Jordan Ashby Photo
Workers' rights groups rally to celebrate new protections and continue advocating.
Workers and activists rallied outside of City Hall Wednesday afternoon to celebrate the passage of a new federal immigrant-whistleblower rights policy, while vowing to put it into action.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released new policy on July 6. It provides guidance for workers experiencing a worksite labor dispute on how to seek DOL support for their requests to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for immigration-related prosecutorial discretion. The goal is to allow undocumented workers to speak up about workplace abuses without fear of retaliatory deportation.
“For DOL to effectuate the laws under its jurisdiction, regardless of immigration status, workers must feel free to participate in the Department’s investigations and proceedings without fear of retaliation or immigration-related consequences,” the news release said.
The policy clarification comes as the result of a Workplace Enforcement Memo released by DHS Secretary Mayorkas in October that directed DHS agencies to increase worker protections particularly for whistleblowers and undocumented laborers.
Local groups that have advocated for these changes — Unidad Latina CT, Red de Pueblos Transnacionales, Culturas del Pasado, Voces del Presente, Soame Citlalime, Las Chapinas, and Latinos Unidos — were present at Wednesday’s rally.
While the policy updates are an important victory, there is still much work to be done, John Lugo, organizer with Unidad Latina en Acción, told the crowd.
Lugo told the story of a friend who worked for a construction company for weeks without ever getting paid. When they went to confront the boss, the boss called immigration services, and the worker was forced to flee.
John Lugo of Unidad Latina en Acción.
“We have 12 billionaires in Connecticut who made a billion dollars apiece during the pandemic. Meanwhile, we have hundreds of thousands of people working, actually creating the wealth, making poverty wages,” said Puya Gerami, an organizer with Recovery for All. “And these two facts are connected, because the ultrawealthy are stealing wages from working people.”
Puya Gerami of Recovery for All.
Bella Vasquez, construction worker defending her rights.
Bella Vasquez and Ivan Cargua told about their own experiences. Along with approximately 30 others, they both worked for a local construction company for over four weeks and were never paid, they said. The bosses would string them along by saying they had not been paid for the project yet. Each of them is owed $3,000 to $5,000, they said.
“He knows our addresses. He knows everything about us. So we want to make sure that we’re protected as we ask for our money and what we’re rightfully owed,” Cagua said, in Spanish translated by Lupita Galuan Tinoco.
Vasquez talked about the sexual assault that women workers face as well at the hands of bosses.
There remains a lack of clarity on the full extent to which whistleblowers are protected, she said, but she is hopeful in new policy as a step in the right direction and urged others to “lose their fear.”
“What they have done at the federal level, we are looking to make sure is enforced at the state level,” said New Haven State Rep. Robyn Porter, co-chair of the legislature’s Labor Committee.
Lugo talked about the need for increased funding for the state Labor Department to process complaints more quickly. In his experience, it can take six months to even receive a response and two years before action is taken.
Protection for whistleblowers is not enough, Porter went on to say. Stealing wages is criminal, and employers who do so must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
“We know that the plantation still exists. This is just part of what we are doing to dismantle the mentality of slavery that still exists in this country,” she said.
Robyn Porter: Fight moves to state level.
While there is still much work to be done, “having this law in place is a big victory for us,” Lugo said. “It shows that if we fight, we win. We’re not winning because of the Board of Alders. We’re winning on the streets.”
"We have 12 billionaires in Connecticut who made a billion dollars apiece during the pandemic. Meanwhile, we have hundreds of thousands of people working, actually creating the wealth, making poverty wages,” said Puya Gerami, an organizer with Recovery for All. 'And these two facts are connected, because the ultrawealthy are stealing wages from working people.'” Does the speaker have any evidence that those 12 billionaires are not paying their employees? Or is NHI just mindlessly publicizing unsubstantiated, and likely false, allegations as part of its leftist agenda? I suspect the deadbeat employers are small and mid-level contractors, not billionaires. Overall, it's rich for a bunch of people who have zero respect for our laws and constantly break them to seek the protection of those laws. We should enforce all our laws, both those on paying employees and those on immigration.