GETTING ORGANIZED
important fact because immi-grant
workers are important to the Los
Angeles County economy. They
contribute about 43% of the region’s
GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
Immigrant households also make
up about 36% of the total household income in the county of Los
Angeles so they represent a substantial share of all of the spending
power in the region. L.A. County’s
immigrants are 45% citizens, and
almost 800,000 additional who
are eligible to be naturalized.
RIGO VALDEZ
Director of Organizing
Let’s Organize
for Immigrant
Rights
As the election season here in
California kicks into high gear,
one of the issues that most certainly
bubbles up to the top is the
question of immigration. While
the solution to the questions
posed by the immigration debate
are hammered out on a national
stage, we in California have been
left to deal with protecting workers
rights and basic human right on
our own. We are a state that has
historically welcomed hard
working immigrants, and have the
7th largest economy on the planet
as a result.
At Local 770 we represent a wide
array of members, many of whom
are immigrants. There are 10
million immigrants in the state of
California. In L.A. County more
than one third of the residents
are immigrants—that’s about 3.4
million residents. This is an
(5)
Issue 1
Over the next few months UFCW
Local 770 will be focusing on a
program to help our members who
are eligible to naturalize complete
the process. The program is called
UCAN (UFCW Union Citizenship
Action Network). The goal of this
program is to have union involvement in the process of citizenship
applications when it comes to our
members, from start to finish,
giving them the best chance to
become US citizens.
We will also be preparing for the
eventual implementation of the
DAPA (Deferred Action for
Parents of Americans). The DAPA
program is estimated to help 3.6
million people gain legal status in
the U.S. Over 10% of those eligible
(367,000) live in Los Angeles
County with another 23,000 in
Ventura County and 15,000 in
Santa Barbara County making our
region one of the most substantial
to benefit from this program.
UFCW Local 770 is committed to
helping our members who are
DAPA eligible with their
paperwork. We have partnered
THE VOICE
with our International Union, as
well as Immigrant Rights’
organizations, to help put
together a Worker Center that
will be located on Pacific Avenue
in Huntington Park. This worker
center will assist with three main
issues;
Health and Safety for workers
that work in the meatpacking
industry, to make sure that workers
are educated on how to avoid
injury, and advocate for safety in
the workplace.
Wage and Hour Regulations. Los
Angeles County is the wage theft
capital of the country, where over
$26 million are stolen from
workers weekly.
Immigration Services. We will
work with immigrants in South
East LA County to help members
fill out citizenship applications, as
well as prepare their paperwork
for the eventual implementation
of DAPA. This is a member-tomember program where workers
will be trained to assist their
fellow co-workers in this process.
We will launch UCAN in the
coming months. If you are an
immigrant that is eligible for
naturalization please contact
Local 770 if you would like to get
involved in the UCAN program
to help our co-workers through
this process.
Please call us at (855) 888-7374.
¡Si, Se Puede! ■
March 2016