the Chicano Latino Research Center (CLRC). "As this report shows, the conditions of low-wage work pose a daunting challenge to both workers and our wider community. We found a broad range of serious workplace violations across different industries and occupations – from wage theft, to unhealthy and dangerous conditions, to discrimination, to retaliation for workers trying to speak up for their rights. We also found that those we surveyed belied the stereotypes often associated with low-wage workers: rather than predominantly teenagers earning pocket money, those laboring in low-wage jobs are older, nearly half are supporting others and nearly 2/3rds are the major income earners in their families," the report states. Recommendations issued in the report include: raise wages; enforce labor laws; increase worker education, voice, and bargaining power.
About The Project
The project is a collaboration between the UCSC Center for Labor Studies (CLS), California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA), and the Chicano Latino Research Center (CLRC). The project emerged when CRLA – which provides free legal services to the community - noticed a shift of county workers from agriculture into low-wage services but found no reliable data on the trend and nothing on the experiences of workers. The Center for Labor Studies proposed conducting a “census of the invisible” – or a survey of low-wage workers across the county about work and workplace issues. CLS, along with the CLRC then organized a research apprenticeship course in January 2014 to train 20 undergraduates – many native Spanish speakers - to carry out both surveys and open-ended interviews.
Following the successful apprenticeship course, 3 more field research courses were organized (in Sociology and Latin American and Latino Studies) in Spring and Summer 2014 and Winter 2015 to train more students and involve them in every aspect of the project, from background research, to data management and analysis, to visual documentation, to website development.
In all, over 100 undergraduates participated in the study. With a grant from the University of California Humanities Research Institute, the project was extended to include a “public humanities” component – this Working for Dignity website – that showcases the survey data, the narratives and images of low wage workers, and provides resources for community members, organizations, scholars and policy makers interested in the issues facing low wage workers.
Purpose of This Project
We aim to collect baseline data on workers and working conditions in the low-wage sectors in Santa Cruz County (primarily Santa Cruz and Watsonville); conduct outreach to low-wage workers about available services and worker rights; and build a digital, interactive archive to allow low-wage workers to share their stories of work and dignity.
Learn more:
Working For Dignity
http://workingfordignity.ucsc.edu/
The project is a collaboration between the UCSC Center for Labor Studies (CLS), California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA), and the Chicano Latino Research Center (CLRC). The project emerged when CRLA – which provides free legal services to the community - noticed a shift of county workers from agriculture into low-wage services but found no reliable data on the trend and nothing on the experiences of workers. The Center for Labor Studies proposed conducting a “census of the invisible” – or a survey of low-wage workers across the county about work and workplace issues. CLS, along with the CLRC then organized a research apprenticeship course in January 2014 to train 20 undergraduates – many native Spanish speakers - to carry out both surveys and open-ended interviews.
Following the successful apprenticeship course, 3 more field research courses were organized (in Sociology and Latin American and Latino Studies) in Spring and Summer 2014 and Winter 2015 to train more students and involve them in every aspect of the project, from background research, to data management and analysis, to visual documentation, to website development.
In all, over 100 undergraduates participated in the study. With a grant from the University of California Humanities Research Institute, the project was extended to include a “public humanities” component – this Working for Dignity website – that showcases the survey data, the narratives and images of low wage workers, and provides resources for community members, organizations, scholars and policy makers interested in the issues facing low wage workers.
Purpose of This Project
We aim to collect baseline data on workers and working conditions in the low-wage sectors in Santa Cruz County (primarily Santa Cruz and Watsonville); conduct outreach to low-wage workers about available services and worker rights; and build a digital, interactive archive to allow low-wage workers to share their stories of work and dignity.
Learn more:
Working For Dignity
http://workingfordignity.ucsc.edu/
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